Who doesn't remember this picture (I believe it went around the world...or
at least around the cycling world): Gert-Jan Theunisse with a blood-covered
face riding in defence of his polka-dot jersey? That, too, was
the Tour de France of 1989, in which he started with a body full of bruised
and even a couple of not-yet-healed broken ribs.
The list of ailments and accidents Gert-Jan has met, is of untold length.
Sometimes it seemed as if he was predestined to misfortune; fate was forcing
him to stretch his resilience to new limits and made him shift his pain
threshold time and again.
To some extent, however, it was his own choice. After all, the famous line
"riding in the mountains is a masochistic pleasure" came from his mouth.
He wanted to strain his body to the maximum. Didn't he become a cycle
racer not only because of the sport, but also to be allowed to torment
himself...???
"Ich w�nsch Dir noch ein Leben, doch Du hast nur eine
Chance"
(I wish you one more life, but you have only one chance -
taken from the album "Seilt�nzertraum" by PUR)
Even after his career as an active cycle racer, the body of Gert-Jan is
still not allowed rest and time to recover.
First that terrible accident and more recently, in June '99, he got due to
hard work and overburdening a heart attack, which he - thank heavens
- survived! In Nevegal (Italy), where his mountainbike team had come to
participate in a World Cup race, he one morning woke up with pain in his
chest. He decided to get up for a walk and breath some fresh air... one hour
later an Italian peasant found him laying unconciously beside the road. In
hospital they told him his temperature was measured 41.6 �C (approx. 106.5
Fahrenheit) and that the value of his haematocrit (sp?? - thickness of the
blood) was 52; a life-threatening situation. Whereas other people would take
a long pause to recover, Gert-Jan was back working again after one week(!)
of rest. He promised, however, to take it easier as soon as possible.
Quite frightening though... the thought that my encounter with him in
Plymouth, on the 16th of May, could have been 'just in time'...
Gert-Jan, if you're not doing it for yourself, please think about Lieske and
your other relatives and for goodness sake don't take such risks anymore!
