Jo de Roo

Jo de Roo

Jo de Roo in 1967
Personal information
Full name	Johan de Roo
Born	(1937-07-05) 5 July 1937 (age 87) Schore, the Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All Rounder
Amateur team
1954 - 1957	Unknown
Professional teams
1958-1959	Magneet-Vredestein
1960-1961	Helyett-Fynsec
1962	Saint-Raphael-Helyett
1963-1964	Saint-Raphael-Gitane
1965	Televizier
1966	Televizier-Batavus
1967-1968	Willem II-Gazelle
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 3 individual Stages 1 TTT Vuelta a España 1 individual Stage Stage Races Giro di Sardegna (1960) Single-Day Races and Classics Dutch Road Race Champion (1964, 1965) Tour of Flanders (1965) Giro di Lombardia (1962, 1963) Paris–Tours (1962, 1963) Bordeaux-Paris (1962) Other Super Prestige Pernod (1962)

Johan De Roo (born 5 July 1937) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist between 1958 and 1968. During 11 seasons as a professional he had six victories in single-day classics, three stages of the Tour de France and one stage of the Vuelta a España. He had 46 wins as a professional. He was the most successful rider from Zeeland until the emergence of Jan Raas.

De Roo caught the eye in 1957 as a 20-year-old amateur when he took two stages in the Olympia’s Tour as well as winning the Omloop van de Kempen. The following year he turned professional with the Dutch Magneet-Vredestein team, with which he stayed for two seasons. In 1960 he moved to the Helyett, which had Jacques Anquetil as leader. He rode for five years with Anquetil at Helyett and then at St-Raphaël.

In 1960 he rode his first Tour de France, abandoning after stage 14 and saying the Tour was not for him. 1962 was De Roo’s best year as a professional. He won the Gerrit Schulte Trophy as Dutch cyclist of the year after winning Paris–Tours, the Giro di Lombardia and Bordeaux–Paris. De Roo’s Autumn Double of Paris–Tours and the Giro di Lombardia in the same year is a rare achievement as the races are different in style and topography. In winning the 1962 Paris–Tours, De Roo was awarded the Ruban Jaune for setting a record speed for a professional race of 44.903kmh over 267 km. In 1962 De Roo also won the Super Prestige Pernod, a season-long competition to find the best rider in the classics and top stage races.

De Roo did not go to the 1962 world championship after a disagreement over expenses with the Dutch cycling federation.

De Roo repeated the Autumn Double in 1963. In 1964 he was Dutch road race champion and then returned to the Tour de France after a three-year hiatus to win the stage between Montpellier and Perpignan. In 1965 De Roo left Anquetil’s team and signed a two-year contract with the Dutch Televizier squad, which included Gerben Karstens. 1965 saw victory in the Tour of Flanders when he escaped with Ward Sels on the Valkenberg and then won the sprint. Another stage win came at that year's Tour de France, into Bordeaux. 1966 saw victory at the Omloop "Het Volk"; he won another stage in the Tour de France on his birthday (between Montpellier and Aubenas) and a stage in the Vuelta a España between Madrid and Calatayud.

De Roo spent the last two years of his career (1967 and 1968) with Willem II-Gazelle, riding in the company of Rik Van Looy and Peter Post in the last days of their careers. He rode the 1967 Tour de France as part of the Dutch national team and finished 76th. Jo de Roo retired at the end of 1968 at 31. His last victory was on 25 June 1968 in Zomergem.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jo de Roo.

• Jo de Roo at Cycling Archives (archived)