Reimund Dietzen Explained

Reimund Dietzen
Fullname:Reimund Dietzen
Birth Date:29 May 1959
Birth Place:Trier, Germany
Discipline:Road
Role:Directeur sportif
Ridertype:All-rounder
Proyears1:1982
Proteam1:Puch - Eorotex - Campagnolo
Proyears2:1983 - 1990
Proteam2:Teka
Majorwins:Grand Tours

Vuelta a España

3 individual stages (1984, 1986, 1989)One-day races and Classics

Reimund Dietzen sometimes written Raimund Dietzen (born 29 May 1959 in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a retired road and cyclo-cross cyclist from Germany, who was a professional rider from 1982 to 1990.

Cycling career

Dietzen was a successful amateur winning the German cyclo-cross championship in 1980 and 1981 as well as winning in road races. He turned professional with the Swiss team Puch in 1982. He won the cyclo-cross race the Grand Prix Jean Bausch-Pierre Kellner that year. The following year he joined a Spanish cycling team Teka with whom he would stay with for the rest of his career. In his first year with his new team he won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The following year he became the champion of Germany in the road race and cyclo-cross as well his first stage victory in the Vuelta a España. He won the stage to the Lagos de Covadonga which is a very steep climb and a prestigious stage to win. He would finish that year's edition of the Vuelta third overall.[1] The following year he was again cyclo-cross champion as well as the winner of the Vuelta a Cantabria. In 1986 he was again German road champion and won a second stage in the 1986 Vuelta a España. In 1987 he wore the leader's jersey in the 1987 Vuelta a España for five days before losing it to Herrera and then finishing the race second overall to Luis Herrera of Colombia. Dietzen finished the 1988 Vuelta a España second overall, this time to Sean Kelly of Ireland. In the 1989 Vuelta a España, Dietzen won a stage but several days later he crashed. He had ridden into a tunnel which was not illuminated and crashed, suffering career-ending injuries. He was only 30 years of age when the following year he stopped as a professional after not recovering. Seventeen years later, the Supreme Court of Spain ordered the organisers of the Vuelta a España to pay damages to Dietzen.[2] Dietzen obtained nearly all of his success in Spanish races[3] with wins in Vuelta a La Rioja, Vuelta a Castilla y León, the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme and he finished in the top 10 of every Vuelta a España between 1984-1988, three of which were on the podium.

Post-cycling career

From 2003, Dietzen was a directeur sportif with the now-defunct Team Gerolsteiner. He lives in Spain.

Career achievements

Major results

Cyclo-cross
  • 1981–1982
  • 1st Grand Prix Jean Bausch-Pierre Kellner
  • 2nd National Championships
    1983–1984
  • 1st National Championships
    1984–1985
  • 1st National Championships
    Road
  • 1981
  • Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
  • 1st Stages 3 & 4
  • 3rd Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
    1982
  • 1st Trofeo Luis Puig
  • 7th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
    1983
  • 1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
  • 1st Stage 4
  • 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
  • 3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
  • 1st Prologue
  • 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
    1984
  • 1st Road race, National Road Championships
  • 1st Stage 1 Vuelta Asturias
  • 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
  • 2nd Clásica de San Sebastián
  • 3rd Overall Vuelta a España
  • 1st Stage 12
  • 3rd Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama
    1985
  • 1st Overall Vuelta a Cantabria
  • 1st Stage 2
  • 2nd Overall Vuelta a Burgos
  • 2nd Overall Vuelta Asturias
  • 3rd Overall Tour of Galicia
  • 7th Overall Vuelta a España
    1986
  • 1st Road race, National Road Championships
  • 1st Overall Vuelta a Cantabria
  • 1st Stage 3
  • 1st Stage 4a Vuelta a Murcia
  • 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Aragón
  • 4th Overall Vuelta a España
  • 1st Stage 12
  • 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
  • 7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    1987
  • 1st Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
  • 1st Prologue
  • 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
  • 2nd Subida al Naranco
  • 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
    1988
  • 1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
  • 1st Stage 3
  • 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
  • 3rd Subida al Naranco
    1989
  • 1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
  • 1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España

    Grand Tour general classification results timeline

    Grand Tour19821983198419851986198719881989
    Vuelta a España40DNF37422DNF
    Giro d'ItaliaDid not contest during his career
    Tour de FranceDNF64DNF9083
    Legend
    Did not compete
    DNFDid not finish

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Raimund Dietzen. cyclebase.nl. 2007-09-22.
    2. Web site: Vuelta organisers must pay damages to Dietzen. cyclingnews.com. 2007-09-22.
    3. Web site: Raimund Dietzen een Duitser die alleen in de Vuelta presteerde. Sport Geschiedenis.nl. 2007-09-22.