Which driver won in the end? Secondary for team boss Peter Post. The main thing was that the winner wore the black, red and yellow TI-Raleigh jersey. The British-Dutch team shook up cycling from the mid-1970s onwards with a mercilessly aggressive riding style. The result: more than 900 race victories. The team characterised the heyday of Dutch cycling - with names such as Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Hennie Kuiper and Joop Zoetemelk.
The genesis
Banana saddle, high handlebars, red paintwork: with the Raleigh Chopper, the British company Raleigh Bicycles designed a cult bike at the end of the 1960s - at least in Great Britain and North America. However, mainland Europe promised the big money. Britain's imminent accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 therefore proved to be a blessing. A cycling team was to provide the necessary publicity at the start. The parent company of Raleigh Bicycles, Tube Investments (TI), made the first attempt with the manufacturer Carlton and exclusively British riders. It was not until 1972 that the group decided to use the much better-known Raleigh brand as its supplier and namesake. The beginning of TI-Raleigh.
The greatest success
Road races, classics, stage wins: Team TI-Raleigh celebrated success everywhere. Only the overall victory in a major national tour did not materialise for a long time. In 1977, Hennie Kuiper finished second in the Tour de France, but team boss Peter Post doubted his compatriot's absolute will to win. Early on, Post therefore wooed Joop Zoetemelk as the new captain - and finally convinced the then 33-year-old to switch in 1980. The decisive factor for Zoetemelk: TI-Raleigh's superiority in the team time trial. Between 1978 and 1982, the team won eight times in a row in this discipline at the Tour. The Dutchman had previously finished the Tour in second place five times - and had the misfortune of first having to ride against Eddy Merckx and later against Bernard Hinault.
The 1980 Tour also got off to an unpromising start: having just recovered from a stomach bug, Zoetemelk lost almost four minutes to Hinault on the first stages. However, the Frenchman soon developed knee problems, which forced him to retire after the 12th stage. Zoetemelk took yellow, but still had to overcome a scary moment: On the 16th stage to the mountain arrival in Pra Loup, his team-mate Johan van der Velde slipped off the pedals, collided with Zoetemelk and brought his captain down. Zoetemelk suffered an elbow bruise and appeared to be ailing over the next few days - but his lead was enough to win the Tour. Second: Hennie Kuiper.
It remained TI-Raleigh's only Grand Tour success. This was partly due to the racing philosophy of team boss Post. Even Zoetemelk did not receive unconditional support in the year of his victory. Instead, TI-Raleigh characterised the race with relentless attacks from almost all riders. The result: the team won eleven of the 22 stages.
The boss
Discipline and loyalty were Peter Post's top priorities; he regarded dissent as an affront. He was in charge. His trademark: unbuttoned shirt, Rolex and sunglasses. Even as an active rider, Post did not spare himself, was considered obsessed with training and a successful six-day rider. His greatest success came in 1964 at Paris-Roubaix - with a course record of 45.131 km/h, which stood until 2017. From 1974, he was entrusted with the management of TI-Raleigh. Post was given a free hand and brought a stronger Dutch identity to the racing team.
Above all, he saw himself as a manager who liked to refer to his team as a "company" and had a say in every detail - be it equipment, nutrition or the colour of the team cars. In sporting terms, he dissolved the established system of captain and assistant: Almost every driver was given the chance to win races - depending on Post's gusto. Post once referred to this as "chameleon tactics": the drivers' roles changed depending on the race situation. This was unpredictable for the competition, but a recipe for success for TI-Raleigh. Failure, however, was not an option: those who didn't take their chance got to know the ruthless side of Post. In return, he provided the riders with good contracts for criteriums and six-day races, let them stay in the best hotels and provided them with the best possible equipment. However, the team also benefited from a unique generation of exceptional Dutch riders such as Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Henk Lubberding, Peter Winnen, Kuiper and Zoetemelk. Post died in January 2011 at the age of 77.
The most influential drivers
Jan Raas
Post brought the successful amateur rider onto his team in 1975. One year later, the then 23-year-old Raas was already celebrating winning the Dutch road championship. Raas confidently demanded more freedom in the classics - Post refused. Raas then switched to Team Frisol in 1977, won Milan-San Remo and prevailed against the TI-Raleigh riders Knetemann and Kuiper in the Amstel Gold Race. A disgrace for Post. Because Frisol pulled out as a sponsor, Post brought his compatriot back in 1978. This time with more success: Raas won Paris-Roubaix, twice the Tour of Flanders and four more times the Amstel Gold Race. He was regarded as one of the most dominant classics riders and sprinters of the time. In 1979, he also won the world championship title in Valkenburg in a two-man sprint against Dietrich Thurau. However, the relationship with Post remained strained - two big egos were one too many at TI-Raleigh.
Gerrie Knetemann
Like Raas, Knetemann also wore a huge spectacle frame as his trademark. And like Raas, he also joined TI-Raleigh in 1975. Apart from that, they didn't have much in common. Knetemann, nicknamed "de Kneet", was one of the most popular riders of the time with his witty sayings, while Raas often came across as grim and unapproachable. Knetemann won the Amstel Gold Race and ten Tour stages for TI-Raleigh. The longer the race distance and the worse the weather, the better the chances of victory for the tenacious Dutchman. This is how he secured the world championship title on the road at the Nürburgring in 1978 - after 274 kilometres, some of which were rained out. In 1983, Knetemann suffered a serious crash, broke a leg and almost lost a hand. He had to take a break for almost a year. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 53.
Hennie Kuiper
The Dutchman joined TI-Raleigh in 1976 as the reigning road world champion. However, Kuiper was unfamiliar with the harsh tone of the team and Post's strict leadership from the very beginning. Nevertheless, he managed to win the team's first Tour stage in 1976. Over time, the disagreements between him and Post grew. Kuiper was one of the best classification riders of the time, but rarely took victories. For Post, on the other hand, anything from second place onwards was a disappointment. Post also had little sympathy for Kuiper's reserved nature. At the 1977 Tour de France, Post favoured the young, charismatic Thurau for a long time and let Kuiper work as a helper. Only when Thurau fell back in the mountain time trial of the 15th stage did Kuiper get a free ride - and ended up losing the Tour 48 seconds behind Bernard Thévenet. Kuiper left the team in 1978.
The German influences
The young and self-confident Dietrich Thurau quickly became a favourite of Post from 1975 onwards. At his Tour premiere in 1977, Thurau won the prologue straight away and subsequently wore the yellow jersey for 15 days. Germany suddenly discovered his interest in cycling, and the French were also taken with him: Thurau was nicknamed the "Blond Angel" in the media. In 1978, Thurau switched to the Belgian team IJsboerke, but was never able to repeat his successes with TI-Raleigh. Years later, he admitted that he should never have left the Post team. After Thurau, Klaus-Peter Thaler rode for the team until 1979; he also wore the Tour's yellow jersey for two days in 1978. Between 1975 and 1978, another German rider was under contract, the track specialist Günter Haritz, who died at the end of October 2025.
The biggest controversy
The big bang in the team was inevitable. Post wanted to dictate everything in the team; his most important driver, Raas, was reluctant to be told what to do. These tensions accompanied the team for many years. Raas increasingly questioned Post's tactical decisions. He was also annoyed by the team boss's public appearances, who - in Raas' opinion - claimed too many of the team's successes for himself. Raas' rebellion increasingly won him support within the team. Eventually, two camps formed: Raas' helpers and Post's protégés. In sporting terms, it was the beginning of the end for TI-Raleigh.
The end
At the end of the 1983 season, Raleigh Bicycles cancelled its sponsorship. Post found a new sponsor in the electronics company Panasonic, but the team fell apart. Instead of subordinating himself again, Raas founded his own racing team in 1984 - with the help of the Dutch furniture chain Kwantum. It is the nucleus of today's Visma team. Some riders followed Raas, others stayed with Post. After a serious crash at Milan-San Remo in 1984, Raas had to end his active career a year later. However, the rivalry between him and Post continued in their roles as team managers.
The trophy cabinet
- Tour de France 1980 (Joop Zoetemelk)
- Tour of Flanders 1979 and 1983 (Jan Raas)
- Paris-Roubaix 1982 (Jan Raas)
