Joop Zoetemelk celebrates his 75th birthday on 3 December, normally a good moment to look back on life. So does the winner of the Tour de France of 1980, but the disappointment of the moment dominates in conversation with The Telegraph.
Zoetemelk had a hard fall on the final day of the Tour de France last year during a bike ride in Paris, after which he spent eight days in hospital and suffered, among other things, a double fracture in his left arm. ‘The nerves in that arm are also damaged, so that I hardly have any strength in my hands’, says Zoetemelk.
It is difficult to remain optimistic due to the consequences of the accident, says Zoetemelk. ‘I’m not exactly in a jubilant mood, life is very difficult for me at the moment and my body really doesn’t want to anymore. I’m still sore from that accident. Against my better judgment I hope that one day I will become the ‘old Joop’ again,” the Dutch former rider tells De Telegraaf.
Joop Zoetemelk: ‘I miss cycling terribly’
“I was always optimistic, but now I have to be realistic and face that I have to take a big step backwards.” The corona pandemic is also affecting Zoetemelk. ‘It is all happening so fast and the world is completely turned upside down with this pandemic. It bothers me a lot.’
Cycling has always been his passion and life, but that is also difficult at the moment. ‘I miss it terribly and had hoped so much that I could climb the French mountains. My condition was excellent until the accident, but there isn’t much left of that now’, sighs Zoetemelk, who is gradually drawing his conclusions. ‘I can hardly believe that I still have to deal with such a blow physically, but also mentally fourteen months later. I’ve aged ten years in a few months.’
