How to Wear a Cycling Cap: Gerben Karstens

With confidence.

You may not recognize Karstens from the front, since some of the best known photos of him were taken from behind as he stood his ground, in the road, with the peloton riding down upon him. A bit of a comedian, sure, but Karstens was also a formidable sprinter with six stages of the Tour de France, fourteen of the Vuelta a Espana, and one of the Giro d'Italia to his credit. He was also a member of the Gold Medal time trial team from the Netherlands at the 1964 Olympics, winner of Paris-Tours (1965), Dutch National Road Race Champion (1966), Grand Prix de Fourmies (1968), Six Days of London (1973), Tour du Haut Var (1974), Six Days of Rotterdam (1975), and some forty-five significant additional races between 1962 and 1978.