Leontien first caught my eye when I saw her in clips of the 1991 World championships in Stuttgart Germany. Her piston action hammering away up the climb was indeed very impressive! Being somewhat new to the women's cycling scene, at the time I just remember her rival Catherine Marsal and Jeannie Longo. I lost track of Leontien after the 92, 93 Tour of France she won, because of her illness with Anorexia. Following cycling news and keeping up with riders was very difficult during the early years because besides cycling magazines, there was hardly anyway to stay informed, besides the occasional clips of news on TV. It wasn't until she regained form by winning the Time Trial in 1999 at the World Championships, and then especially her three gold medals at the Sydney games in Australia that really knocked me out of my chair! The comeback story of Anorexia to Gold sure was one for the record books and a made for TV movie.

While I can't remember if there was a movie made in Holland, there was a documentary made called (From Anorexia To Gold). What follows can only be said to be the best dreams of any women cyclist and even better. There is something special about comebacks like that. While Lance Armstrong's comeback story was a good one, Leontien touched our hearts first with her rags to riches story, and multiple gold medals. Well, she certainly has done it all, won two Tours of France, World Championships on both the road and track, hour record, not to mention many other one-day classics. Also Leontien brought glamour and beauty to women's cycling with her fingernail polish and red lipstick. She was a glamour queen on the bike as well as off first doing a modest photo shoot and more importantly a good interview in Dutch Penthouse magazine. Leontien was very good at cultivating her status by modeling and she brought class and character to the sport. Probably no other cyclist has had such celebrated and publicized success as Leontien and she likely earned more total with all her exploits then any women cyclist in history.

Let's take a tour, and cover a short history of Leontien. First, while I have never met her in person, I did have a number of correspondence with Farm Frites. I had recorded the games in Barcelona in 1992 which Leontien was highly profiled. I had sent them a tape of this which they did enjoy seeing of our American network production. While it was Kathy Watt who won gold, the special profiles they did were centered on Leontien as the Dutch sensation and another profile on Jeannie Longo. Since that time I have received a number of things from them like the hour record book in Mexico and her personal magazine. Also I have Anorexia to Gold which is a well done documentary about her built up to the games in Sydney. While Leontien and Fabiana Luperini have always been my favorites, it was Leontien who first attracted me to the women's side of the sport. I came to really admire what truly gifted athletes these young women were. Their exploits have certainly inspired me to ride more often, as well as given me a break from the masses that follow the men's cycling scene. Great women cyclists are rare, and I have come to really admire the good ones. Let's take a look at Leontien's career.

Leontien starting racing at a very young age and collected many prizes and trophies over the years. Her Dad said that there was at least 180 trophies and prizes in he had stored in the garage at their home, and also a fair number of medals as well. Her first Dutch championship was in Friesland and her first Worlds was in 1991 at World championships in Stuttgart Germany. An impressive display of raw physical power and a gutsy determination to win. After that she went onto winning the 1992 and 93 Tour De France for women, called the Tour De Feminin, or today known as the Grande Boucle. She lost weight with a strict diet in order to keep climbing well in the hilly races, but soon she lost too much weight and it began to affect her health. She was mysteriously absence in the mid 90's from the racing world, especially to us Americans as we didn't really have the ability to keep up with Euro cycling until about the same time when the Internet boom took off.

She got married and with the help of her husband Michael Zijlaard, she slowly but surely beat the disease that had taken her hopes and dreams away. She returned in spectacular way in both the 1998 and 99 Worlds Championships to win the Time Trial in Valkenberg Netherlands and Treviso Italy. She shut the mouths of those who said she was finished and too fat to race. Leontien had said this was her greatest victory to overcome Anorexia and win the Worlds, but the 2000 games in Sydney lay ahead. She prepared well and under the watchful eye of her husband Michael she came to Sydney in excellent form. What followed is one of the greatest comeback stories of all times. It was an incredible display of raw power, mental discipline, endurance and the sheer will to win.

It started with the track events. She set a world record in 3000 meters Individual Pursuit, and then takes 2nd to Antonella Bellutti in the points race. Her main focus was the time trial so she entered the road race nervous and not really fully expecting to win being as tired as she was, but win she did again! This was an impressive sprint finish on what was dismal conditions, wet roads and there were crashes including the Italian veteran Alessandra Cappettello. Her trusted team mate Mirjam Melchers led out the sprint with a superb effort that capitulated Leontien to victory. Anna Wilson had said that everyone was scrambling to get onto her back wheel but Leontien was just too strong. She powered to victory to add another gold to her collection. Now with two gold medals, just the time trial to come. All the girls had realized just how well she was riding, and were afraid of her considering that the time trial is one of her premiere events.

The weather was good, and Leontien powered her way to yet another gold medal beating Mari Holden by 37 seconds. Her radio wasn't working so she was unable to keep up with the splits from her husband Michael. She just put her head down and rode full out until the finish. She managed to catch and pass the German Hanka Kupfernagel and not knowing she was doing so well, Leontien though she must of had a flat. This was to be her last Olympics and she set a record that no other cyclist has ever done the games, winning three gold medals. Certainly her parents were very proud and she came away from the games winning three gold medals and ending a chapter to what can only be said as one of the greatest comeback stories in history.

Surely, nothing could top that so what was in store for Leontien now? Well, she continued to race with Farm Frites under the direction of Michael Zijlaard. She entered a number of classics and grand tours winning some stages like in the 2000 Giro De Italia Feminin which she won stage one and held the lead until stage five. Also Leontien won Amstel Gold in 2002, and a number of other smaller races, but she saved the best for last. She blew the lid off the world hour record in Mexico in 2003, and ended her career with a Time Trial victory in the Athens games in 2004. She crashed out of the road race, but managed to pull herself together to capture another gold putting her in the record books as having won more Olympic medals then any cyclist in history!

Leontien retired after the games in Athens and she had been managing the team with her husband Michael. She also has been active in training camps for young riders and works with various groups to help those with Anorexia addiction. Her dream is to settle down and have children now that her cycling career is past.

So much More to come on this article! In fact, this article and Longo, I will finish last. The job is just too great. This one should border on the length of the Luperini article, and the Longo article might be just too overwhelming to try, but I will try!