An interesting quirk of satellite TV in 1980s and 1990s South Africa was the screening of lesser known sporting events, like professional lifesaving from Australia. This extended to cycling and besides the nightly Tour de France highlights fans were also treated to an annual one hour package of Britain's Milk Race, one of the hardest pro-am races at the time.
I doubt that many will recognise the rider in picture. Peter Verbeken wasn't exactly a household name in pro cycling but he was a quality rider. Spending his entire professional career on Belgian teams, Peter claimed his fair share of victories. Like here on camera where he decimated the field on the final stage of the 1992 Milk Race, (also South Africa's first participation) into Lincoln trying to snatch overall victory from Ireland's unheralded Conor Henry. A crash early race had set him back and he was clawing back as much time as he good, but Conor prevailed in the end. Peter's name popped again a few years later, closer to home this time with a similar solo victory into a windy Durbanville at the 1995 edition of the Boland Bank Tour.
Fast forward a few decades and I was sitting on the Gordon's Bay beachfront a few Februaries ago with a colleague during some training camp downtime. We had just concluded a morning beach run and were killing time at a cafe until our riders returned from training. He posted a photo of the idyllic setting only to receive a ping a few minutes later – from Peter! Turns out that they had worked together on another team and still kept regular contact. Peter enthused about the seaside village having stayed there both as a rider on Collstrop-Lystex and later on as a staff member for Team Telekom on their annual training camps. Missed the place so much, he said, especially considering he was probably enduring yet another grey day back in Belgium.
What is Peter up to these days, I enquired?
Still in Deinze, it emerged, and now in logistics. Peter runs a cycling team's service course (storage warehouse) by day. Unlike many of his contemporaries, though, he keeps in great shape by training like a triathlete in and around the lush environs of East Flanders.
Photo credit: Phil O'Connor
