Knetemann's family name carried on with Skil-Koga

Gerrie Knetemann passed away in 2004. (Image credit: AFP Photo)

25 years on from Dutch legend Gerrie Knetemann's Amstel Gold victory, his name will be carried on with the same sponsor that graced his jersey that year by his daughter Roxane, who will ride with the new Skil-Koga women's team. The elder Knetemann rode for Skil-Sem in 1985 when he won his home country's biggest race.

23-year-old Roxane said on the team's web site that she failed to recognize the significance of the team's sponsor until she was reminded by a teammate. "I was just happy we could take a step up as a team. It’s great to be able to benefit from the same support and equipment facilities as the Skil-Shimano team. It only really sank in when my teammate Hannah Welter asked me how it was to ride for the same sponsor my father used to ride for.”

While she had yet to be born that year, Knetemann said the Amstel Gold win is one of the few they have on video. "He had already won the Amstel Gold Race, but that victory was very special because he’d fallen badly two years earlier in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and there was a question mark over whether he would ever get back to his best. So him winning was very emotional, for the whole family really. I get goose pimples when I see the pictures.”