Sergeant raced for Post and told Cyclingnews that the Dutchman defined the role of team manager and added a new dynamic to the sport that is still reverberating to this day.
"He invented the role of a team manager and everyone who loves cycling can think of those jerseys - Raleigh, Panasonic - that means something," Sergeant told Cyclingnews.
"He was a wildly respected man of style, well organised and I think he gave cycling a new dimension. You suddenly had this one block of riders all riding for each other and that was something completely new. At first he did it with Dutch riders but then slowly he brought in more nationalities and you look at Panasonic and they were a very international team."
Sergeant signed for Post in 1990, just as the Dutchman shifted from behind the wheel of car and into a higher position of management. Despite that he still had a huge influence on teams and tactics.
"He became the man behind the manager, who built the team. It was his team."
"He brought the importance of image to the sport and now of course it’s all about image. Material, clothing, it was all taken care of. It sounds like nothing now but he made sure everyone on the team had a leather jacket with the Panasonic logo on. Everyone loved to wear it and other teams were so envious."
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While Post was highly dedicated to the sport as both a rider and then a team manager he demanded the same from his riders and was known as a strong disciplinarian.
"He was very demanding but if you make the kinds of efforts like he did then the asked for the same dedication and commitment back. He was known to find the best riders too."
"He taught teams that if you’re at the front of a race you can control everything. That was a key tactic for us. If we missed the break we didn’t need things like race radios. We’d look at each other and we knew exactly what he wanted from us."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
