Piet Smit

Piet Smit
Piet Smit
Born	1932; Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	22 March 2021 (aged 88)
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	road racing cyclist, speed skater

Piet Smit (1932 – 22 March 2021) was a Dutch road racing cyclist. He was also a speed skater.

Smit was born in Amsterdam in 1932. Smit won in 1952 the first edition of the Ronde van Overijssel. In this race he won the sprint ahead of Daan de Groot and Frans Mahn.^[2] The same year he finished second in the precursor of the Ronde van Drenthe and finished also second in Ochten behind Harrie Schoenmakers.^[3] After he won a competition in Rijssen he won a bike. He sold it because he had already two bicycles. He got some troubles after with it, because the sold bike broke within two weeks.^[4]

Smit was also a speed skater and competed in the 1956 Elfstedentocht. He was the first person on the ice, and was for a while a member of the front group.^[4]

After his career he was chairman of the organizing committee of the Ronde van Gorkum and consul of the province of Utrecht.^[4] Smit was honored by the organizing committee of the Ronde van Overijssel during an anniversary of his victory, and several other times, most recently he was a guest of honor at the 2017 Ronde van Overijssel.^[5]

Smit had daughters. He died on 22 March 2021, aged 88.^[5] Until his death he had the cycling ‘spirit’ because there weren’t flowers at his funeral. Smit only wanted flowers when he won a cycling race, as with the saying in Dutch: de dood of de gladiolen, meaning: the death (nothing) or the flowers (victory).^[6]