Who is Kai Reus?

13.09.2009

For many, the words of Stage Two winner and Yellow Jersey wearer Kai Reus in the post-race press conference will have a certain mystery about them.

"It’s my first victory in two years, but it’s a long story…." Said the 24-year-old Dutchman, but those words only tell part of a story that has seen the rider fight back from life threatening injuries, with his Stage Two victory being the first since a terrible accident that could have ended his life, let alone his then, highly promising cycling career.

It was Thursday 12th July 2007, and training alone in the French Alps ahead of a Rabobank training camp, Reus crashed while descending the Col de l’Iseran when his chain broke while overtaking a car. Bystanders and police applied first aid, but when admitted to hospital in Grenoble the Dutch rider was put into an induced coma.

A brain haemorrhage, broken collarbone and three broken ribs were the extent of his injuries, while violent convulsions greeted doctors as they attempted to bring Reus out of his coma.

Thankfully they were eventually successful, and it was sure to have been a great relief to Reus’ family when he was able to recognise his Father from his hospital bed. Two weeks later he was well enough to fly home to the Netherlands, eventually leaving hospital over a month after his crash to recuperate at his parents home in Winkel.

Before his accident Reus was a highly promising youngster with a bright future ahead of him as he progressed from the Rabobank Continental squad to the ProTour team. In 2005 he won a stage and the overall in the Tour de Normandie and Thüringen-Rundfahrt, both short stage races, while also taking the GP Pino Cerami, a tough one-day race in Belgium that has been won by riders like Eddy Merckx and Bernhard Hinault in the past.

A year later and Reus retained his Tour de Normandie title, winning the Prologue and a stage on his way to victory, while among his other wins was the Liege – Bastogne – Liege Espoirs race, a junior version of the prestigious Belgian Classic, and an excellent indicator of future stars. In a curious link to The Tour of Britain, the winner a year before Reus was 2006 Tour of Britain winner Martin Pedersen.

2007 started brightly, but then disaster struck in the French Alps.

Reus returned to the peloton a year ago at the Tour of Missouri, riding just a couple of races for the Rabobank Continental squad as he battled to recover his previous form. Back in the senior Rabobank squad this season, Kai’s best result before reaching the North East had been ninth in the Dutch Time Trial Championships, while he was only drafted into their Tour of Britain line-up as a late replacement for the injured Stef Clement.

Team Manager Erik Dekker was impressed with his rider’s performance, describing it as "Unbelievable" and going on to say, "There's obviously a great story, I know for every cycling enthusiast. This is truly a special moment for him and of course everyone around him. The press conference was difficult for him to find the right words.

"In the peloton riders from other teams came to us to ask how it could be done. I had heard the stories about Kai from his time with Nico Verhoeven (Rabobank Continental manager) but finally with my own eyes we were seeing the highest level. In the car I could not believe my eyes."

If seeing is believing, then Reus has a lot of new found believers in his talent in Britain, and in particular in the North East.