During his career he won one UCI Motor-paced World Championships in 1975,[2] seven European titles[3] and 26 six-day road races.

He finished three times in third place at world championships, in motor-paced racing and individual pursuit disciplines.

[4][5] Before starting to train in cycling in 1957 he was a successful water polo player with SV Westphalia in Dortmund.

[6] He had another bad crash on 5 December 1976 during a motor-paced race in Cologne, when he was hit hard in the head and spent nine days in a coma.

After retiring from cycling he moved to North Holland with his wife, who later died of brain tumor in 2008.