Janssen was born at Nootdorp, a small town near The Hague and Delft, just five days after the Netherlands surrendered to the Nazis.

He worked with his parents as a youth, digging the heavy ground of the western Netherlands to excavate foundations for the buildings the family firm erected.

But it was finally in 1968 that he became the first Dutchman to win the Tour de France, beating the Belgian, Herman Van Springel, by 38 seconds.

That remained the smallest winning margin until 1989, when Greg LeMond won by only eight seconds ahead of Laurent Fignon.

Janssen had not worn the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification in 1968 until he reached Paris at the end of the final stage, an individual time-trial.

He left the peloton to run a bicycle frame-building business in the south-western village of Putte, which is divided by the border with Belgium.

[3] The Dutch race organiser Charles Ruys, who called Janssen a businesslike, honest and straightforward man, said: A bit of insight into his personality, showing the respect and compassion he showed for his fellow riders, can be gathered from a 2007 interview regarding the feisty British rider Tom Simpson (see the Death of Tom Simpson): Janssen spent most of his career with a French sponsor, profiting from the higher rate that the French franc enjoyed then against the guilder.