I raced so that I would help the faster guys to the finish
Download image
Rudolf Révay was born on 11 May 1933 in Mojmírovice near Nitra, Slovakia. His parents farmed a piece of field and had a small farm. His father Štefan (1912-1983) went to work in the North Bohemian lignite mines after the war. Rudolf and his mother Terezie (1907-1983) followed him in 1947 when he finished elementary school. They settled down in the area of Most. Rudolf started to study to become a locksmith in Komořany. At that time, his father bought him his first bike. Rudolf learned to ride a bike then and started riding on a 20km circuit according to the book by Jan Veselý. He measured his times and kept improving. Jiří Punčochář noticed him one day and took him to a cycling team in Kopisty and then to Nový Litvínov. He rode on tubular tyres since 1951. From 1953 to 1955 he did his military service in Mladá Boleslav and then in Red Star Prague’s sports centre where he met professional sportspeople. After the end of military service in 1955, he moved to Děčín where we repaired electrometers and where he also trained. In 1958, he married Marta, née Zemanová (1936 – 2014), an elementary school teacher. They had two children in 1960 and 1961. He advanced to the position of standard-setter at work and worked there until his retirement in 1993. He always had cycling as a hobby. Rudolf Révay was not a fast cyclist but he had endurance and was the best in the hills. He cycled because he enjoyed it and was with friends. To those faster ones, he often prepared conditions for their final spurts. In 1958 he became the national champion in cycling and won the most difficult Czechoslovak race Prague - Karlovy Vary - Prague. In 1960 he participated in the Peace Race and finished 19th. In 1962 he retired from his sporting career and devoted himself to his family. In 2010 he moved with his wife to Letohrad, where he lived in 2023.
