Former Paris-Roubaix winner and Tour de France team leader Peter Post died earlier today. He was 77.

The death was announced by the Dutch Cycling Union, but a cause was not given.

In 1964, Post became the first Dutchman to win the Paris-Roubaix, the classic known as the "Hell of the North" because of its torturous stretches over cobblestone roads.

He was best known in the Netherlands as a track racer, winning numerous six-day events. A heavy fall in the 1972 Rotterdam Six Day led to his retirement, and two years later he began a celebrated career as team leader.

Post was a successful leader of the TI Raleigh and Panasonic teams after retiring from riding, notching 55 stage wins in the Tour de France and the overall victory in 1980 with Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands.

Dutch cycling union chairman Marcel Wintels says the sport "has lost a flag-bearer and a great man."

Post's approach "made cycling in general and particularly the organization of professional teams what it is today," Wintels said.

Rabobank team technical director Erik Breukink said he began his professional racing career under Post at Panasonic and called him "the greatest team leader of the peloton."

"It was a very tough regime," Breukink said. "Peter Post demanded the utmost of you, but I profited from it throughout my career.