Career
A professional from 1969 to 1987, Pijnen was a capable track cyclist winning the European madison championship six times, a record he shares with Patrick Sercu). He also was a time trial expert, winning several. Pijnen rode on the road with TI-Raleigh, managed by another Dutch track specialist, Peter Post, but he said the length of road races bored him, and that he frequently found himself looking at his watch to see how much longer he would have to ride.
When he retired, he ran – among other enterprises he already started during his cycling career – an hotel in Bergen op Zoom, the Noord-Brabant region where he was born.