Belgian cyclist

Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

He was forecast, with Daniel Willems, to be the successor to Eddy Merckx. De Wolf seemed to fulfill that promise by having an absolutely dominant 1979 Vuelta a Espana winning 5 stages including an individual time trial as well as the Points Cl*ification, securing a top 10 place in the General Cl*ification and then following it up by winning the 1980 Giro di Lombardia and the 1981 Milan–San Remo, the last and first cl*ic of the season. He almost won the 1982 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, beaten by Italian Silvano Contini in the final sprint.

After winning a stage in the 1984 Tour de France, his career faded, however the stage win he claimed was an impressive individual effort in which he was able to beat the group of favorites including Bernard Hinault and eventual winner Laurent Fignon by a stunning margin of almost eighteen minutes.He helped his teammate Eddy Planckaert win the green jersey in the 1988 Tour de France. He ended his career in 1990.

He now helps his wife in her funeral parlour in Dworp, in the south of Brussels.

Although he won the Omloop Het Volk two times, De Wolf was an atypical Flemish cyclist, preferring Italian races such as Milan–San Remo to Paris–Roubaix, Gent–Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. He was at ease in hilly races, though he was not an impressive climber.

Eddy Planckaert and Fons De Wolf after Dwars door België, edition 1988 (collection: KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing)

He complained that he was seen as a 'new Eddy Merckx', that the public had expected too much.

Major results

19761st Tour de Namur3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften4th Road race, Summer Olympics19771st Kattekoers3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften19781st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs1st Road race, National Amateur Road Championships2nd Overall GP Tell2nd Circuit de Wallonie2nd Flèche Ardennaise2nd Kattekoers19791st Omloop Schelde-Durme2nd Trofeo Baracchi (with Jan van Houwelingen)2nd Leeuwse Pijl3rd Overall Tour of Belgium3rd Scheldeprijs4th Overall Three Days of Bruges–De Panne5th La Flèche Wallonne7th De Brabantse Pijl8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège9th Overall Vuelta a España1st Points cl*ification1st Stages 2, 7, 9, 16b & 199th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico9th Paris–Roubaix19801st Druivenkoers Overijse1st Giro di Lombardia1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke)2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico2nd Amstel Gold Race2nd Gent–Wevelgem2nd Circuit des Frontières3rd Rund um den Henninger Turm3rd Overall Vuelta a Mallorca4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège4th GP de Fourmies5th Overall Giro di Sardegna6th Paris–Roubaix6th Grand Prix des Nations6th Züri-Metzgete7th Omloop Het Volk8th Paris–Brussels10th Tour of Flanders10th Milan–San Remo19811st Six Days of Antwerp (with René Pijnen)1st Milan–San Remo1st Circuit des Frontières1st Polder–Kempen1st Stage 4 Tour of Belgium1st Stage 6 Tour de Suisse2nd GP Eddy Merckx3rd Overall Paris–Nice3rd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Amstel Gold Race3rd E3 Harelbeke5th Overall Deutschland Tour5th Züri-Metzgete6th De Brabantse Pijl7th Road race, UCI World Championships7th Tour of Flanders9th Grand Prix des Nations10th Paris–Roubaix19821st Omloop Het Volk1st S*ari–Cagliari1st Stage 1a Three Days of Bruges–De Panne2nd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège3rd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Road race, National Road Championships3rd Ronde van Limburg4th Rund um den Henninger Turm8th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk1st Stage 5a10th La Flèche Wallonne19831st Omloop Het Volk1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni1st Giro della Romagna1st Giro di Toscana1st Stage 2 Giro del Trentino1st Stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme5th Overall Giro di Sardegna8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège9th La Flèche Wallonne19841st Stage 14 Tour de France1st Stage 6 Tour of Norway1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Andalucia9th GP Eddy Merckx19851st Stage 9 Vuelta a España1st Stage 2 Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana19866th Tour of Flanders9th De Brabantse Pijl19882nd Dwars door Vlaanderen7th Gent–Wevelgem19893rd Road race, National Road Championships19907th Nokere Koerse

References

External links

• Alfons De Wolf at Cycling Archives
• Official Tour de France results for Alfons De Wolf