Roger De Vlaeminck

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Belgian cyclist

Roger De Vlaeminck (Dutch pronunciation: ; born 24 August 1947) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real cl*ics rider of his generation". Nicknamed “The Gypsy” because he was born into a family of traveling clothiers, he is known for exploits in the cobbled cl*ic Paris–Roubaix race, but his performances in other “Monument” races gave him a record that few can match. His record in Paris–Roubaix earned him another nickname, “Monsieur Paris–Roubaix” (English: “Mr. Paris–Roubaix“).

1 Early life and amateur career
2 Professional career
3 Post-career
4 Career achievements
- 4.1 Major results
  - 4.1.1 Monuments results timeline
5 Awards and honours
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

Early life and amateur career

De Vlaeminck was born on 24 August 1947 in the East Flanders town of Eeklo, His first love was football. At the age of 16 he debuted for F.C. Eeklo. He could have made a career in the sport, however his elder brother Erik was having success as a pro cyclist and this persuaded Roger to try cycling. He raced as a junior in 1965, gaining one win, but 1966 saw 25 victories. Roger and Erik spent their winters riding cyclo-cross and in 1968 in Luxembourg Erik became world professional champion and Roger the amateur champion on the same day. Roger eventually took the professional *le in 1975.

In 1968 De Vlaeminck rode the road race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico and finished 18th.

Professional career

De Vlaeminck attempting to defend his Tour of Flanders *le in 1978

De Vlaeminck turned professional at the start of the 1969 season with Flandria-Declerck and won the Omloop "Het Volk" in his first race. De Vlaeminck's career ran parallel with Eddy Merckx and he battled for ascendancy with Merckx throughout his career. De Vlaeminck rode Paris–Roubaix on 14 occasions, winning four times (1972, 1974, 1975, 1977), finished second four times, third once, fifth once, sixth once, seventh twice and abandoned only in 1980. His skill as a cyclo-cross rider made him an expert on the cobbles of northern France which the race crosses. De Vlaeminck used the early season Italian stage race Tirreno–Adriatico as training for the spring cl*ics. He dominated the race between 1972 and 1977, winning every edition and taking 15 stages. His six victories are the most of all time and no other rider has won the race more than twice.

De Vlaeminck is one of only three riders to have won all five 'Monuments of Cycling' (i.e., Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia). The other two are fellow Belgians Rik van Looy and Eddy Merckx. All total De Vlaeminck won 11 Monument races, and finished in the top ten on an additional 25 occasions. The only major one-day race he did not win was the world road race championship, his best performance was second to Dutchman Hennie Kuiper in 1975.

He rode three Tours de France, winning stage 6 in 1970 between Amiens and Valenciennes. He took the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia on three occasions as well as 22 stages overall including seven stages in 1975. He took a stage win in the Vuelta a España in his final season in 1984. His career lasted 15 years (he retired in 1984) and he had 257 victories.

Post-career

De Vlaeminck (left) with former professional cyclists Etienne De Wilde and Lucien Van Impe at a criterium in Aalst, Belgium in 2008

De Vlaeminck, who lives on a farm in Kaprijke, is still in cycling. He has been coaching cyclo-cross riders. In April 2004 he quit his job as coach to the John Saey-Deschacht team in Belgium to spend more time with his family, However he was tempted back to the sport in November 2004 as advisor to the Zimbabwe team as it prepared for the world championship in St. Wendel, Germany, at the end of January 2005.

De Vlaeminck is known for firm opinions about cycling and is often consulted by journalists. In particular, he criticizes the trend to have multiple leaders in a team. That, he says, means the best racers share important races between them. De Vlaeminck is also known for his harsh opinion of Tom Boonen, calling him unworthy of equaling his Paris-Roubaix record of 4 wins, claiming cycling isn't as hard as it used to be. This led to the meme "In den tijd van Roger De Vlaeminck ..." ("in the days of Roger De Vlaeminck") where De Vlaeminck was attributed to doing all kinds of unrealistic stuff.

Career achievements

Major results

Source:

19671st Stage 4 Amateur Tour of Belgium1st Stage 4 Tour de la province de Namur7th Road race, UCI Road World Amateur Championships19681st UCI Amateur CX World Championships1st Road race, National Amateur Road Championships1st Overall Amateur Tour of Belgium1st Stage 81st La Flèche Ardennaise10th Overall Tour de l'Avenir1st Points cl*ification1st Stages 10a & 10b19691st Road race, National Road Championships1st Omloop Het Volk1st Brussels–Ingooigem1st Stage 3 Tour of Belgium2nd Milan–San Remo2nd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Züri–Metzgete5th Paris–Roubaix6th La Flèche Wallonne19701st Liège–Bastogne–Liège1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne1st Grote Scheldeprijs1st Druivenkoers Overijse1st Omloop van het Houtland1st Stage 6 Tour de France2nd Paris–Roubaix2nd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen5th Paris–Tours8th Omloop Het Volk19711st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk1st Stage 21st La Flèche Wallonne1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne1st Six Days of Ghent (with Patrick Sercu)2nd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía3rd Brabantse Pijl4th Overall Tour de Suisse1st Stage 37th Paris–Roubaix8th Giro di Lombardia19721st Madison (with Patrick Sercu), National Track Championships1st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stages 4 & 5b1st Paris–Roubaix1st Milano–Torino1st Coppa Placci1st Gran Premio Città di Camaiore1st Druivenkoers Overijse3rd Grand Prix Pino Cerami4th Paris–Tours4th Trofeo Laigueglia7th Overall Giro d'Italia1st Points cl*ification1st Stages 6, 15, 18 & 19a10th S*ari–Cagliari19731st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stage 5a1st Milan–San RemoGiro d'Italia1st Stages 2, 11 & 131st Giro di Toscana1st Trofeo Matteotti1st Boucles de l'Aulne2nd Giro di Lombardia2nd Paris–Tours2nd Coppa Bernocchi2nd Omloop Het Volk2nd Trofeo Laigueglia3rd Milano–Torino4th Coppa Placci7th Paris–Roubaix8th Brabantse Pijl19741st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stage 51st Paris–Roubaix1st Giro di LombardiaGiro d'Italia1st Points cl*ification1st Stage 41st Giro del Veneto1st Milano–Torino1st Druivenkoers Overijse1st Coppa Placci1st Giro della Sicilia1st Stage 2 Giro di Puglia1st National CX Championships2nd UCI World CX Championships2nd Giro dell'Emilia2nd Paris–Brussels2nd La Flèche Wallonne2nd Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod International3rd Milan–San Remo3rd Coppa Agostoni3rd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Grand Prix de Wallonie4th Giro del Lazio7th Paris–Tours19751st UCI World CX Championships1st National CX Championships1st Overall Tour de Suisse1st Points cl*ification1st Prologue & Stages 1, 3, 5, 9 & 101st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stages 2, 4 & 51st Paris–Roubaix1st Züri–Metzgete1st Coppa Agostoni1st Giro del Lazio1st Trofeo Pantalica1st Critérium des As2nd Road race, Road World Championships2nd Paris–Tours2nd Milano–Torino2nd Druivenkoers Overijse2nd Trofeo Laigueglia2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod International4th Overall Giro d'Italia1st Points cl*ification1st Stages 4, 6, 7b, 10, 11, 18 & 204th Giro di Lombardia4th Grote Scheldeprijs4th Omloop Het Volk5th Tre Valli Varesine7th Giro dell'Emilia8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège19761st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stages 3, 4 & 5b1st Overall Volta a Catalunya1st Prologue & Stages 2 & 41st Overall Giro di Sardegna1st Stages 1b & 51st Giro di Lombardia1st Giro dell'EmiliaGiro d'Italia1st Stages 2, 5, 8 & 161st Giro del Lazio1st Coppa Agostoni1st Gran Premio di Montelupo1st Stage 3 Giro di Puglia2nd Overall Tour de Romandie1st Stage 5a2nd Tre Valli Varesine2nd Grote Scheldeprijs2nd Züri–Metzgete3rd Paris–Roubaix4th Tour of Flanders5th Coppa Placci6th Gent–Wevelgem6th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen7th Milan–San Remo19771st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stages 2 & 31st Paris–Roubaix1st Tour of Flanders1st Giro del Piemonte2nd Milan–San Remo2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod International4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège4th Paris–Tours4th Paris–Brussels6th Amstel Gold Race6th Coppa Bernocchi8th Omloop Het Volk7th Tre Valli Varesine19781st National CX Championships1st Milan–San Remo1st Druivenkoers OverijseGiro di Sardegna1st Points cl*ification1st Stages 1 & 51st Giro del Friuli1st Stage 4 Giro di Puglia2nd Paris–Roubaix3rd Giro del Lazio5th Coppa Agostoni6th Gent–Wevelgem8th Züri–Metzgete8th Brabantse Pijl10th Tour of Flanders10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships19791st Overall Giro di Puglia1st Stages 1, 2 & 31st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk1st Stages 4a & 5b1st Milan–San RemoGiro d'Italia1st Stages 2, 9 & 121st Omloop Het Volk1st Stage 5a Tirreno–Adriatico1st Milano–Vignola2nd Paris–Roubaix2nd Gent–Wevelgem3rd Overall Giro del Trentino1st Stage 13rd Tre Valli Varesine4th Züri–Metzgete7th Coppa Ugo Agostoni10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships19801st Overall Giro di Sardegna1st Stages 1, 2a, 4 & 51st Overall Vuelta a Mallorca1st Prologue & Stages 1 & 4Tirreno–Adriatico1st Stages 1 & 21st Trofeo Laigueglia1st Stage 1 Four Days of Dunkirk1st Profronde van Stiphout4th Tour of Flanders5th Milan–San Remo5th Omloop Het Volk5th Coppa Bernocchi6th Grote Scheldeprijs6th Coppa Agostoni7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships19811st Road race, National Road Championships1st Paris–Brussels1st Brabantse Pijl1st Profronde van StiphoutTour de Suisse1st Stages 2 & 3aParis–Nice1st Stages 2a & 42nd Milan–San Remo2nd Paris–Roubaix2nd Amstel Gold Race2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod International3rd Trofeo Laigueglia5th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne6th Tour of Flanders19821st Six Days of Antwerp (with Patrick Sercu)2nd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen6th Paris–Roubaix7th Overall Three Days of De Panne7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège7th Trofeo Laigueglia19841st Stage 8 Vuelta a España1st Giro di Campania3rd Milano–Torino

Monuments results timeline

Source:

Awards and honours

Mendrisio d'Or: 1975
Winner of 7 of the 8 Cl*ic cycle races (shared with Eddy Merckx). Rik van Looy won all 8.
Union Cycliste Internationale Hall of Fame: 2002
UCI Top 100: 19th place
Procyclingstats.com - All Time Wins Ranking: 3rd place (161 wins, shared with Mario Chipollini)

Notes

References

Fotheringham, William (2003). A Century of Cycling: The Cl*ic Races and Legendary Champions. London: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN:978-0-7603-1553-8. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill (2011). Historical Dictionary of Cycling. Historical Dictionaries of Sports. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN:978-0-8108-7175-5. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

External links

Roger De Vlaeminck at Cycling Archives
Complete palmares (in French)