Roger De Vlaeminck

Roger De Vlaeminck (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔʒe də ˈvlamɪŋk]; 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 classics 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 classic 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".

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. In Luxembourg in 1968, Erik became world professional champion and Roger the amateur champion on the same day. Roger eventually took the professional title in 1975.

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

Professional career

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 skills 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 classics. 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. In 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. De Vlaeminck 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 and he eventually had 259 road race victories. He always kept active in cyclo-cross, resulting in 70 cyclo-cross victories and a world title in 1975. De Vlaeminck also had a few successes on track, with several podium finishes in Six-Day races and a national Madison title in 1972 alongside Patrick Sercu. This makes him the only cyclist who won a Belgian national championship in road cycling, cyclo-cross and track cycling.

Rivalry with Merckx

In 1970, Rik Van Looy ended his career and many fans then focused on Roger De Vlaeminck as his successor. Another young rider who could succeed Van Looy was Eddy Merckx. When the professional careers of both riders had just started, De Vlaeminck always wanted to beat Merckx. He was even disappointed if someone else came in second, because then people could say he had no opposition. After racing against each other for a number of years, the two started to think differently about each other. De Vlaeminck gained respect for Merckx's performance and Merckx appreciated that his competitor always fought him with an open mind.

De Vlaeminck also believes that there were others who benefited from the competition between him and Merckx. He often restricted his competitor, but this cost so much strength that someone else took advantage of it. De Vlaeminck also says that he could have won some races if Merckx had not participated, but in other races he drove better because he never wanted to be inferior to his competitor.

Ultimately, De Vlaeminck named his son Eddy De Vlaeminck, after his competitor.

Post-career

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 is not 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.

Major results

Cyclo-cross

Road

Monuments results timeline

Source:

Track

Records

• Most Tirreno–Adriatico wins: 6 in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977
• Most Paris–Roubaix wins: 4 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977 (record shared with Tom Boonen)
• Most Druivenkoers Overijse wins: 4 1970, 1972, 1974 and 1978 (record shared with Björn Leukemans)
• The only professional who won a national championship in road cycling (1969, 1981), cyclo-cross (1974, 1975, 1978) and track cycling (1972)

Awards and honours

• Mendrisio d'Or: 1975
• Winner of 7 of the 8 Classic 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)
• CyclingRanking – Overall ranking: 8th place

See also

• List of riders with stage wins at all three cycling Grand Tours
• Belgium at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
• Belgium at the UCI Road World Championships
• Cycling records
• A Sunday in Hell

Notes

References

• Fotheringham, William (2003). A Century of Cycling: The Classic 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, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7175-5. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

Further reading

• Luchon, Raphael (1978). Roger De Vlaeminck. Silsden, UK: Kennedy Brothers. ASIN B0007C86H0.

External links

• Roger De Vlaeminck at Cycling Archives
• Complete palmares (in French)
• Roger De Vlaeminck at Olympics.com
• Roger De Vlaeminck at Olympedia