- Theo Middelkamp
Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Theo Middelkamp
fullname = Theofiel Middelkamp
nickname = de Fiel
dateofbirth = birth date|1914|02|23
dateofdeath = death date and age|2005|05|02|1914|02|23
country =
height =
weight =
currentteam =
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype =
amateurteams =
amateuryears =
proyears =
proteams =
majorwins = 1947 World Champion road race
updated =June 20 ,2008 MedalBottom
Theofiel ("Theo") Middelkamp (
Nieuw-Namen ,February 23 ,1914 – Kieldrecht,May 2 ,2005 ) was a Dutchcyclist . In 1947, Middelkamp became world champion. In 1936, he was the first Dutch cyclist ever to win a stage in theTour de France .Biography
Middelkamp was born as the second son in a family of nine children. At an early age, he wanted to be a footballer, but he soon realised that there was much more money to be earned in cycling, as football was not yet a professional sport in the Netherlands.
Middelkamp was the first Dutchman to win a stage in the
Tour de France . When he came to the Tour, he had never even seen mountains, coming from the very flat parts of the Netherlands. However, in his first Tour, onJuly 14 ,1936 , he won the difficult mountain stage from Aix-les-Bains to Grenoble, which went over theCol du Galibier . That year, he finished 23rd overall. In 1937 he had to quit the Tour because of a fall, in which he broke a finger.In 1938 he won the second stage (Bayonne-Pau). In that tour, he won 5,000 francs, much less than he could have earned in races in
Flanders , and so he decided not to participate in any later Tours. As Middelkamp famously said, "I cannot live on fame and honour".During the
Second World War , Middelkamp earned money by smuggling, but he was caught and spent several months in prison. After the war, he went back to full-time cycling.In 1947, Middelkamp became the first Dutch world champion on the road, in
Reims , after having been close to that title in the previous year.Middelkamp ended his career in 1951, when he bought a pub in
Kieldrecht . For a long time, he would not talk to journalists about his cycling years, until he spoke about his famous 1936 stage win in a television program in 2003. Middelkamp died in 2005.Major results
;1934:NED national road race championship amateurs:Roosendaal;1936:GP Stad Vilvoorde:Tour de France:::Winner stage 7::23rd place overall classification:World Championship (road race): 3rd place;1938:flagicon|NED
Dutch National Road Race Championship :Tour de France:::Winner stage 7;1943:flagicon|NEDDutch National Road Race Championship ;1945:flagicon|NEDDutch National Road Race Championship ;1947:flagiconUCI World Championship road race;1950:World Championship (road race): 2nd placeExternal links
*cyclingwebsite|6037
* [http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/TDF/riders/us/2811.html Official Tour de France results for Theo Middelkamp]
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