Roger De Vlaeminck

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Roger De Vlaeminck


fullname = Roger De Vlaeminck
nickname = Monsieur Pari-Roubaix
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1947|08|24
country = BEL
height =
weight =
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Classics rider
amateurteams =
amateuryears =
proyears = 1969–1971 1972 1973–1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–1982 1983 1984
proteams = Flandria Dreher Brooklyn Sanson GIS Boule d'Or-Colnago DAF Trucks Gios GIS
majorwins = Paris-Roubaix (4x) Tirreno-Adriatico (6x) Milan-Sanremo (3x) Giro di Lombardia (2x) Omloop Het Volk (2x)
updated = July 3, 2008

Roger De Vlaeminck (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 travelling 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”.

Career

Born in the East Flanders town of Eeklo, De Vlaeminck’s first love was football. He was playing centre forward for F.C. Eeklo when he left school and 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 title in 1975.

In 1968 Roger rode the road race at the Mexico Olympics and finished 18th.

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, 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 classics. He dominated the race between 1972 and 1977, winning six occasions and taking 15 stages.

De Vlaeminck is one of only three riders to have who won Milan-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia. The other two are fellow Belgians Rik van Looy and Eddy Merckx. 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 over 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 (retiring in 1984) and he had 257 victories.

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.

Major victories

*flagiconUCI world cyclo- cross champion 1975
*Paris-Roubaix 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977
*Liège-Bastogne-Liège 1970
*Milan-Sanremo 1973, 1978, 1979
*Ronde van Vlaanderen 1977
*Giro di Lombardia 1974, 1976
*Tour de Suisse 1975 (including six stage wins)
*Tour de France (stage win) 1970
*Giro d'Italia
**points classification: 1972, 1974, 1975
**22 stage wins between 1972 and 1979
*Vuelta a España (stage win) 1984
*Tirreno-Adriatico (Overall) 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
*Omloop Het Volk 1969, 1979
*La Flèche Wallonne 1971
*Züri-Metzgete 1975
*Paris-Brussels 1981
*BEL National road race champion 1969, 1981
*Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 1970, 1971
*E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 1971
*Milano-Torino 1972, 1974
*Coppa Agostoni 1975, 1976
*Giro del Veneto 1974
*Grote Scheldeprijs 1970

External links

*cyclingwebsite|8990
* [http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/TDF/riders/us/3990.html Official Tour de France results for Roger De Vlaeminck]
* [http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/palmares/de_vlaeminck_roger.php Complete palmares] ] fr icon Persondata
NAME=De Vlaeminck, Roger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH=1947-08-24
PLACE OF BIRTH=Eeklo
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=

Further reading

* "Roger De Vlaeminck" by Raphael Luchon published by Kennedy Brothers, Keighley, Yorkshire