125 years of racing in West Flanders

Author Patrick Cornillie brings an overview of the best West Flemish riders; and of course there are quite a few. It all starts with Cyrille Van Hauwaert, the first West-Flanders to win an international race, who will later play an important role in Belgian cycling life. Odiel Defraeye, the first Belgian to win the Tour de France, should of course not be missed. But the list of illustrious names is almost endless : Briek Schotte, Leon Vandaele, Michel Pollentier, Johan Museeuw, Sylveer and Romain Maes, Patrick Sercu, and so on and so on. There is quite a lot of consensus about the best West Flemish rider: Freedy Maertens.

Women also have their place, of course. Josiane Vanhuysse as the first Belgian Tour stage winner, Grace Verbeke as the first Belgian winner of the Tour of Flanders, or world champion keirin Nicky DeLOCKe.

The West Flemish cycling association is holding up nicely, with 430 races next season, our province is the leader. “But we have to support the organizers, for example with volunteer work and support from the city or municipality. We also look in their direction for the infrastructure, because that too is causing more and more problems,” says chairman Geert Barbry.

125 years of racing in West Flanders by Patrick Cornillie, is published by Bibliodroom.