Alfons De Wolf
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alfons De Wolf |
| Date of birth | June 22, 1956 |
| Country | Belgium |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Classics specialist |
| Major wins | |
| Giro di Lombardia (1980) Milan-Sanremo (1981) Tour de France, 1 stage Vuelta a España, 5 stages
|
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| October 5, 2007 | |
Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born June 22, 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, who was a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
He was considered, together with Daniel Willems, to be the successor of Eddy Merckx, the Belgian superchampion. De Wolf seemed to be able to fulfill that promise by winning (within just five months) the 1980 Giro di Lombardia and the 1981 edition of Milan-Sanremo, the last and first classic of the cycling season respectively, a remarkable achievement. He continued to race strongly, almost winning the 1982 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but he was beaten by Italian Silvano Contini in the final sprint.
After winning a stage in the 1984 Tour de France, wearing the yellow jersey for one day, his career faded away somewhat. In those seasons, he didn't always ride for particularly strong teams. He played an important part, though, in helping his teammate Eddy Planckaert win the green jersey in the 1988 Tour de France. He ended his active career in 1990.
He went on to become a funeral director in his native Breendonk (in the south of the Flemish province of Antwerp (province)).
Although he won the Omloop Het Volk, the Flemish season opening classic two times, Fons De Wolf was an atypical Flemish cyclist, in that he preferred the Italian races such as Milan-Sanremo to the cobble-stone classics, such as Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. He seemed to be more at ease in hilly races, though he wasn't a particularly impressive climber.
He complained about the fact that he was seen as a 'new Eddy Merckx' and repeatedly said that the public had expected too much of him. His playboy image was also uncommon in the world of Flemish cycling.
In retrospect, however, his list of wins stands out to those of many other contemporary racers.
[edit] External links
- Alfons De Wolf profile at the Cycling Website
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | De Wolf, Alfons |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | De Wolf, Fons |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Road bicycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1956-6-22 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Willebroek, Belgium |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
