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Patrick Lefevere
Patrick Lefevere (born 6 January 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist, who currently serves as the general manager of UCI WorldTeam . According to the ranking site ''Cycling Ranking'' he is the most successful cycling manager in history. Career Lefevere is from Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of the north and was a professional racer from 1976 to 1979, winning Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne and the fourth stage in the Vuelta a España, both in 1978. When his sports career ended, Lefevere began a new enterprise as a ''directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...'' (team coach). In 1980, he was ''directeur sportif'' at Marc Superia and then spent time at Capri Sonne (1981–1982). From 1985 to 1987, he was with Lotto-Belisol, Lotto; in 1988 he jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris–Nice
Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlooking the city. The event is nicknamed ''The Race to the Sun'', as it runs in the first half of March, typically starting in cold and wintry conditions in the French capital before reaching the spring sunshine on the Côte d’Azur. The hilly course in the last days of the race favours stage racers who often battle for victory. Its most recent winner is Slovenian Primož Roglič. One of the iconic races of cycling, Paris–Nice is part of the UCI World Tour as the competition's second race of the season, the first in Europe. It is organized by ASO, which also manages most other French World Tour races, most notably cycling's flagships the Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix. The roll of honour features some of cycling's greatest riders, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classics of Flanders and Northern France and was considered one of the best classic races specialists of the 1990s. He won both the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix three times and was road world champion in 1996. Other notable career achievements include two individual stage wins in the Tour de France, two final classifications of the UCI Road World Cup, two national road race championships and several classic cycle races. In 1996 he received the Vélo d'Or, awarded annually to the rider considered to have performed the best over the year. Early life and amateur career Born in Varsenare, Museeuw grew up in Gistel, West Flanders. His father Eddy had been a professional cyclist for two seasons, albeit without much success. As a junior and amateur, Muse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow Jersey
The rainbow jersey is the distinctive jersey worn by the reigning world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the colours are: green, yellow, black, red and blue; the same colours that appear in the rings on the Olympic flag. The tradition is applied to all disciplines, including road racing, track racing, cyclo-cross, BMX, Trials and the disciplines within mountain biking. A world champion must wear the jersey when competing in the same discipline, category and speciality for which the title was won. For example, the world road race champion would wear the garment while competing in stage races (except for time trial stages) and one-day races, but would not be entitled to wear it during time trials. Similarly, on the track, the world individual pursuit champion would only wear the jersey when competing in other individual pursuit events. In team ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michał Kwiatkowski
Michał Kwiatkowski ( , born 2 June 1990) is a Polish professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Kwiatkowski is seen as a strong all rounder, with good sprinting, time-trialling and climbing abilities allowing him to win both stage races and one day classics. His talent was shown early in his career, winning the World Junior Time Trial Championships in 2008. In 2014, Kwiatkowski became the world elite road race champion, and he was also a member of the team that won the 2013 World Team Time Trial Championships. In 2017 he won his first 'Monument', Milan–San Remo, while in 2018, he won Tirreno–Adriatico and the Tour de Pologne. He is a two-time winner of two of the most prestigious non-Monument classics, the Amstel Gold Race and the Strade Bianche. Career Early career Kwiatkowski is a double European junior champion, winning the road race in 2007 and the individual time trial in 2008. In 2009 he became national road champion in the under- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zdeněk Bakala
Zdeněk Bakala (born 7 February 1961) is a Czech entrepreneur and investor. He is a stakeholder in mining, energy, financial businesses and owns the media company Economia, the publisher of ''Hospodářské noviny'' and '' Respekt'' magazine among others. As of 2017, Bakala is the tenth wealthiest person in the Czech Republic according to ''Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...''. His philanthropic activities are directed via the Bakala Foundation. In September 2018, Bakala found a lawsuit in federal court in Beaufort, South Carolina in which he claims that a controversional Slovak businessman Pavol Krúpa has initiated frivolous lawsuits, promoted death threats on Facebook and instigated criminal investigations targeting him. The lawsuit also says that Krupa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Virenque
Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", making it Vee-rank. But Virenque says Vee-rahnk or Vee-ronk, a sound difficult to write in English. (born 19 November 1969) is a retired France, French professional road racing cyclist. He was one of the most popular French riders with fans for his boyish personality and his long, lone attacks.Virenque's fan club in 2000, two years after the Festina scandal had 5,000 members, of whom 2,000 were described as active. In 2000, Virenque received 589 letters in three weeks during the Tour de France, more than any other rider. He was a climber, best remembered for winning the King of the Mountains competition of the Tour de France a record seven times, but he is best known from the general French public as one of the central figures in a widespr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tour Of Flanders
The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organized by Flanders Classics. Its nickname is ''Vlaanderens Mooiste'' ( Dutch for "Flanders' Finest"). First held in 1913, the Tour of Flanders had its 100th edition in 2016. Today it is one of the five '' monuments'' of cycling, together with Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Giro di Lombardia. It is one of the two major Cobbled classics, anticipating Paris–Roubaix, which is on the calendar one week after the Tour of Flanders. The event had its only interruptions during World War I and has been organized without hiatus since 1919, the longest uninterrupted streak of any cycling classic. Six men hold the record of most victories, making the Tour of Flanders unique among the major classics. Belgians A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris–Roubaix
Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of the European calendar, and contributes points towards the UCI World Ranking. The most recent edition was held on 17 April 2022. Paris–Roubaix is famous for rough terrain and cobblestones, or pavé (setts),Paris–Roubaix is popularly known throughout the English-speaking world for its 'cobbled sectors', but this is a misnomer as the sectors are actually paved with granite setts, roughly hewn blocks, which are smoother and safer than true cobblestones (prominent rounded pebbles often used on inner city streets). This article maintains the misnomer 'Cobblestones' but attempts to clarify the misnomer where relevant. being, with the Tour of Flanders, E3 Harelbeke and Gent–Wevelgem, one of the cobbled classics. It has been called ''the He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Boonen won the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships, and was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the Overall title of the Tour of Qatar 4 times. Career Early years At the start of 2002 Boonen rode for , finishing third in Paris–Roubaix after an early breakaway. Fellow Belgian Johan Museeuw had escaped to a solo victory. Team captain George Hincapie crashed in a slippery section of the course leaving Boonen to ride for himself. Boonen's performance led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paolo Bettini
Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974 in Cecina, Livorno, Tuscany) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the 2006 and 2007 World Road Race Championships. He is nicknamed ''Il Grillo'' ("the cricket") for his repeated sudden attacks and his sprinting style. He gained prominence by winning Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2000 and 2002. He set the record for World Cup wins in a season in 2003, winning the Milan–San Remo, HEW Cyclassics and Clásica de San Sebastián. He won the Giro di Lombardia in 2005 and 2006, the Züri-Metzgete in 2001 and 2005 and Tirreno–Adriatico in 2004. Early career Paolo Bettini lived with his family on the Tuscany coast. He began racing when he was seven and won 23 of his first 24 races.''Cycling Weekly'', UK, May ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Coucke
Marc Coucke (born 27 January 1965) is a Belgian businessman, multimillionaire and media figure. Founder of former BEL20 pharmaceutical company Omega Pharma, he has spread his business interests across several sectors including art, through his company Kamacoucka, and sports, through the co-ownership and sponsorship of the UCI ProTeam cycling team, sponsorship of French Ligue 1 side Lille OSC and as major share holder of Belgian Pro League team Anderlecht. Education Marc Coucke studied at St Barbara College in Ghent before attending the University of Ghent ( Ghent, Belgium) where he studied pharmacy. Later he obtained a Master in General Management from the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. Biography In 1987, he co-founded Omega Pharma with Yvan Vindevogel. This Belgian pharmaceuticals company grew rapidly and in 2006 employed three thousand people whilst operating in thirty countries. He remained Chief Executive Officer of Omega Pharma until 30 September 2006, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frans De Cock
Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat and statesman * Frans Ackerman (1330–1387), Flemish statesman * Frans Adelaar (born 1960), Dutch football player and manager * Frans Alphons Maria Alting von Geusau (born 1933), Dutch legal scholar and diplomat * Frans Aerenhouts (born 1937), Belgian cyclist * Frans Ananias (born 1972), Namibian footballer * Frans Andersson (1911–1988), Danish bass-baritone * Frans Andriessen (1929–2019), Dutch politician * Frans Anneessens (1660–1719), Flemish protest leader * Frans van Anraat (born 1942), Dutch businessman and convicted war criminal * Frans Badens ( fl. 1571–1618), Flemish painter * Frans Bak (born 1958), Danish composer, choral conductor, saxophonist, and pianist * Frans Decker (1684–1751), 18th-century painter from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.JPG "Click for more on -> Rainbow Jersey")
