José Samyn (11 May 1946 – 28 August 1969) was a French professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

who died during a race in Zingem,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Samyn was born in Quiévrain, Belgium to a Belgian mother and French father, he took French nationality in 1964 . As an amateur, he won the 1965 French Military Cycling Championship. In 1967, he won a stage of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. The following year, however, a dope test carried out during the Tour proved positive. Samyn was expelled from the race, suspended for one month and fined. He was the first winner of the GP Fayt-le-Franc, and after his death at Zingem the race was renamed ''

Le Samyn Le Samyn is an annual single-day road bicycle race in Belgium, held usually in late February or early March. The event was created in 1968 as ''Grand Prix de Fayt-le-Franc'', named after the former municipality where it started and finished. In ...

'' (or ''Memorial Samyn'') in his honor.

Major results

;1967 :

Grand Prix de Denain Grand Prix de Denain is a professional road bicycle racing, cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before becoming a 1.HC event for th ...

:Solesmes :

: ::Winner stage 11 ;1968 :Circuit du Port de Dunkerque : GP Fayt-le-Franc :Wingene ;1969 :

Tour de Picardie The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for José Samyn
1946 births 1969 deaths Cyclists who died while racing French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners Sport deaths in Belgium Cyclists from Nord (French department) Belgian male cyclists Cyclists from Hainaut (province) Belgian people of French descent Belgian emigrants to France 20th-century French sportsmen 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{France-cycling-bio-1940s-stub