Norbert Callens (22 June 1924 in

Wakken Wakken is a village and ''deelgemeente'' in Dentergem municipality, in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The village is located near the confluence of the rivers Lys and Mandel. History Wakken is one of the seven oldest parishes in W ...

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

– 12 March 2005) was a former Belgian 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 ...

. He was a professional from 1945 to 1952. His victories include one stage win in 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 ...

and the 1945 edition of the

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium (; ) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not org ...

. In the

1949 Tour de France The 1949 Tour de France was the 36th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 24 July. It consisted of 21 stages over . The Italian team had internal problems, because Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi could both be the team leade ...

, Callens was leading the general classification after he won stage 3, finishing in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. Unfortunately for Callens, the truck with the jerseys had broken down and there was no yellow jersey available. The next stage, Callens started with an unofficial yellow jersey, and lost the lead to Jacques Marinelli. In 1994, the

had a stage finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer again. Callens was invited there, and finally got his yellow jersey, 45 years late.

Major results

;1945 :Machelen :

:Coupe Marcel Vergeat St-Etienne ;1947 :Briek Schotte ;1948 :

Harelbeke Harelbeke (; ) is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2019, Harelbeke had a total population of 28 ...

;1949 : Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen :

: ::Winner stage 3 ::Leading general classification for one day

References

External links

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Official Tour de France results for Norbert Callens
1924 births 2005 deaths Cyclists from West Flanders Belgian male cyclists Belgian Tour de France stage winners People from Dentergem 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{Belgium-cycling-bio-1920s-stub