Roger Decock (20 April 1927 – 30 May 2020) was a 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 ...

. Decock won

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, 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 ...

in 1951. During the 1951 Tour de France he was having the best Tour of his career and was 5th place overall when he became the only witness to one of the most infamous moments in cycling history. Wim Van Est was defending the

Yellow Jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

; he was descending the Col d'Aubisque when he lost control of his bike and went off a cliff. Decock was the only person to witness this and he stopped to get help for the fallen rider. It took several minutes to locate Van Est and over two hours to rescue him from 200 feet down the mountain. In total, Decock waited 25 minutes until it was clear the situation was in hand, but the time he waited cost him his high place and he ultimately finished the Tour in 17th. The following year he had the biggest victory of his career when he won the 1952 Tour of Flanders. As the finish line approached, Decock, Loretto Petrucci and

Briek Schotte Alberic "Briek" Schotte (7 September 1919 – 4 April 2004) was a Belgium, Belgian professional road racing cyclist, one of the champions of the 1940s and 1950s. His stamina earned him the nickname "Iron Briek" (''IJzeren Briek''). He was World ...

, one of the best riders of his generation, were the three lead riders fighting for the win and he defeated them in the sprint. Wim Van Est finished 4th.

Major results

Sources ;1948 :1st Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften :2nd Kattekoers ;1949 :2nd

Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (Championship of Flanders) or Koolskamp Koerse is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Koolskamp (part-municipality of Ardooie), West Flanders, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom ...

;1950 :1st Vijfbergenomloop :2nd Grand Prix Jules Lowie :4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne :9th Gent-Wevelgem :9th Paris-Brussels ;1951 :1st Overall Paris-Nice :1st

:1st Ronde van West-Vlaanderen :4th Gent-Wevelgem :9th Grand Prix des Nations ;1952 :1st

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

:2nd Brussel-Ingooigem :2nd GP de Suisse :4th Overall Dwars door België :5th Vijfbergenomloop :6th Liège-Bastogne-Liège :7th

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

;1953 :1st Stage 11 Tour du Maroc :5th Roubaix–Huy :6th Paris-Roubaix :6th GP de Suisse :9th Gent-Wevelgem :9th Overall Paris-Nice ;1954 : Tour of Belgium ::1st Stages 3, 4a ( ITT) & 5 :1st Scheldeprijs :2nd Road race, National Road Championships :2nd Brussel-Ingooigem :2nd Roubaix–Huy :2nd Grand Prix Jules Lowie :2nd Circuit des XI Villes :7th Liège-Bastogne-Liège :7th Paris-Tours :8th

:8th Paris-Brussels :9th

:10th Paris-Roubaix ;1955 :1st Brussel-Ingooigem :4th Paris-Brussels :6th Ronde van Brabant :7th

;1956 :4th Omloop Het Volk :6th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

:6th Tre Valli Varesine :8th

Nationale Sluitingsprijs Nationale Sluitingprijs is a classic cycle races, semi classic European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held annually in Putte (Kapellen), Belgium. From 2005 to 2017, the race was organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Eur ...

;1957 :1st

:1st Stage 1 Ronde van Nederland :9th Paris-Brussels ;1958 :10th Milan-San Remo ;1959 :1st Omloop van Oost-Vlaanderen :7th GP Flandria ;1960 :5th

References

External links

* * 1927 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Izegem Belgian male cyclists Cyclists from West Flanders 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{Belgium-cycling-bio-1920s-stub