Eric Vanderaerden

Cyclist infobox
ridername = Eric Vanderaerden


fullname = Eric Vanderaerden
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|2|11
country = Belgium
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Sprinter
majorwins = Tour de France, green jersey win (1986)
Tour de France 5 stage wins (1983, 1984, 1985)
Tour de France, 5 days in yellow jersey (1983, 1985)
Tour of Flanders (1985)
Paris-Roubaix (1987)
Three Days of De Panne, 5 time winner (1986-1989, 1993)
updated = April 16, 2007

Eric Vanderaerden (born February 11, 1962) is a retired road cyclist from the town of Lummen, Belgium.

He was a considerable talent, winning the prologue time trial of the Vuelta and the Tour de France in his professional debut year 1983. As for classics, he won the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1985 and Paris-Roubaix in 1987. In the Tour de France, his participation in the 1985 edition was a strong one, beating the later winner Bernard Hinault in a time trial stage. The next year, he won the green jersey.

After 1988, his career went in decline, though every observer had the impression he could have achieved much more. He certainly had considerable talent as a time trial racer, but as a climber in the mountains his talent was limited. Perhaps, he was partly a victim of the high expectations the Belgian public had to get a successor for Eddy Merckx, a cyclist who was very versatile in winning both classic races and big stage races.Fact|date=November 2007

After his active career, Vanderaerden has led a few semi-professional racing teams and was also assistant-manager of a professional Belgo-Italian team. He became a directeur sportif with the DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed team in August 2006. [cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/features.php?id=features/2006/vanderaeden_britain|title=From Roubaix to Wolverhampton - Eric's back at the races|publisher=Cyclingnews.com|accessdate=2007-09-24] His son Michael Vanderaerden signed a contract with the team in September 2007. [cite web|url=http://survey.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/sep07/sep05news|title=DFL-Cyclingnews wants more Belgians|publisher=Cyclingnews.com|accessdate=2007-09-24]

Major results

;1983:Aalst:Brasschaat:Oudenbosch:Peer:Retie:Tour de France:::Winner prologue::Wearing yellow jersey for two days:Vuelta a España:::Winner stages 2 and 11:Wien;1984:Bilzen, Criterium:BrasschaatBEL national road race championship:Oud-Gastel:Paris-Brussels:Ronse:Rotterdam:Tour de France:::Winner stages 10 and 23:Twello:Valkenswaard;1985:Aalst:Gent-Wevelgem:Grand Prix Eddy Merckx:Leende:Omloop Leiedal:Oudenbosch:Peer:Ronde van Limburg:Ronde van Nederland:Ronde van Vlaanderen:Sint-Truiden:Tienen:Tour de France:::Winner stagse 13 and 19::Wearing yellow jersey for three days:Valkenswaard;1986:Berlin:Boxmeer:Halle-Ingooigem:Three Days of De Panne:Dwars door Vlaanderen:E3 Prijs Vlaanderen:Peer:Sint-Truiden:Tour de France::: Winner Points classification:Trofeo Isla de Mallorca;1987:Deurne:Three Days of De Panne:Grand Prix Eddy Merckx:Lekkerkerk:Paris-Roubaix:Polder-Kempen:Scherpenheuvel:Sint-Truiden:Wouw;1988:Bavel:Three Days of De Panne:Ronde van Limburg;1989:Three Days of De Panne:Geetbets:GP Impanis:Tour of Ireland;1990:Six days of Antwerp:s Heerenhoek;1991:Dwars door Vlaanderen:Peer:Zwevezele;1992:Geetbets:GP Wielerrevue:Vuelta a España:::Winner stage 17;1993:Three Days of De Panne:La Louvière;1995:Geraardsbergen;1996:Dilsen

References