Wout Wagtmans

Cyclist infobox
ridername = Wout Wagtmans


fullname = Wouter Wagtmans
nickname = Olijke Woutje
dateofbirth = birth date|1929|11|10
dateofdeath = death date|1994|8|15|mf=y
country = NED
currentteam =
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Sprinter
amateuryears =
amateurteams =
proyears = 1950-1953
1954-1959
1960
1961
proteams = Garin
Vredestein
Molteni
Vredestein
majorwins = Tour de France: 4 stages
updated = April 29, 2007

Wouter (Wout) Wagtmans (Rucphen, November 10 1929 – Sint-Willebrord, August 15 1994) was a Dutch road bicycle racer.

Together with Wim van Est he belonged to the generation that brought great popularity to cycling in the Netherlands in the 1950s. In 1947, Wagtmans started as amateur, and two years later he became Dutch champion. In 1950 he was forced to be a professional cyclist, because he was said to take money after a victory. In his first day as a professional cyclist, he entered the Dutch professional championship, and only Gerrit Schulte could keep ahead of him.

After that, he had a glorious career. He entered the Tour de France eight times, and wore the yellow jersey in 1954, 1955 and 1956. He won four stages: in 1953 in Gap he beat Gino Bartali in the final sprint, and ended fifth in the overall standings. Two years later he was the third Dutch winner in Bordeaux. He also won three stages in the Giro d'Italia and several one-day courses. He was also successful as a track rider and, together with Wim van Est, in couple courses.

Wout Wagtmans was a very popular cyclist, both because of his combativity and his enthousiasm. He received many nicknames, "Olijke Woutje", "Dik Trom", "Zoeloe", "de Clown" and "het Kemphaantje". He ended his cycling career in 1961, and in 1967 he was the leader of the Dutch Tour de France team, centered around winner Jan Janssen. After that he took over his father's transport company. In the end of the 1980s, he had a serious accident after which he was declared physically disabled. Wagtmans died in 1994, at the age of 64.

Wout Wagtmans was the uncle of another successful cyclist, Rini Wagtmans.

Palmarès

;1949:NED amateur road race champion;1950:Acht van Chaam:Oosterhout:Rotterdam:Ronde van Noord-Holland:Halsteren;1951:Leopoldsbrug:Terneuzen:Wouw:Oostbrug;1952:Acht van Chaam:Tour de Romandie;1953:Ronde van Haspengouw:Tour de France:::Winner stages 17 and 21::5th place overall classification:Hoensbroek;1954:Helmond:Sint-Willebrord:Giro d'Italia:::Winner stage 13:Tour de France:::Winner stage 1::Wearing yellow jersey for seven days;1955:Drachten:Apeldoorn:Giro d'Italia:::9th place overall classification:Tour de France:::Winner stage 19::Wearing yellow jersey for two days;1956:Tour de France:::Wearing yellow jersey for three days;1957:Roma - Napoli - Roma:Giro d'Italia:::Winner stage 6::9th place overall classification;1960:Tour des Quatre-Cantons

External links

*cyclingwebsite|7220
* [http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/TDF/riders/us/3178.html Official Tour de France results for Wout Wagtmans]