Dirk De Wolf

Dirk De Wolf

Personal information
Full name	Dirk De Wolf
Born	16 January 1961 (1961-01-16) (age 50) Aalst, Belgium
Team information
Current team	Retired
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)
1983 1984 1985–1989 1990 1991 1992–1993 1994	Boule d'Or Kwantum Hallen-Yoko Hitachi PDM Tonton Tapis Gatorade Novemail - Histor
Major wins
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1992)
Medal record Competitor for  Belgium Road bicycle racing World Championships Silver 1990 Utsunomiya Professional race
Infobox last updated on 11 October 2007

Dirk De Wolf (born 16 January 1961 in Aalst, East Flanders) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium.

Cycling career

In 1982 at the age of 23 De Wolf won the Sealink International and finished 8th at the World Road Championships. The following season he turned professional for the Belgium team Boule d'Or. In his first season as a professional he won a stage in Paris–Nice. In 1984 he joined the Dutch team Kwantum Hallen-Yoko riding alongside Joop Zoetemelk. and Adri van der Poel. After just one season he then joined Hitachi riding alongside Roger De Vlaeminck. In his second season with Hitachi he won Four Days of Dunkirk. In 1989 De Wolf finished second in the Paris–Roubaix classic behind fellow Belgian, Jean-Marie Wampers. After five seasons with Hitachi De Wolf moved to PDM in 1990 and was second in the UCI Road World Championships. The race in Japan went to the final lap of the nine mile course which resulted in De Wolf being beaten by Rudy Dhaenens in a photo finish.^[1] In 1991 he then joined Tonton Tapis riding alongside Stephen Roche. In 1991 he won the Giro dell'Appennino, finished third in the Amstel Gold Race and competed in his first Tour de France. In 1992 he then joined Gatorade riding alongside Laurent Fignon. In his first season with Gatorade he won Liège–Bastogne–Liège. After two seasons with Gatorade he then joined the French team Novemail, retiring at the end of the 1994 season.

He participated in the Tour de France five times, however his best overall finish was a disappointing 66th^[2] as his talents were better suited to one-day classics than to long stage races^[3]

Palmarès

1982

1st Overall, Sealink International

1st, Seraing - Aachen - Seraing

4th, Paris–Roubaix (Amateur)

8th, World Road Championships (Amateur)

1983

1st, Stage 6, Paris–Nice

1985

1st, Strombeek-Bever

1986

1st Overall, Four Days of Dunkirk

1st Stage 1, Four Days of Dunkirk

1987

1st, Wommelgem

1989

1st, Dwars door Vlaanderen

2nd, Paris–Roubaix

1st, Moorsele

1st, Rummen

1990

1st, Druivenkoers Overijse

2nd UCI Road World Championships

1st, Purnode

1st, Sadirac

1st, Liedekerkse Pijl

1991

1st, Giro dell'Appennino

1st, Stage 6, Tirreno–Adriatico

3rd, Amstel Gold Race

7th, UCI Road World Championships

1992

1st, Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st, Stage 1a, Three Days of De Panne

1st, Aalst

External links

• Cycling Hall of Fame
• Dirk De Wolf profile at Cycling Archives
• CycleBase

References

1. ^ "1990 WRR". The Los Angeles Times. September 3, 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-03/sports/sp-1483_1_final-lap. Retrieved May 2010. 
2. ^ "Tour de France". http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/coureur/4779.html. Retrieved May 2010. 
3. ^ Abt, Samuel (July 2, 1992). "NY Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/02/sports/02iht-bike.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved May 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Wolf, Dirk De
Alternative names
Short description	Road bicycle racer
Date of birth	1961-01-16
Place of birth	Aalst, Belgium
Date of death
Place of death