Freddy Maertens

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Freddy Maertens


fullname = Freddy Maertens
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1952|2|13
country = Belgium
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Sprinter
majorwins = World Cycling Champion 1976, 1981
Tour de France green jersey (1976,1978,1981), won 16 stages
Vuelta a España 1977 (including 13 stages)
Paris-Nice 1977
updated = April 16, 2007

Freddy Maertens (born 13 February 1952 in Nieuwpoort) was a Belgian professional racing cyclist and twice world road cycling champion.

In Italy in 1976, he won in front of Italians Francesco Moser and Tino Conti. In Prague in 1981, he beat Italian Giuseppe Saronni and France's Bernard Hinault. He was also second in the 1973 world championship.

Maertens also won the 1977 Vuelta a España, taking more than half the stages; 13 in total, and took the spinters' "maillot vert" in the Tour de France three times (1976 Tour de France, 1978 Tour de France and 1981 Tour de France). In 1976 he won a record-equalling eight stages of the Tour de France; the following year (1977), he took seven stages in the Giro d'Italia.

Outside the Grand Tours, his stage race victories included Paris-Nice (1977), the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque (1973, 1975, 1976 and 1978), the Tour of Andalucia (1974, 1975), Tour of Belgium (1974, 1975), Tour de Luxembourg (1975), Tour of Sardinia (1977) and Vuelta y Catalunya (1977).

However, despite his sprinting dominance during the 1970s, Maertens did not win a one-day Classic, coming closest with second places in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1973) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1976). He was disqualified from second place in the 1977 Ronde for an illegal bike change on the Koppenberg climb. His other major one-day road race victories included:
*Gent-Wevelgem (1975, 1976)
*Paris-Brussels (1975)
*Paris-Tours (1975)
*Amstel Gold Race (1976)
*Rund um den Henninger Turm (1976)
*Züri-Metzgete (1976)
*Omloop "Het Volk" (1977, 1978)
*Grote Scheldeprijs (1973)

Maertens is believed to have been one of the best sprinters in the world, and is credited with having nurtured another great sprinter Seán Kelly during the latter's early professional career. He was also an accomplished rider in individual time trials, winning the Grand Prix des Nations in 1976.

He also won the season-long "Super Prestige Pernod International" competition in 1976 and 1977.

Maertens was known to have pushed high gears, which some critics say caused him to burn out early and retire at young. In response, he said that the higher gears allow him to descend without too much strain to his heart.A year after his fabulous 1981 season his career was all but on the rocks & as reigning World Champion he failed to start the 1982 edition of the race at Goodwood , the official line was that he injured his knee on a gate.

In the 1973 world championship in Barcelona, Spain, fellow Belgian Eddy Merckx accused Maertens of having chased him in the final lap while Merckx had a good chance of staying away, resulting in Italy's Felice Gimondi winning the title. Maertens responded that Merckx had sabotaged his ride because Maertens was riding Shimano components while the other two used Campagnolo. In recent interviews Maertens and Merckx said they have since reconciled their differences.

After retirement Maertens and his wife Carine had many hard years after losing much of their money and being pursued by tax authorities. Maertens was also angry when Belgian television used his photograph as a backdrop to discussions about drug-taking in the sport. He told the French newspaper "L'Équipe" that "like everyone else", he had used amphetamines in round-the-houses races but he insisted that he had ridden without drugs in important races - not least because he knew he would be tested for them. He previously worked as curator of the Belgian national cycling museum in Roeselare, and now works at the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders Museum), in Oudenaarde.The bicycle shop Maertens Sport in Evergem on the outskirts of Gent is owned by Freddy's brother Mario.

Palmarès

;1971: BEL National Amateur Road Race Championship: sica, World Amateur Road Race Championship;1973: 1st, Overall, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque:: Winner Stage 5b: 1st, Scheldeprijs: sica, World Road Race Championship: 2nd, Ronde van Vlaanderen: 5th, Paris-Roubaix;1974: 1st, Overall, Tour de Luxembourg:: Winner Stages 1 & 2: 1st, Overall, Vuelta a Andalucía:: Winner Prologue a-b, stages 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6: 1st, Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen: 1st, Stages 2, 3 & 4, Ronde van België: 1st, Stage 3b, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque: 4th, Amstel Gold Race: 5th, Paris-Tours;1975: 1st, Paris-Tours: 1st, Paris-Brussels: 1st, Gent-Wevelgem: 1st, Overall, Ronde van België:: Winner Stages 1b & 2: 1st, Overall, Vuelta a Andalucía:: Winner Prologue, stages 5, 6 & 7b: 1st, Overall, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque:: Winner Stage 3b: 1st, Prologue, stages 1, 2a, 2b, 3, 4 & 7b, Dauphiné Libéré: 2nd, Amstel Gold Race: 3rd, National Madison Championship (with Walter Godefroot): 4th, Flèche Wallonne: 5th, Giro di Lombardia: 5th, Overall, Paris-Nice:: Winner Stage 2;1976: flagiconUCI World Road Race Championship: flagicon|BEL National Road Race Championship, Dilsen: 1st, Amstel Gold Race: 1st, Rund um den Henninger-Turm: 1st, Züri-Metzgete: 1st, Gent-Wevelgem: 1st, Grand Prix des Nations: 1st, Overall, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque:: Winner Stage 2b: 1st, Brabantse Pijl: 1st, Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen: 1st, Trofeo Baracchi (with Michel Pollentier): 1st, Critérium des As: 1st, Six Days of Dortmund (with Patrick Sercu): 2nd, Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 3rd, Flèche Wallonne: 3rd, National Madison Championship (with Marc Demeyer): 4th, Overall, Paris-Nice:: Winner Prologue, stages 2, 3, 4, 6a & 6b: 5th, Ronde van Vlaanderen: 7th, Overall, Tour de Suisse:: Winner Prologue, stage 1 & Points Classification: 8th, Overall, Tour de France::: Winner Prologue, stages 1, 3, 7, 18a, 18b, 21 & 22a:: Winner Points Classification: "Winner Super Prestige Pernod";1977: BEL National Derny Championship: 1st, Omloop Het Volk: 1st, Overall, Vuelta a España::: Winner overall classification:: Winner Prologue, stages 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11a, 11b, 13, 16 & 19:: Winner Points Classification: 1st, Overall, Paris-Nice:: Winner Stages 1a, 1b, 2 & 7b: 1st, Overall, Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme:: Winner Stages 1, 4, 5a & 5b: 1st, Trofeo Laigueglia: 1st, Overall, Giro di Sardegna:: Winner Stage 1: 1st, Overall, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya:: Winner Prologue, stages 1, 3, 4 & 7a: 1st, Stage 1, Tour de Suisse: 1st, Six Days of Antwerp (with Patrick Sercu): 2nd, National Omnium Championship: 3rd, Paris-Roubaix: brca, European Omnium Championship: 5th, Milano-San Remo: 5th, Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 5th, Amstel Gold Race: Giro d'Italia::: Winner Prologue, stages 1, 4, 6a, 6b, 7 & 8a: "Winner Super Prestige Pernod";1978: 1st, Omloop Het Volk: 1st, Overall, Quatre Jours de Dunkerque:: Winner Stages 2a & 2b: 1st, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen: 1st, Tour du Haut Var: 1st, Stage 7a, Dauphiné Libéré: 1st, Six Days of Antwerp (with Danny Clark): brca, European Omnium Championship: 4th, Paris-Roubaix: 4th, Amstel Gold Race: 13th, Overall, Tour de France::: Winner Stages 5 & 7:: Winner Points Classification: 14th, Overall, Tour de Suisse:: Winner Stage 5;1981: flagiconUCI World Road Race Championship: 66th, Overall, Tour de France:::Winner Stages 1a, 3, 12a, 13, & 22:: Winner points classification::

ee also

* List of doping cases in cycling

External links

*cyclingwebsite|5217
* [http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/TDF/riders/us/4314.html Official Tour de France results for Freddy Maertens]

Further reading

"Fall From Grace" by Freddy Maertens and Manu Adriaens, ISBN 1-898111-00-6, 1993, Ronde Publications, Hull. (Probably now out of print - but available secondhand on the net.)

Persondata
NAME=Maertens, Freddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH=1952-02-13
PLACE OF BIRTH=Nieuwpoort
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=