Ferdi Bracke

Ferdi Bracke
	Bracke at the Tour de France 1976
To person
Full name	Ferdinand Bracke
Date of birth	May 25, 1939
nation	Belgium
discipline	Road / rail (endurance)
Driver type	Time trial, rouleur
End of career	1978
Most important successes
	1971 Vuelta a España 1976 Tour de France stage 1966 a stage of the Tour de France
	Last updated: December 14, 2018

Ferdinand Bracke (born May 25, 1939 in Hamme , Belgium) is a former Belgian cyclist . Along with Patrick Sercu and Eddy Merckx , he was one of the most successful and versatile cyclists in his country on track and road in the 1960s and 1970s. Before his career as a professional driver, he worked as a metal worker.

Athletic career

As an amateur, Ferdi Bracke won stages in the Tour of Austria , the Swedish 6-Day Tour and the Tour of Limburg, as well as a stage of the Peace Tour in 1962 , in which he placed 26th in the overall ranking. In his last season as an amateur, he scored 22 bike races. In 1962 Bracke received a contract with the Peugeot team , for which he drove until 1973. He achieved a total of 24 victories in professional races on the road, his greatest success was winning the Vuelta a España , with 59 seconds ahead of his compatriot Wilfried David and around two minutes ahead of the Spaniard Luis Ocaña . In 1968 he was third in the Tour de France . He still had a chance of overall victory up to the last stage, an individual time trial , but Bracke did not manage to use his potential in his specialty, so that he had to admit defeat to Dutchman Jan Janssen and his compatriot Herman Van Springel . In 1966 and 1976 he decided a stage of the tour for himself. In 1966 and 1967 he won the Trofeo Baracchi together with Eddy Merckx . Ferdi Bracke was also a successful train driver . In 1964 he became world champion in the single pursuit, ahead of the multiple title holder from Italy, Leandro Faggin . He was able to repeat this success in 1969 . He was also a four-time Belgian champion in this discipline. In 1967 he improved the hour record in the Velodromo Olimpico in Rome to 48.093 kilometers. In 1974 he won silver in the pursuit at the World Railroad Championships . Bracke also competed in 50 six-day races , three of which he won. On February 17, 1979 Bracke was bid farewell to cycling at a cycling gala in the Sports Palace in Ghent .

Professional

In 1978 he ended his cycling career and took over a furniture business with his wife.

Honors

In 1967 Ferdinand was voted “ Sportsman of the Year ” in Belgium and was awarded the Nationale trofee voor sportverdienste .

Successes (selection)

Street

1962

GP des Nations

1964

1966

1967

Trofeo Baracchi (with Eddy Merckx )

1969

a stage 4 Jours de Dunkerque
one stage Grand Prix Midi Libre

1970

Grand Prix de Wallonie
a stage 4 Jours de Dunkerque

1971

Vuelta a España

1972

Étoile des Espoirs

1973

Grand Prix Pino Cerami

1974

Prologue and a stage tour of Belgium
a stage Tour de Picardie

1976

a stage Tour de France

train

1964

World Champion - Individual Pursuit

1965

Belgian champion - one's pursuit

1967

Hour record (48.093 km)

Six days of Charleroi (with Patrick Sercu )

Belgian champion - one's pursuit

1968

Six days of Charleroi (with Eddy Merckx )

1969

World Champion - Individual Pursuit

1972

Belgian champion - Derny
Belgian champion - one's pursuit

1973

World Championship - Individual Pursuit
European Championship - Derny
Belgian champion - one's pursuit
Six Days of Montreal (with Robert Van Lancker )

1974

World Championship - Individual Pursuit

Grand Tour placements

Grand Tour	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978
Vuelta a España	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	54	-	-	-	-	DNF
Giro d'Italia	-	-	-	-	39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tour de France	21st	DNF	DNF	32	-	3	57	-	58	-	-	-	-	77	DNF	-

Legend: DNF: did not finish , abandoned or withdrawn from the race due to timeout.

Web links

Commons : Ferdi Bracke - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Ferdi Bracke in the Tour de France database(French / English )

Ferdi Bracke in the Radsportseiten.net database

Ferdi Bracke in the ProCyclingStats.com database

Individual evidence

↑ Neues Deutschland, Rude Pravo, Tribuna Ludu (ed.): XV Course de la Paix Bulletin 4 . Berlin 1962, p. 5 .
↑ ^a ^b Udo Witte: Campionissimo, Monsieur Chrono, Kannibale & Co .. BoD - Books on Demand, 2015, ISBN 978-3-738-61692-7 , p. 345 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
↑ Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 193
^ German Cycling Association of the GDR (ed.): The cyclist . No. 12/1979 . Berlin, S. 1 .
↑ 'Nina Derwael heeft de brains, de looks en de wilskracht': jury Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste full lof over 18-year-old gymnasts. In: hln.be. November 8, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 (Dutch).

personal data
SURNAME	Bracke, Ferdi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bracke, Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 25, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hamme

[1] Neues Deutschland, Rude Pravo, Tribuna Ludu (ed.): XV Course de la Paix Bulletin 4 . Berlin 1962, p. 5 .

[books-JwOSCgAAQBAJ-345-2] Udo Witte: Campionissimo, Monsieur Chrono, Kannibale & Co .. BoD - Books on Demand, 2015, ISBN 978-3-738-61692-7 , p. 345 ( limited preview in the Google book search).

[3] Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 193

[4] German Cycling Association of the GDR (ed.): The cyclist . No. 12/1979 . Berlin, S. 1 .

[hln-1800-5] 'Nina Derwael heeft de brains, de looks en de wilskracht': jury Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste full lof over 18-year-old gymnasts. In: hln.be. November 8, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 (Dutch).