Fred De Bruyne

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Fred De Bruyne (1956)

Alfred "Fred" De Bruyne (born October 21, 1930 in Berlare , † February 4, 1994 in Seillans ) was a Belgian cyclist and sports journalist.

Cycling career

Fred De Bruyne began professional cycling in 1947. His strongest domestic rivals were Rik Van Looy and Rik Van Steenbergen , with whom he also competed in six-day races.

De Bruyne won numerous road races, including three times Liège – Bastogne – Liège and the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo ; twice he was the winner of Paris – Nice and once each of Milan – Sanremo , Paris – Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders . He also won six stages of the Tour de France , three in 1954 and three in 1956 .

When his success on the road waned, De Bruyne also started in six-day races, of which he contested eight. In 1957 he won the Gent jointly with Van Steenbergen. In 1960, at the age of 31, he ended his active career after a traffic accident.

Team leader, journalist and author

From 1961 to 1977, the Flemish-speaking De Bruyne worked as a sports journalist for Belgian television. For a long time he was considered the most important cycling commentator in Flanders and the Netherlands. He then became a team leader at various cycling teams and looked after the driver Hennie Kuiper , among others .

Fred De Bruyne spent the last years of his life in Provence and wrote four biographies of cyclists and his memoirs. In his birthplace Berlare, a cycling race that has been taking place for around 60 years was renamed "Memorial Fred De Bruyne" in 2009 and a square in his later place of residence, Seillans, was named after him.

Works

  • Rik Van Steenbergen , Mechelen 1963
  • Rik Van Looy , Mechelen 1963
  • Patrick Sercu , Borgerhout 1965
  • Peter Post , Borgerhout 1965
  • De memoires van Fred De Bruyne , Berchem 1978

literature

  • Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de Nacht , Eeklo 2000, p. 202.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME De Bruyne, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES De Bruyne, Alfred (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian cyclist, author and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlare
DATE OF DEATH 4th February 1994
Place of death Seillans