Gerard Debaets

Gerard Debaets (born April 17, 1898 in Heule , † April 27, 1959 in North Haledon , New Jersey ) was a Belgian cyclist .

Gerard Debaets was a professional racing driver from 1923 to 1940. In 1925 he was Belgian road racing champion and won at Paris-Brussels . He won the Tour of Flanders twice - in 1924 and 1927 . Once, in 1924 , he took part in the Tour de France but did not arrive in Paris.

From 1924 on Debaets drove six-day races , a total of 82, of which he won 17. He drove his first six days in New York in 1925 , with Pierre Goossens , and crossed the Atlantic ten times to start under the name of Jerry Debaets in the United States, where he was very popular . In the early to mid-1930s, he achieved most of his six-day successes together with his French racing driver colleague Alfred Letourneur .

In 1939, Debaets brought his family to the United States and received citizenship after becoming the American Master of Stayers in 1936 .

Gerard Debaets had four brothers - Cesar , Gaston, Michel and Arthur - who were also all racing drivers; Gerard and Cesar were the most successful in the family.

literature

• Herman Laitem, Jozef Hamels: De Tricolore Trui. 1882-2007. 125 Jaar Belgian Campaign Schappen. Pinguin Productions et al., Balegem et al. 2008, ISBN 978-90-73322-21-9 , pp. 71f.
• Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de Nacht . 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 201.

Web links

• Gerard Debaets in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ^ Birth certificate 60, Heule parish, April 19, 1898
2. ↑ Ziehier , De Gazet van Poperinghe (Historical Kranten), December 13, 1925