Jef Scherens

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Jef Scherens Road cycling
To person
Full name Josephus Scherens
Nickname Poetry
Date of birth February 17, 1909
date of death August 9, 1986
nation BelgiumBelgium Belgium
discipline Train (short term)
End of career 1951
Most important successes
UCI track world championships
1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1947 World Champion - Sprint
Last updated: February 4, 2020

Josephus "Jef" Scherens (born February 17, 1909 in Werchter , Belgium ; † August 9, 1986 in Leuven ) was a Belgian track cyclist from the late 1920s to the early 1950s . He was world sprint champion seven times during these years

biography

Childhood and youth

Jes Scherens was the youngest of five children of the married couple Regina (née Janssens) and Felix Scherens. In the family, the petite boy was nicknamed Poeterke , in his native language the word for a lamb that was stunted in growth. From Poeterke later Poeske ( kitten ) with which the practiced by him leaping referred.

The father initially worked as an earthworker for a railway company, after the birth of Jef he moved to Brouwerij Jack-Op . At the beginning of the First World War , Werchter became the focus of the first armed conflicts: In August and September 1914, 250 houses, the church and the two bridges were destroyed in this location. There were atrocities committed by the German army against the civilian population. Many Belgians then fled, including the Scherens family, who eventually ended up in a town near Loudun . There Jef Scherens attended school for four years and learned to speak French fluently. After the end of the war, the family returned to Werchter - with the exception of the eldest son Jan, who stayed in Loudon. Scherens finished school and his leaving certificate attested: “Aanleg voor acrobaat!” (“Talent to be an acrobat!”)

Scherens initially worked in a paper and later in a leather factory. At that time he lived as a “child in the house” with the bicycle manufacturer Gust Van Deuren from Rotselaar , who built Jef his own bike. Jef Scherens joined a group of young men who cycled to work every day. In 1924 he made his debut as a racing cyclist in a race in Betekom , and in 1926 he was able to celebrate seven victories. A bicycle dealer from Haren supported him as a sponsor.

Athletic career

In 1924 Scherens made his debut as a racing cyclist at a race in Betekom , and in 1926 he was able to record seven victories. A bicycle dealer from Haren supported him as a sponsor. In 1927 he became a member of the Koninklijke Stoempersclub Leuven and won 40 races in the junior division, the following year 27 races in the juniors. These successes brought him to the decision to quit his job and become a professional cyclist.

On October 14, 1928, Jef Scherens competed in a sprint race against Belgian champion Jules Vervust in the Brussels Sportpaleis , which he won. In 1929 he also won five road races , in his opinion his future was on the road. His first success came when he became the Independent Master of Belgium in Zelzate. He contested his first race with a license as a professional driver on October 13, 1929.

In 1931 Jef Scherens became Belgian sprint champion for the first time. The following year he became world champion in the sprint in Rome . Scherens was honored with awards and receptions and was finally received in the palace by King Albert I , who gave him a silver cigarette case.

From 1933 to 1937 Scherens won the world title five times: in Paris , in Leipzig, in Brussels , Zurich and in Copenhagen . Only in 1928 in Amsterdam he had to admit defeat to the Dutch Arie van Vliet . At the UCI track world championships in Milan in 1939 , Scherens and van Vliet had already qualified for the gold finals when the world championships began because of the outbreak of World War II . During the war Scherens also competed in three six-day races in order to earn money : in 1940 he finished second in Brussels with Achiel Bruneel .

In 1947 , at the age of 38, Scherens became world champion for the last time. In addition to the seven World Cup titles and 16 Belgian titles, he won many grand prizes in various countries and held all the sprint and lap records of the major European cycle tracks in his day. He won the renowned sprint classics Grand Prix de Paris and Grand Prix de l'UVF three times each .

After the sport

After the end of his cycling career , Jef Scherens devoted himself to some other sporting activities, including motor sports , water skiing , swimming and archery : “Toch wilde hij overal de Beste in zijn, gedreven door een intense overwinningsdrang.” (“But he wanted to be the best everywhere, driven by an intense will to win. ”) He also made many trips with his family. In 1970 he ran unsuccessfully for the city council of Leuven.

Honors

In 1933 Jef Scherens was awarded the Nationale Trofee voor Sportsverdienste in Belgium , in 1955 with the Gouden Medaille voor Sportverdienste and in 1975 with the Guidon d'Or of the French magazine L'Équipe . In Morocco he received the Ordre du Ouissam Alaouite in 1949 .

In Werchter, his birthplace, a street and a hiking trail were named after Scherens. The street race GP Jef Scherens has been held in Leuven since 1963 .

Miscellaneous

In Belgium, Scherens is known as Poeske (Flemish = kitten) Scherens. He was considered a master in the technique of the " tiger leap", which in Belgium is called "Kattesprong". (It is unclear which term - Kattesprong or Poeske - was used first.)

Scherens had this portrait medallion attached to Albert Richter's tombstone

During his time as a cyclist, Jef Scherens became friends with his German competitor Albert Richter . They were called the "royal couple who ruled the cycle tracks". Richter arrived at the Lörrach court prison in 1940 under unexplained circumstances ; he was allegedly murdered by the Gestapo . After the war ended, Scherens visited Richter's parents in Cologne and had a portrait medallion affixed to his tombstone, as is customary in Belgium.

His nephew Jozef Scherens, named after him, was active as a cyclist on the street from 1956 to 1963.

Successes (selection)

1929
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian youth champion - sprint
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian champion - sprint
1941
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian champion - sprint
1942
1944
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian champion - sprint
1945
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian champion - sprint
1946
  • MaillotBélgica.svg Belgian champion - sprint
1947

literature

  • Achiel Van Den Broeck: Jef Scherens. The Caruso From the Sprinters World . 1948.
  • Fran Herpelinck: Het fenomeen "Poeske Scherens" . No. 10 . Salsa !, Leuven 2013, ISBN 978-90-429-3029-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 10.
  2. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , pp. 11/12.
  3. ↑ a b Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 13.
  4. ↑ a b Poeske Scherens. In: erfgoedcelleuven.be. Retrieved February 5, 2020 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ Velo Travel Marketing (ed.): Velo Gotha . Mechelen 2005, p. 487 (English).
  6. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 49.
  7. ↑ Roger de Maertelaere: De Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 242
  8. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 106.
  9. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 108.
  10. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 54.
  11. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 104.
  12. ↑ Het Niewsblad online: "Werchter fourth honderdste geboortedag van wielerlegende Poeske Scherens" accessed on February 12, 2010 (Flemish)
  13. ↑ Herpelinck, Het fenomeen “Poeske Scherens” , p. 51.
  14. ^ Renate Franz , Andreas Hupke , Bernd Hempelmann: The forgotten world champion. The mysterious fate of the Cologne racing cyclist Albert Richter . Covadonga, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-936973-34-1 , p. 171 .
  15. ↑ Jozef Scherens. In: radsportseiten.net. Retrieved February 8, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Scherens, Jef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scherens, Joseph (full name); Poeske (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Werchter , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1986
Place of death Leuven , Belgium