Karel Van Wijnendaele

Karel Van Wijnendaele , actually Carolus Ludovicus Steyaert , (born November 16, 1882 in Torhout , † December 21, 1961 in Sint-Martens-Latem ) was a Belgian sports journalist, cycling official and the founder of the Tour of Flanders .

Journalist career

Carolus Ludovicus Steyaert was born the fifth of fifteen children. He contributed to the family's livelihood at an early age, including a. as a messenger boy and cowherd. For a few years he competed in cycling , but realized that he lacked talent. But he was a cycling fan, very interested in literature and wrote poems and texts. In 1908 his first article appeared, about the Belgian cyclist Cyrille Van Hauwaert , whom he greatly admired. As a journalist, he took the pseudonym Karel Van Wijnendaele , after the district of Torhout where he was born.

Together with other journalists, Van Wijnendaele founded the weekly Sportwereld in 1912 ; In 1925 he became co-owner and in 1931 sole owner. In 1939 he sold the newspaper to Het Niewsblad . The Sportwereld has since formed the sports section of Het Niewsblad . He was a staunch supporter of the Flemish Movement and saw his work as a journalist as a commitment to its political goals. He remained active as a journalist until his death.

Organizer and manager

In 1913, Karel Van Wijnendaele organized the first tour of Flanders based on the model of the French magazine L'Auto , which initiated the Tour de France and which was won for the first time in 1912 by a Belgian, Odiel Defraeye . Van Wijnendaele's words at the start of the first tour in 1913 are legendary: “Heeren, vertrekt” (Dutch = gentlemen, set out ). During the Second World War , Van Wijnendaele was allowed to continue organizing the tour despite the German occupation, which some of his compatriots saw as a collaboration.

Van Wijnendaele, who also managed drivers and teams , was the strong man in the Belgian cycling world for decades. He arranged for and accompanied Flemish racing drivers to six-day races in the USA, where he was nicknamed Mac Bolle : The Flemings were so strong that the local teams fell behind. The spectators became dissatisfied and so the organizers asked Van Wijnendaele to rein in his drivers. When the US racing drivers came a little closer in the overall standings, the Flemish racing drivers shouted in the direction of Van Wijnendaeles: “Ma'k bolle?” ( “May I drive [at full speed ]?” ). He was in charge of teams in the Tour de France 37 times and for many years was in charge of the Torhout cycle track . The names of drivers who defied his will were no longer mentioned in the Sportwereld . "Karel always had the power to make or break racers." (Dutch = Karel had the power to make or destroy racing drivers. )

Honors

In 1964, a memorial to Karel Van Wijnendaele was inaugurated on the Oude Kwaremont slope . In Sint-Martens-Latem a street is named after him and a memorial is to be erected there too. In addition, the former Everyman's Race of the Tour of Flanders is named after him, Trofee Karel Van Wijnendaele , which will be held at the beginning of September, in 2010 for the 30th time. A cycling club is also named after him.

Fonts

• Het rijke Vlaamsche wielerleven . Gent 1943 online excerpt
• Canteens en dingen uit de Ronde van Frankrijk . Ghent 1948

literature

• Frederick Backelandt / Patrick Cornillie / Rik Vanwalleghem: Koarle. Vader van de Ronde van Vlaanderen , Lannoo Uitgeverij, 2006, ISBN 9020965476 online version

Individual evidence

1. ↑ rondevanvlaanderen.be (Dutch)
2. ↑ .dorpvanderonde.be ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Dutch) 
3. ↑ vckvw.be ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Dutch) 

Web links

• CV on karelvanwijnendaele.be