Robert Vermeire

Robert Vermeire (born November 2, 1944 in Beernem ) was a Belgian cyclist and world champion in cycling .

Athletic career

Vermeire was a specialist in cyclo-cross races , and as a former track and field athlete he was able to show his strengths in the running sections. After a short, unsuccessful start in road races , he concentrated entirely on cross-country sports. In this discipline he achieved his greatest sporting success with winning the world championship title in the amateurs 1970–1971, 1974–1975 and 1977. He was Belgian amateurs champion from 1969 to 1973 and 1975 to 1978. 1979 he was professional driver for a smaller Belgian team at the age of 35 and remained active as a professional until 1986. He actually wanted to remain an amateur, but the age limit of the Belgian association would have put him in the senior category; to avoid this he became a professional driver. He was Belgian vice-champion of professional drivers five times, but did not win a title in this category. With the 10th place at the UCI World Cup in 1986, he ended his career. He had won more than 200 cyclo-cross races by then.

Professional

Vermeire was a gardener in his uncle's nursery . He enjoyed working there so much that, despite many offers, he did not initially become a professional.

Web links

• Robert Vermeire in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cycling Museum - Storia di Robert Vermeire. In: museociclismo.it. Retrieved January 31, 2020 (Italian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Robert Vermeire, vergeten kampioen. In: sportmagazine.knack.be. February 2, 2018, accessed January 31, 2020 .  (Flemish)