Victoire Van Nuffel

Victoire Van Nuffel

Victoire Van Nuffel with a photo of himself from 1959 (2019)
To person
Nickname	Vic
Date of birth	October 7, 1937
nation	Belgium
discipline	Road / train
Last updated: February 20, 2020

Victoire "Vic" Van Nuffel (born October 7, 1937 in Hombeek ) is a former Belgian cyclist . In 1959 she became the first Belgian road champion.

Athletic career

Victoire Van Nuffel was the daughter of Josephine Van Crombruggen and Rik Van Nuffel; she had a brother. The father ran a bicycle shop in Hombeek. When the German Wehrmacht marched in in 1940, the family home was destroyed and the family moved to Mechelen . The father was obliged to work in Germany. The daughter had to work in a factory after the war to contribute to the family income.

As a child, Van Nuffel dreamed of becoming a racing cyclist. In 1953 she started to compete in races. But neither the local clubs nor the Belgian Cycling Federation wanted to accept her as a member. In order to be able to race, she got a license from the World Cycling Association UCI in Paris . From 1956 to 1958 she won the first - unofficial - Belgian road championships for women in Belgium, organized by the father of cyclist Yvonne Reynders , three times in a row , and in 1958 the equally unofficial European championship.

In 1958 Vic Van Nuffel started in Reims in the first road race for women at the road world championships and finished fourth. The association forbade her and the other Belgian riders from starting in Belgian colors, which is why they wore white jerseys. Despite fierce resistance in the association, the first international race for women in Belgium was held in Anderlecht in March 1959 , which was won by the world champion from Luxembourg , Elsy Jacobs .

On June 28, 1959, 30 participants started the first official Belgian road championship for women on 40 laps of 1.5 kilometers in the city park of Antwerp . Vic Van Nuffel won and was the first woman to receive the tricolore trui from the Belgian champion. There was no coverage of this championship in the Belgian newspapers. On the cycling track of Rocourt they also won the Belgian championship in the sprint after they have been with Rik Van Steenbergen on the track of Walem had trained. In 1960 she became Belgian runner-up in road racing and in 1961 she finished third in the national championship in the single pursuit .

In 1960, Van Nuffel started again at world championships and turned 18 after falling short of the finish line. She was signed by renowned teams: first she drove under Briek Schotte in the Belgian team Flandria , from 1960 for the French teams Leroux-Helyett , the team of Jacques Anquetil , and Peugeot . She moved to Paris and trained with 1930 World Sprint Champion Louis Gérardin and to compete in well-paid races in France and Italy. In Paris, she also realized that she was a lesbian . Since she couldn't make a living from cycling alone, she occasionally worked in Battel in a country house belonging to the wealthy Empain family that had been converted into a fort .

Miscellaneous

In 1966 Vic Van Nuffel ended her cycling career because of persistent knee problems and moved to the Belgian coast. She got another request from Italy to lead a team there, but her decision had been made. In Blankenberge , she first worked in a café until she opened her own Café Central in Zeebrugge in 1969 . “Vic van den Central” ran the café, which was also a meeting place for cyclists and footballers until she retired at the turn of the century. She never concealed her sexual orientation and is still socially and politically involved today. She sees herself as a feminist , also because of her humiliating experiences in her time as a cyclist, for example when she was tried to cheat her for her prize money or when women were sent to race on particularly bad roads. In the 1990s she demonstrated for the legalization of abortions in Belgium and participates, among other things, annually in the National Women's Day , which is celebrated in Belgium on November 11th.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of their championship, Vic Van Nuffel was honored in Ghent City Hall . On this occasion, she presented a framed historical photo of herself to the Koers. Museum van de Wielersport in Roeselare .

successes

1959

• Belgian champion - road race
• Belgian champion - sprint

Web links

Commons : Victoire Van Nuffel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Victoire Van Nuffel in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Victoire Van Nuffel in the ProCyclingStats.com database
• Victoire van Nuffel on YouTube , May 17, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Victoire Van Nuffel: feministe op een roze wielerwolk. In: jeroendenaeghel.be. March 5, 2019, accessed February 21, 2020 (Dutch). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} 1e Belgian campaigns nog kranig op de been: "Sorry that Belgium mij niet steunde om het WK te rijden - ik Kreeg zelfs geen shirt". In: wielerverhaal.com. April 16, 2019, accessed February 20, 2020 (Dutch). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} De moeizame weg naar het allereerste BK voor vrouwen. In: koersmuseum.be. Retrieved February 20, 2020 (Dutch). 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Geert Cleerbout: Victoire Van Nuffel - campioene en feministe . In: 't Ridderke, heemkundig tijdschrift van Hombeek en omstreken . tape 21 , 2006, p. 88-93 .