Wilfried Nelissen

Wilfried Nelissen at the prologue of the Tour de France 1993

Wilfried Nelissen (born May 5, 1970 in Tongeren ) is a former Belgian cyclist .

He won the Belgian youth championship in 1986 in an unusual way. At the finish line, neither he nor Serge Baguet could be seen as the winner in the finish photo. The Belgian federation then set a sprint over 1,000 meters to decide about the championship, which Nelissen then won.

Wilfried Nelissen was a professional racing driver from 1991 to 1998 and was able to achieve 68 victories during this time. In 1986 he had already become Belgian youth champion on the road, which he was able to repeat in 1990 as an amateur and in 1994 and 1995 as a professional. He achieved further victories in 1991 at the Tour de Picardie , 1992 at Paris-Bourges , 1993 and 1994 at Omloop Het Volk and in 1996 at the Clásica de Almería . Four times - 1992 , 1993 , 1994 , 1995 - Nelissen took part in the Tour de France . When he participated in 1993, he won the second stage and wore the yellow jersey for two days .

At the start of his tour in 1994, Nelissen had a hard fall when he collided with a police officer who was taking photos while doing a mass sprint; The French rider who followed him, Laurent Jalabert, and other riders were also involved in this crash. At Gent – ​​Wevelgem in 1997 he fell again when he hit a wooden traffic sign, and he suffered numerous breaks. As a result of these injuries, he had to end his cycling career two years later.

From 2000 to 2006 Wilfried Nelissen, who is known for his funny and entertaining manner, was the sporting director of the semi-professional team "Tongers" from Limburg. He then went into business for himself with a courier service.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurt Lorenz GmbH (ed.): Tour . No. 4/2002 . Starnberg, S. 72 .
2. ↑ cyclinghalloffame.com: "Laurent Jalabert" 'accessed on October 6, 2010 (English)
3. ↑ velonews.competitor.com: "Wilfried Nelissens Crath at the 1996 Ghent-Wevelgem ended his career", accessed on October 6, 2010 (English)
4. ↑ hbvl.be: "Wilfried Nelissen wordt koerier" accessed on October 6th (Dutch)

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 , p. 222ff.

Web links

• Wilfried Nelissen in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Wilfried Nelissen in the Tour de France database(French / English )