Alfons De Wolf
Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.[1]
Eddy Planckaert and De Wolf after Dwars door België, edition 1988 (collection: KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 June 1956 Willebroek, Belgium |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Classics specialist |
| Amateur team | |
| 1978 | IJsboerke–Warncke Eis (stagiaire) |
| Professional teams | |
| 1979–1980 | Lano–Boule d'Or |
| 1981–1982 | Vermeer Thijs |
| 1983 | Bianchi–Piaggio |
| 1984 | Europ Decor–Boule d'Or |
| 1985 | Fagor |
| 1986 | Skala–Skil |
| 1987–1989 | AD Renting–Fangio–IOC–MBK |
| 1990 | IOC–Tulip Computers |
| Major wins | |
| Giro di Lombardia (1980) Milan–San Remo (1981) Tour de France, 1 stage Vuelta a España, 6 stages
| |
He was forecast, with Daniel Willems, to be the successor to Eddy Merckx. De Wolf seemed to fulfill that promise by having an absolutely dominant 1979 Vuelta a España winning 5 stages including an individual time trial as well as the Points Classification, securing a top 10 place in the General Classification and then following it up by winning the 1980 Giro di Lombardia and the 1981 Milan–San Remo, the last and first classic of the season. He almost won the 1982 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, beaten by Italian Silvano Contini in the final sprint.
After winning a stage in the 1984 Tour de France, his career faded, however the stage win he claimed was an impressive individual effort in which he was able to beat the group of favorites including Bernard Hinault and eventual winner Laurent Fignon by a stunning margin of almost eighteen minutes.[2] He helped his teammate Eddy Planckaert win the green jersey in the 1988 Tour de France. He ended his career in 1990.
He now helps his wife in her funeral parlour in Dworp, in the south of Brussels.
Although he won the Omloop Het Volk two times, De Wolf was an atypical Flemish cyclist, preferring Italian races such as Milan–San Remo to Paris–Roubaix, Gent–Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. He was at ease in hilly races, though he was not an impressive climber. He complained that he was seen as a 'new Eddy Merckx', that the public had expected too much.
Major results edit
- 1976
- 1st Overall Tour de Namur
- 3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften
- 4th Road race, Summer Olympics
- 1977
- 1st Kattekoers
- 3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften
- 1978
- 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
- 1st Road race, National Amateur Road Championships
- 2nd Overall GP Tell
- 2nd Circuit de Wallonie
- 2nd Flèche Ardennaise
- 2nd Kattekoers
- 1979
- 1st Omloop Schelde-Durme
- 2nd Trofeo Baracchi (with Jan van Houwelingen)
- 2nd Leeuwse Pijl
- 3rd Overall Tour of Belgium
- 3rd Scheldeprijs
- 4th Overall Three Days of Bruges–De Panne
- 5th La Flèche Wallonne
- 7th Brabantse Pijl
- 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 9th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 2, 7, 9, 16b & 19
- 9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 9th Paris–Roubaix
- 1980
- 1st Druivenkoers Overijse
- 1st Giro di Lombardia
- 1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke)
- 2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 2nd Amstel Gold Race
- 2nd Gent–Wevelgem
- 2nd Circuit des Frontières
- 3rd Rund um den Henninger Turm
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
- 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 4th GP de Fourmies
- 5th Overall Giro di Sardegna
- 6th Paris–Roubaix
- 6th Grand Prix des Nations
- 6th Züri-Metzgete
- 7th Omloop Het Volk
- 8th Paris–Brussels
- 10th Tour of Flanders
- 10th Milan–San Remo
- 1981
- 1st Six Days of Antwerp (with René Pijnen)
- 1st Milan–San Remo
- 1st Circuit des Frontières
- 1st Polder–Kempen
- 1st Stage 4 Tour of Belgium
- 1st Stage 6 Tour de Suisse
- 2nd GP Eddy Merckx
- 3rd Overall Paris–Nice
- 3rd Gent–Wevelgem
- 3rd Amstel Gold Race
- 3rd E3 Harelbeke
- 5th Overall Deutschland Tour
- 5th Züri-Metzgete
- 6th Brabantse Pijl
- 7th Road race, UCI World Championships
- 7th Tour of Flanders
- 9th Grand Prix des Nations
- 10th Paris–Roubaix
- 1982
- 1st Omloop Het Volk
- 1st Sassari–Cagliari
- 1st Stage 1a Three Days of Bruges–De Panne
- 2nd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
- 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 3rd Gent–Wevelgem
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 3rd Ronde van Limburg
- 4th Rund um den Henninger Turm
- 8th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1st Stage 5a
- 10th La Flèche Wallonne
- 1983
- 1st Omloop Het Volk
- 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni
- 1st Giro della Romagna
- 1st Giro di Toscana
- 1st Stage 2 Giro del Trentino
- 1st Stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 5th Overall Giro di Sardegna
- 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 9th La Flèche Wallonne
- 1984
- 1st Stage 14 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 6 Tour of Norway
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Andalucía
- 9th GP Eddy Merckx
- 1985
- 1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 2 Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad Valenciana
- 1986
- 6th Tour of Flanders
- 9th De Brabantse Pijl
- 1988
- 2nd Dwars door België
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 1989
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 1990
- 7th Nokere Koerse
Grand Tour general classification results timeline edit
| Grand Tour | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | DNF | — | — | 49 | — | — | 38 | — | — | 70 |
| Tour de France | — | — | 11 | 31 | — | 74 | DNF | — | — | 102 | — |
| Vuelta a España | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | 81 | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References edit
External links edit
- Alfons De Wolf at Cycling Archives
- Alfons De Wolf at ProCyclingStats
- Alfons De Wolf at CycleBase
- Alfons De Wolf at Olympedia