There is no Koerse like Danilith Nokere Koerse!
There is no Koerse like Danilith Nokere Koerse!
We haven’t often seen four riders break away from a group of 35 like Walter Godefroot, Jaak De Boever, Walter Boucquet, and Roger Blockx—all four coincidentally belonging to a different team—as they did yesterday in the final 30 km in Nokere.
They say they were like an arrow from a bow, but it was truly as if they were shot off. In 1 km they had covered 200 meters, in 3 km 45 seconds, and in 5 km 1 meter 10 seconds.
Sels, Post, Foré, Decabooter, Staf Desmet, Van Schil, Van Rijckegem, W. Planckaert, Melckenbeek, De Roo, Steegmans, Huysmans, H. Van Loo, E. Demunster and other Troonbeeckx and Van Espens seemed so convinced that they were going to fly that they straightened up for a moment as if they accepted the defeat, allowing all the liberated to rejoin.
Only 10 km further on, Peter Post—one of the afternoon’s most striking figures—decided that they were wrong not to fight on. They put up a fantastic fight on the final lap to catch the four leaders, but by then it was, of course, too late.
Especially since Walter Godefroot was cycling like he rarely had for a year. And saying he went to see a doctor because he believed he was ill, and that 24 hours ago he had been depressed and close to despair.
That same completely transformed Godefroot won decisively. He was apparently so afraid of the lesser-known Roger Blockx, who delivered an excellent performance and is a rider with real potential, that he preferred not to compete with him in the sprint. He preferred to finish alone, which was all the easier because the Limburger, who was also alone against three Flemish riders, was clearly a bit “down on himself.”
Jaak De Boever, as sharp as ever and always in form at Nokere, took an honourable second place.
Peter Post and Ward Sels fought tirelessly during the first 50 km to break up the 117-man field.
Post cycled ahead of the pack for 20 km with a 300-meter lead. After Sels, along with Van Audenaerde and De Vlaeminck, caught up with Post, he followed suit. Again, it took a long time and considerable effort before the peloton could thwart Ward’s attack.
Anyone who might have felt the urge to attack seemed to have lost it all after these two attempts, as the entire group remained snugly together for the next 40 km. Only those who were held back by bad luck, such as W. Vanneste, G. Desmet II, and H. Dewolf, fell away.
Then Etienne Buysse couldn’t stay still any longer, and neither could Roger Cooreman. They took a slight lead, and we couldn’t quite see how they would hold on to the lead if Willy Planckaert, Armand Desmet, Eddy Van Audenaerde, Willy Derboven, André Demarteleire, and Cees Van Espen brought in the necessary reinforcements.
It immediately developed into a serious breakaway. The eight leaders formed a tight and solid block. After 95 km, they were 50 seconds ahead, which meant something for who knows how fiercely the chase behind them was going. Manten Desmet, Etienne Buysse, and W. Planckaert, in particular, saw no push to make the difficult undertaking a success. Willy Derboven, who had been giving them strong support, fell flat.
As expected, the brave attackers failed in their attempt, so that with barely 35 km to go, most of the very numerous spectators were anticipating a bunch sprint of approximately 85 riders.
This bunch sprint didn’t happen, as you already know. Godefroot, who unexpectedly showed his best side, triumphed brilliantly ahead of Jaak De Boever, Roger Blockx, and Walter Boucquet.
Willem Van Wijnendaele
Result : 117 professional cyclists
1. Walter Godefroot de 150 km. in 3 h 49 min.
2. Jaak De Boever on 15″
3. Roger Blockx on 20″
4. Walter Boucquet on 35″
5. Daniel Van Rijckegem on 1′ 20″
6. Gustaaf Desmet
7. Vic Van Schil
8. Lode Troonbeeckx
9. Jos Huysmans
10. Erik Demunster
11. Peter Post (nl)
12. Andre Demarteleire
13. Ward Sels
14. Jos Haeseldonckx
15. Arthur De Cabooter
16. Leopold Van den Neste
17. Yvan Verbiest
18. Alphons De Bal
19. Etienne Buysse
20. Roger Cooreman
21. Willy Planckaert
22. Cor Van der Horst (nl)
23. Wim Schepers
24. Roger Rogiers
25. Paul Seye
26. Jo De Roo
27. Andre Hendrickx
28. Rik Wauters
29. Frans Melckenbeek
30. Raymond Steegmans
Walter Godefroot (Ghent, July 2, 1943) is a former Belgian cyclist and team leader. He is best known as the former team manager of the T-Mobile cycling team.
Godefroot was a professional cyclist from 1965 to 1976, winning 10 stages in the Tour de France, several Belgian classics (including two Tour of Flanders), and Paris-Roubaix. In 1964, he won a bronze medal in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics.
After his professional career, he was successively sporting director of the IJsboerke, Capri Sonne, Lotto, and Weinmann teams. In 1992, Godefroot was appointed sporting director of Team Telekom, and in 2004-2005 he was the team manager of the T-Mobile team. He retired after the 2005 season but returned. He is currently team director of Astana, a ProTour team led by Alexander Vinokourov and Klöden, among others.
He also owns a bicycle shop in Deurle.
Walter Godefroot was the first to discover the Koppenberg. He informed the organizer of the Tour of Flanders about the climb’s existence but didn’t reveal its location. This information only came to light many years later.