“Voilà! Now I haven’t had a single setback,” beamed Maertens after the finish. Freddy was still being bombarded with questions about Paris-Roubaix and recounted for the hundredth time how he suffered a flat tire just as he was trying to close the gap between the Merckx group and the De Vlaeminck-Moser duo. Briek Schotte, just as happy in Nokere as in Roubaix, added each time: “At the worst possible moment.”

No questions needed to be asked about the race that had just ended. Maertens’s performance spoke for itself. He had started as the clear favorite, he had dominated the entire race, and he had won. It couldn’t have been better for him. It couldn’t have been easier either.

Organizing a kermis race during the peak of the classic road racing season is a rewarding task. And if the weather is also fantastic, the typical Flemish cycling atmosphere is once again at its peak. Packed cafes, exuberant supporters along the road, thousands of people arguing about nothing but “cyclists,” willingly sacrificing their hard-earned pocket money to try their luck at a fortune, big or small, with one of the numerous bookmakers in the shadows. They readily accept that it usually ends in a loss, for the thrill of it all and the enthusiasm of being part of the racing action.

The conversations rarely reach a heated level, but they nevertheless clearly reflect the views of true cycling fans. For example, in Nokere, before the start, we heard a man welcome his newly arrived friend: “Juul, they’re all here, young man. With the exception of Verbeeck and Van Springel, all the greats are here.” “Yes? All the greats? Merckx and De Vlaeminck too?” “No, no, of course not. I said the greats. Not the really greats!” Could the value of a classic victory be better emphasized?

The pros couldn’t have dreamed of a better course to prepare for the Flèche Wallonne. Hilly, winding, and with ten climbs on the long cobbled road by the church, the steepness of which rivals most of the “hills” in Wallonia.

After just four laps, it was clear who had come to practice and who had come to compete alongside the training. Martin Vandenbossche’s Italian teammates, including himself, clearly had other objectives in mind in Belgium than just an unexpectedly sunny training camp. Battaglin, Antonini, Gavazzi, and Fongo rode their hearts out for 150 km, putting on a spectacular display from start to finish. Briek Schotte’s men and the local riders were no slouch, and the packed crowd was treated to a top-notch cycling spectacle. The breakaways followed one another at breakneck speed, but never carried them far. Individually, there was nothing to be gained in all that violence. It was always groups of about ten riders who got ahead, only to find themselves back in the peloton a few kilometers later, chasing another patch of multicolored jerseys.

Eleven men finally broke away slightly, never to be caught again: Maertens, Dierickx, Gavazzi, Dewitte, David, Van Roosbroeck, Pijnen, Jacques Martin, Van Ackere, Antonini, and Van der Loo. The next group, led by Walter Planckaert, Dirk Baert, Willy Teirlinck, and Eddy Peelman, maintained the tension by closing the gap to within a hundred meters, but were then again pushed back by breakaway attempts at the front.

Three kilometers from the finish, David attacked. Gavazzi caught him. Dewitte immediately jumped away. Staf Van Roosbroeck closed the gap on his own, and with a kilometer and a half to go, the pair were fifty meters ahead. Gavazzi again dragged the rest of the breakaway into the group.

Then Maertens, who hadn’t been in the top ten the entire race, decided he’d had enough. He attacked, and only Gavazzi could keep his wheel. In the long uphill sprint, Freddy had no trouble at all, riding two lengths clear of the 23-year-old Italian on the other side of the road. “That’s eleven wins this season already,” said the Lombardsijde native with satisfaction.

Mark Dheedene


Result: 147 professional cyclists

1. Freddy Maertens the 150 km in 3 h 36 min
2. Pierrino Gavazzi (It) on 2 lengths
3. Ronald Dewitte on 15″
4. Wilfried David on 20″
5. Staf Van Roosbroeck
6. René Pijnen (Nl)
7. Jacques Martin
8. André Dierickx
9. José Van Ackere
10. Antonini Alessio (It)
11. Theodoor Van der Loo (Nl)
12. Walter Planckaert
13. Willy Teirlinck
14. Eddy Peelman
15. Bas Hordijk (Nl)
16. Dirk Baert
17. August Herygers
18. Jan Swinnen
19. Adolf Huysmans
20. Jos Jacobs
21. William Bilsland (Eng)
22. Eddy Goossens
23. Emile Bodart
24. Lucien De Brauwere
25. Robert Fontaine
26. Romain Maes
27. Daniel Pauwels
28. Arthuur Van De Vijver
29. Jaak De Boever
30. Roger Kindt

Freddy Maertens (born 19 February 1952 in Nieuwpoort) is a former Belgian cyclist who was a professional from 1972 to 1987. He won many of his races in sprints and, thanks to his exceptional strength, was adept at riding in high gears. Most of Maertens’ victories came in sprints and time trials. In three Tour de France appearances, he won fifteen stages and wore the yellow jersey for nine days. He won the green jersey for the points classification three times.

Maertens began his professional career at Flandria, where he would ride for eight years. The Flandria cycling team was one of the strongest in the peloton in the 1970s. Along with riders Marc Demeyer and Michel Pollentier, Maertens was one of the Three Musketeers of Flandria, which achieved great success.

Maertens was twice the world road champion (1976 and 1981) and came close in 1973. At the Montjuich circuit in Barcelona, ​​he controversially finished second. After overtaking Eddy Merckx in the final stages, both Belgians were outsprinted by Italian Felice Gimondi. The incident sparked a feud between Merckx and Maertens. Belgian cycling fans split into two camps, which had consequences for Maertens’ popularity.

His list of achievements includes victories in Paris-Tours (1975), the Zurich Metzgete in 1976, the Amstel Gold Race and Rund um den Henniger Turm in 1976, Gent-Wevelgem in 1975 and 1976 and Omloop Het Volk in 1977 and 1978. In 1976 and 1977 he won the overall classification of the Super Prestige Pernod.

In the 1977 Vuelta a España, he led from start to finish and, in addition to the overall and points classifications, won 13 of the 19 stages. In the Giro d’Italia that year, he had already won seven stages when he was forced to abandon a complicated fracture of his wrist and hand after a crash at the Mugello circuit. That crash and the subsequent difficult recovery from a wrist injury marked the beginning of the end for Maertens. Riding in the high gears for so many years seemed to have worn him down. In 1979 and 1980, Maertens won only a few criteriums, and his career seemed to be ending prematurely at the age of 28.

However, he experienced a revival in the summer of 1981, performing at the highest level again. His former team manager, Guillaume Lomme Driessens, recruited him to the Boule d’Or team, for which he rode a strong Tour de France. That year, Maertens won five stages of the Tour and also became world champion for the second time in Prague that autumn.

In the following seasons, Maertens failed to win any more notable races. After another year of Boule d’Or, Maertens started riding for various smaller teams and private sponsors, before retiring from cycling for good in 1987.

Freddy Maertens is an honorary citizen of Middelkerke.