Erik De Vlaeminck Cyclist
Erik De Vlaeminck is a former Belgian cyclist. He is the brother of Roger De Vlaeminck. The spelling "Eric" rather than "Erik" is the French version of his name. He prefers Erik. He became cyclo-cross world-champion seven times (in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973), a record. He missed 1967 only because his bike was damaged during the race. He also became Belgian champion four times (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972) at a time when there were so many good Belgian riders that the domestic champîonship was often harder than the world-championship. He also performed creditably in road races, including the Tour de France. In 1969 he won the Tour of Belgium and a stage in the Tour de France. De Vlaeminck never failed a drugs test in his racing career but was treated after it for amphetamine addiction. Many stories circulate about his supposed wild behaviour after races and after his career was over and when he returned to racing, the Belgian federation would offer him a licence for only a day at a time until it saw how his life would progress. De Vlaeminck refuses to speak of this period of his life. His re-establishment was complete, however, because he became the national cyclo-cross coach and led Belgium to a dominating period of international success. He always complained, however, that while cyclo-cross brought Belgium its world championship medals, it was to road racing that the bulk of the funds were given. De Vlaeminck's son Geert died of a heart attack in a cyclo-cross race while his father was watching.