Freddy Maertens (born 13 February 1952 in Lombardsijde, Belgium) was a Belgian professional racing cyclist and twice World Road Cycling Champion. February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A cyclist is a person who engages in cycling whether as a sport or rides a bicycle for recreation or transportation. ... The first professional World Cycling Championship took place in 1927 at the Nürburgring in Germany and was won by Alfredo Binda, of Italy. ...

In Italy in 1976, he won in front of Italians Francesco Moser and Tino Conti. In Prague in 1981, he beat Italian Giuseppe Saronni and France's Bernard Hinault. He was also second in the 1973 World Championship race. 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bernard Hinault (born 14 November 1954) is a French cyclist best known for his five victories in the Tour de France. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Maertens also won the 1977 Vuelta a España (taking more than half the stages: 13 in total), and took the spinters' maillot vert in the Tour de France three times (1976, 1978 and 1981). In 1976 he won a record-equalling eight stages of the Tour de France; the following year (1977), he took seven stages in the Giro d'Italia. 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... The Vuelta a España bicycle race is one of the three Grand Tours of Europe and, after the Tour de France and the Giro dItalia, the third most important road cycling stage race in the world. ... The maillot vert (French for green jersey) is the jersey or t-shirt worn by the leader of the Tour de Frances points classification. ... Tour de France - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle race for professionals held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ...

Outside the Grand Tours, his stage race victories included the Paris-Nice (1977), the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque (1973, 1975, 1976 and 1978), the Tour of Andalucia (1974, 1975), Tour of Belgium (1974, 1975), Tour of Luxembourg (1975), Tour of Sardinia (1977) and Vuelta y Catalunya (1977). In bicycle racing a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European cycling races: Tour de France - Tour of France Giro dItalia - Tour of Italy Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours. ... Paris-Nice, nicknamed the race to the sun, is an annual cycling stage race held in April. ...

However, despite his sprinting dominance during the 1970s, Maertens did not win a one-day 'Monument' Classic, coming closest with second places in the Tour of Flanders (1973) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1976). His other major one-day road race victories included: The Classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional cycling road races in Europe. ... The Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen) is a road cycling race held in Flanders, Belgium. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... Liège-Bastogne-Liège, often called La Doyenne (the oldest woman), is one of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar, and the oldest. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

• Gent-Wevelgem (1975, 1976)
• Paris-Brussels (1975)
• Paris-Tours (1975)
• Amstel Gold Race (1976)
• Rund um den Henninger Turm (1976)
• Championship of Zurich (1976)
• Omloop "Het Volk" (1977, 1978)

Maertens is widely believed to have been one of the best sprinters in the world, and is credited with having nurtured another great sprinter Sean Kelly during the latter's early professional career. He was also an accomplished rider in individual time trials, winning the Grand Prix des Nations in 1976. The Gent-Wevelgem is a professional cycle road race held in Belgium in early April each year. ... Paris-Brussels is a semi classic European bicycle race. ... The Amstel Gold Race is a road cycling race held (mostly) in the southern part of the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. ... Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) leads team mate Marcus Zberg into the final sprint of the 2005 race. ... Omloop “Het Volk”, often just called Het Volk is a European semi classic single day cycle race held in the Belgian province of East Flanders. ... A cycling sprinter is a road bicycle racer or track racer who can finish a race very explosively by accelerating, sometimes using the slipstream of another cyclist or group of cyclists tactically to gain greater momentum. ... There is a male named sean. ... An Individual Time Trial (ITT) is a road-based bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: contre la montre - literally against the watch). There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes. ... The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (a race against the clock or contre la montre) for Europes leading professional racing cyclists. ...

He also won the season-long Super Prestige Pernod International competition in 1976 and 1977. The UCI World Cup was a season-long competition for European professional racing cyclists, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body of competitive cycling. ...

Maertens was known to have pushed very high gears on his bike, which some critics say caused him to burn out early and retire at a relatively young age. In response, he said that the higher gears allow him to descend without too much strain to his heart.

In the 1973 World Championship in Barcelona, Spain, fellow Belgian Eddy Merckx accused Maertens of having chased him down in the final lap while Merckx had a good chance of staying away, resulting in Italian Felice Gimondi winning the title. Maertens responded that Merckx had sabotaged his ride because Maertens was riding Shimano components and that the other two rode Campagnolo components. In recent interviews Maertens and Merckx said that they have since reconciled their differences. Barcelona within Barcelonès Population (2003) 1,582,738 Area 1004 Km2 Population density (2001) 15,764/Km2 Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, Spain, a region in northeastern Spain (41°23′ N 2°11′ E). ... Baron Eddy Merckx (born Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx on June 17, 1945 in Meensel-Kiezegem, Belgium) is considered by many to be the greatest cyclist of the 20th Century. ... Felice Gimondi, (born September 29, 1942 in Sedrina, just outside Bergamo, Italy) is a former professional cyclist. ... Shimano is a Japanese manufacturer of cycling, golf, fishing and snowboarding components. ... Campagnolo is a Italian manufacturer of bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. ...

Further Reading

"Fall From Grace" by Freddy Maertens and Manu Adriaens, ISBN 1-898111-00-6, 1993, Ronde Publications, Hull. (Probably now out of print - but available second hand on the net.)