Fred De Bruyne

Alfred De Bruyne (21 October 1930 – 4 February 1994) was a Belgian champion road cyclist. He won six Tour de France stages early in his career and went on to win many other Monuments and stage races.

De Bruyne had a great deal of success early in his career during the Tour de France. 1953 was his first Tour, his best result was making one stage podium, on stage 5 from Dieppe to Caen. In 1954 he finished 2nd on the final stage into Paris and won three stages along the way. In 1955 he didn't win any stages, but ended up with the highest overall classification he would ever have which was 17th. In 1956, De Bruyne won three stages in the first half of the Tour, but slowed a bit in the second half and could not add to this total. Also in 1956 he won Milan–San Remo and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, as well as the stage race Paris–Nice early in the season. In 1957 De Bruyne abandoned the Tour for the first time in his career. He won both Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Tours that year. In 1958 he rode the Giro for the first time and didn't win any stages and finished 16th overall. He won Paris–Nice, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and came in the top 10 of Gent–Wevelgem, La Flèche Wallonne, Paris–Roubaix, Paris-Tours and Milan San Remo.

After his professional cycling career he went on to write several books about some of the most important Belgian cyclists of his era and became a popular TV sports commentator, a team manager, and finally a spokesman for the cycling team.

In 1988 he retired and moved with his wife to the Provence in France. Six years later, in February 1994, De Bruyne died of a heart attack after a lingering illness.

Riding style De Bruyne was known for his tactical intelligence, race awareness, and disciplined approach, often waiting to attack until he judged the moment to be favorable. Although regarded as calm off the bike, he raced with determination and intensity. While he was not considered the most naturally gifted rider of his generation, his intelligence and consistency enabled him to build an impressive competitive record.

Major results

Road 1953 1st Tour of Flanders independents 1st Bosbeek-Brussegem independents 1st Blanden independents 2nd Gent-Wevelgem independents 1953 1st Gentbrugge 1954 1st GP Berlare Tour de France 1st Stages 8, 13 and 22 1st Omloop van Oost-Vlaanderen 1st Criterium of East-Flanders 2nd GP Stad Vilvoorde 2nd Schelde–Dender–Leie 4th Circuit des six provinces (fr) 1st Stage 2 6th Paris–Tours 9th Road race, UCI World Championships 1955 1st Omloop van Midden-België 1st GP Frans Melckenbeek (nl) 2nd Giro di Lombardia 2nd Paris–Tours 2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen 1st Stage 2 3rd Tour du Sud-Est 1st Stage 4 3rd Grand Prix du Midi Libre 4th Nationale Sluitingsprijs 6th Brussels–Ingooigem 1956 1st Milan–San Remo 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st Stages 1 and 5 Tour de France 1st Stages 1, 6 and 10 1st Challenge Desgrange-Colombo 2nd Boucles de l'Aulne 2nd Paris–Roubaix 4th Paris–Tours 5th Road race, UCI World Championships 5th Bordeaux–Paris 9th Giro di Lombardia 9th Paris–Brussels 1957 1st Tour of Flanders 1st Paris–Roubaix 1st Paris–Tours 1st GP Berlare 1st Sassari–Cagliari 1st Challenge Desgrange-Colombo 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Milano–Torino 4th Paris–Brussels 5th Road race, UCI World Championships 8th Roma–Napoli–Roma 1st Stage 8 1958 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st GP Berlare 1st Challenge Desgrange-Colombo 2nd Paris–Tours 2nd Boucles de l'Aulne 2nd Omloop van Limburg 3rd Gent–Wevelgem 4th La Flèche Wallonne 4th Paris–Brussels 6th Milan–San Remo 6th Gran Premio di Lugano 6th Paris–Roubaix 7th Giro del Lazio 10th Tour of Flanders 1959 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2nd Omloop Het Volk 2nd Boucles de l'Aulne 5th Bordeaux–Paris 6th Paris–Roubaix 6th Paris–Brussels 1960 8th Schelde–Dender–Leie 1961 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 5th Overall Giro di Sardegna

Track

1955 3rd Six days of Ghent (with Reginald Arnold) 1957 1st Six days of Ghent (with Rik Van Steenbergen) 3rd Six Days of Paris (with Willy Vannitsen & Leon Van Daele) 1958 2nd Six Days of Brussels (with Reginald Arnold) 1959 1st Six days of Ghent (with Rik Van Steenbergen)

Honours

A square, Place Fred De Bruyne in Seillans, France A race, Memorial Fred De Bruyne in Berlare, Belgium A monument in Berlare, Belgium A cycling route In het wiel van Fred De Bruyne in Berlare, Belgium

Books by Fred De Bruyne Fred de Bruyne wrote following books (in Dutch) about famous cyclists: Rik Van Steenbergen, 1963 Rik Van Looy, 1963 Patrick Sercu, 1965 Peter Post, 1965 De memoires van Fred De Bruyne, 1978