Jean Aerts

Jean Aerts (8 September 1907 – 15 June 1992) was a Belgian road bicycle racer who specialized as a sprinter. Aerts became the first man to win both the world amateur and professional (1935) road race championships. In 1935, Aerts captured first place and the gold medal at the professional UCI Road World Championships in Floreffe, Belgium.

In 1927 professional and amateur riders rode concurrently at the Nürburgring in Germany and Aerts finished 5th, the highest ranked amateur. He also competed in three events at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Although he lacked climbing ability for major tours, he used his sprinting ability to win 11 stages of the Tour de France, including six in 1933.

Major results

Amateur 1926

1927 UCI Road World Championships

5th Men's Road Race

1st La Haye-Bruxelles 1st GP Egg-Tiberghien 1928

Professional 1929 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya Winner stages 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 1st Tour du Sud-Ouest 1st Villeneuve sur Lot 1st Circuit de la Chalosse 6th Paris–Roubaix 7th Paris–Tours 1930 Tour de France: Winner stage 6 1st GP du Marthonnais 2nd GP de la Tribune Républicaine 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 6th Paris–Roubaix 7th Paris–Tours 8th Paris–Brussels 8th GP Wolber 1931 1st Paris–Brussels 1st Circuit du Midi 1st Wanze 3rd Tour of Flanders 1932 Tour de France 13th place Overall classification Winner stage 1 1st Prix Goullet-Fogler (with Omer De Bruycker) 1st Grand Critérium d'Europe 2nd Paris-Belfort 2nd Circuit du Morbihan 4th Paris–Roubaix 4th Tour of Flanders 5th Paris–Brussels 1933 Tour of Belgium:

Winner stages 2, 3 and 5 Tour de France 9th place Overall classification Winner stages 4, 15, 17, 19, 20 and 21 1 stage Paris–Nice 1934 1 stage Tour de Suisse 1st Paris - Boulogne-sur-Mer 1st Critérium de Bâle 1935

Tour de France Winner stages 4, 8, 10 and 19 29th place overall classification 1st Paris - Vichy 1st Zürich Criterium 3rd Paris–Roubaix 1936

1st Critérium de Pau 1937 1st London Criterium

Track 1936 1st Brussels (Derny) 2nd Six Days of London (with Albert Buysse) 3rd Six Days of Brussels (with Adolf Schön) 1937 1st Six Days of Brussels (with Omer De Bruycker) 1st Six Days of Paris (with Omer De Bruycker) 1941

1942

1943