Joseph Bruyère

Joseph Bruyere or Bruyère (born 5 October 1948 in Maastricht, Netherlands) is a former Belgian cyclist.

Career Professional from 1970 to 1980, Joseph Bruyère, athlete of one meter 88 for 80 kilo, notably won Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice and an individual stage of the Tour de France 1972.

He is one of the specialists of the classic Het Volk, which he won in 1974, 1975 and 1980 (a shared record) and of Liège-Bastogne-Liège which he won in 1976 and 1978.

Bruyère participated in six Tours de France and achieved a victory in 1972 in the 19th stage between Auxerre and Versailles. He wore the yellow jersey twice, in 1974 for three days and in 1978 for eight days. On the 1978 edition, he finished fourth in the general classification, despite a size that was not well suited to the mountains.

From the start of his professional career, he was part of Eddy Merckx's team, until the latter retired from sport.

Teammate of Eddy Merckx Bruyère rode several seasons as the lieutenant of the super-star rider Eddy Merckx. He was known to ride on the front of the peloton for many miles, and often for much of a mountain stage until the last climb, doing the work of a whole team of domestiques.

After Merckx retired from racing Bruyère tried to take over from Merckx as a big star, but he wasn't able to, having given his best years to the service of Merckx.

Major results

As amateur 1968 1st stage 4 Tour de Namur

1969 1st Flèche Ardennaise 1st Championship of the Liège province 1st Romsée-Stavelot-Romsée 1st Seraing-Aix-Seraing

As professional 1970 1st Stage 3a Tour de France (TTT) 2nd Trophée des Grimpeurs 2nd Tour du Condroz 2nd Flèche Hesbignonne 1971 1st Prologue Tour de France (TTT) 1st Ronde van Oost-Vlaanderen 1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (TTT) 2nd Overall Tour de la Nouvelle France 5th Milan-San Remo 7th Liège-Bastogne-Liège 1972 Tour de France 1st Stage 3b (TTT) & 19 1st Overall Cronostaffetta 1st Stage 1b (ITT) 1st Flèche rebecquoise 3rd Leiedal Koerse 1973 1st Stage 3b (TTT) Vuelta a España 1st Overall Cronostaffetta 1st Stage 1c (ITT) 3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies 1974 Tour de France 1st Stage 6b (TTT)

1st Omloop Het Volk 1st Prologue Paris–Nice (with Eddy Merckx) 2nd GP Union Dortmund 3rd Classica Sarda 1975

1st Omloop Het Volk 1st stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 3rd Amstel Gold Race 5th Milan-San Remo 8th Paris–Nice 1976 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1st Prologue Tour de Romandie (with Eddy Merckx) 1t Stage 22 Giro d'Italia (ITT) 1st Druivenkoers Overijse 1977 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1st stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1st Stage 7b Tour de France (TTT)

3rd Tour du Condroz 5th Paris–Nice 10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1978 4th Overall Tour de France

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1st Tour du Condroz 2nd Overall La Méditerranéenne 10th La Flèche Wallonne 1980 1st Omloop Het Volk

Tour de France 1970 - 50th 1971 - 60th 1972 - 26th; winner of 19th stage 1974 - 21st (4 days in the yellow jersey) 1978 - 4th (8 days in the yellow jersey)