Omer De Bruycker

Omer De Bruycker (10 February 1906 in Zelzate, Belgium – 3 June 1989 in Ghent) was a Belgian racing cyclist. He was a professional from 1930 to 1947.

History De Bruycker was one of the world's best team racers in the 1930s. Together with his friend and fellow countryman Fred Haemerlinck, he was virtually unbeatable in the couple stages. In his nomadic professional life, De Bruycker won more than 300 track races and nine six-day races. When in 1947 he formed a couple with Rik Van Steenbergen, eighteen years his junior, in a home match on the open-air track in Zelzate, fate struck. In a spectacular fall, he suffered a double skull fracture. After months of rehabilitation, the doctor forbade him to participate in competitive sports. De Bruycker spent the rest of his active life as a taxi driver.

Palmares

1931 1st Six Days of Saint-Étienne (with Albert Billiet) 1932 1st Prix Goullet-Fogler (fr) (with Jean Aerts) 1936 2nd Six Days of New York (with Frederick Verhaege) 1937 1st Six Days of Brussels (with Jean Aerts) 1st Six Days of New York (with Jean Aerts) 2nd Prix du Salon (with Gustave Danneels) 1938 1st Six Days of Buffalo (with Alfred Letourneur) 1st Six Days of Chicago (with Alfred Letourneur) 1939 1st Six Days of London (with Karel Kaers) 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Karel Kaers) 3rd Six Days of Antwerp (with Karel Kaers) 3rd Six Days of Brussels (with Karel Kaers) 1940 1st Six Days of Brussels (with Karel Kaers) 1945 1st Prix Raynaud-Dayen (fr) (with Achiel Bruneel) 1946 3rd Six Days of Paris (with Achiel Bruneel) 1947 1st Six Days of Antwerp (with Achiel Bruneel)