Rudy Dhaenens

Rudy Dhaenens (10 April 1961 – 6 April 1998) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who is most famous for winning the road race at the 1990 UCI Road World Championships as a member of the Belgian national team.

Dhaenens excelled several times in the Paris–Roubaix classic race; finishing second in 1986 and third the following year. Dhaenens won the 1990 World Championship Road Race, held in Utsunomiya, Japan, ahead of Dirk De Wolf of Belgium and Gianni Bugno of Italy. In 1992, Dhaenens was forced to stop his career because of heart problems. For a long time, he was in the service of the PDM cycling team, usually as tactical captain. Dhaenens was known for his calm, reserved attitude.

He died in 1998, at the age of 36, from head injuries sustained in a car accident in Aalst while driving to the finish of the Tour of Flanders bicycle race. From 1999 to 2007, the Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens was held in his honour in late March, in Nevele, Belgium.

Major results

1981 2nd Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften 1983 8th Grand Prix d'Isbergues 1984 3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg 4th Amstel Gold Race 8th Gent–Wevelgem 10th Omloop van het Leiedal 1985 1st Druivenkoers Overijse 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 3rd Gent–Wevelgem 4th Trofeo Luis Puig 5th Paris–Roubaix 10th Overall Tour of Belgium 10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 10th Paris–Tours 10th De Kustpijl 1986 1st Stage 11 Tour de France 2nd Paris–Roubaix 2nd De Kustpijl 6th Overall Tour de Luxembourg 1st Stage 1 7th Gent–Wevelgem 10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 1987 3rd Paris–Roubaix 4th Trofeo Laigueglia 6th Gent–Wevelgem 1988 4th Omloop Het Volk 8th Tour of Flanders 8th Gent–Wevelgem 1989 5th Grand Prix de la Libération (TTT) 7th Milan–San Remo 9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 10th Overall Ronde van Nederland 10th GP du canton d'Argovie 1990

1st Stage 2a Vuelta a Asturias 2nd Tour of Flanders 2nd Druivenkoers Overijse 3rd Wincanton Classic 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 5th Tre Valli Varesine 8th GP des Amériques 9th Paris–Roubaix 10th Gent–Wevelgem 1991 3rd Grand Prix Criquielion 3rd Grand Prix de la Libération (TTT) 10th Road race, National Road Championships

Grand Tours general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish