Flandria (cycling team)

See also: Merlin Plage–Shimano–Flandria and Faema (cycling team)

Flandria was a Belgian professional cycling team that existed from 1957 to 1979. It was sponsored by Flandria a bicycle manufacturer located in West Flanders that also manufactures mopeds, lawnmowers, and motorbikes.

Flandria

The Flandria squad of the 1964 Tour de France
Team information
Registered	Belgium
Founded	1957 (1957)
Disbanded	1979
Discipline(s)	Road
Status	UCI Division I
Key personnel
General manager	Briek Schotte
Team manager(s)	Jean de Gribaldy
Team name history
1959 1960–1961 1962 1963 1964–1965 1966 1967–1968 1969 1970–1971 1972 1973 1974–1975 1976 1977 1978 1979	Flandria–Dr.Mann Wiel's–Flandria Flandria–Faema–Clément Flandria–Faema Flandria–Romeo Flandria Flandria–De Clerck Flandria–De Clerck–Krüger Flandria–Mars Beaulieu–Flandria Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano Carpenter–Confortluxe–Flandria Flandria–Velda–West Vlaams Vleesbedrijf Flandria–Velda–Latina Assicurazioni Flandria–Velda–Lano Flandria–Ça va seul
Flandria (cycling team) jersey Jersey

History

Started with a team built around Joseph Planckaert, and Rik Van Looy. Youngsters Eddy Merckx, Peter Post, Herman Van Springel, and Walter Godefroot all joined at early stages of their career, although some such as Merckx left soon after to become leader of his own team.

After Van Looy's retirement, Belgian Freddy Maertens took over the leadership mantle, famous for his rivalry with Eddy Merckx. Irishman Sean Kelly also started his professional career with Flandria, as Maertens' super-domestique.

Joop Zoetemelk rode for the team from 1970-1972 finishing on the podium twice in the Tour de France during this span. He also finished 5th in the 1972 Tour de France and won the King of the Mountains classification in the 1971 Vuelta a España.

Roster

Roster in 1975:^[1]

•  Christian Ardouin (FRA)
•  Eddy Cael (BEL)
•  Raphaël Coene (BEL)
•  Carlos Cuyle (BEL)
•  Wilfried David (BEL)
•  Ronald De Witte (BEL)
•  Régis Delépine (FRA)
•  Marc Demeyer (BEL)
•  Robert Fontaine (BEL)
•  Walter Godefroot (BEL)
•  Cyrille Guimard (FRA)
•  Eric Jacques (BEL)
•  Freddy Maertens (BEL)
•  Gerard Martens (BEL)
•  Gérard Moneyron (FRA)
•  Michel Pollentier (BEL)
•  Jean-Jacques Sanquer (FRA)
•  José Sersté (BEL)
•  Roger Vandemaele (BEL)
•  Arthur Van De Vijver (BEL)
•  Marcel Van der Slagmolen (BEL)
•  Julien Van Geebergen (BEL)
•  Herman Van Springel (BEL)
•  Daniel Verplancke (BEL)
•  Roger Verschaeve (BEL)