“I come from a big family with four brothers and one sister. Nobody of my family raced, but I rolled into it by going with the cycling tourists every Sunday morning. I did my first races when I was 14 years old without my family knowing it, as I wasn’t allowed to do it. They thought it was too dangerous. I was working as well already at that point and my parents wanted me to focus on that. In the end I was a professional rider for 14 years. I wasn’t someone who won a lot, but I was a good helper. One day all puzzle pieces came together in 1988, when I won Paris-Roubaix.”
“That day I was in the break together with 12 other riders for 222 kilometers, which was the longest successful breakaway until now. In the end we were in the front with 7, I kept some reserve in my legs throughout the day and I stayed in the front with Thomas Wegmüller ‘Terminator’, which was good as Thomas was someone who always went full gas. I won the sprint quite easily, it was only a pity that the finish wasn’t on the famous Velodrome. It’s the most beautiful memory of my pro career. I live in Bavikhove, not so far from Roubaix and after the race we were out partying with the team. When I returned in my home town, there were so many people awaiting me and I was out until 4AM in the morning. Seeing your name on the front page of all the newspapers the next day, is incredible. It changed my life, as everyone looked differently to me after that victory.”
Yes, no and I love you
“After my pro career in 1996 I met Ronny Boudrez, the former manager of the youth and amateur cycling team the Kortrijkse Groeningespurters, on a kermesse race. I never would have thought I would become a sports director, as it was boring in my eyes. But I got the opportunity of Ronny and started working there, Tom Boonen and Stijn Devolder are two names who grew up as a rider in that team. Via Johan Bruyneel I got the question to work in the US Postal Team, I couldn’t believe it at first and answered my English was bad, the only three words I knew were ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘I love you’. But I took the opportunity and prepared myself with a course.”
“I was in different teams and this season I made the step to the Lotto Dstny Team. My most beautiful moments this year were the Belgian Championships and the victory of Victor (Campenaerts) in the Tour de France. I got a lot of experience in the time I worked at US Postal, where the focus was on the grand tours. You need to feel the sports director skills inside of you a little bit. I think my quality is that I communicate and talk a lot with the riders and staff, I’m there when needed and I have always done it with passion. I was a pro for 14 years, worked with youth riders for 4 years and now I’ve been a sports director in the pro peloton for 25 years already. That’s already quite some time. I’ll keep on doing it as long as I have this passion inside me.”
Pictures: Brecht Steenhouwer
