Gustaaf Deloor (24 June 1913 – 28 January 2002) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

cyclist and the winner of the first two editions of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

in 1935 and 1936. The 1936 edition remains the longest winning finish time of the Vuelta in 150:07:54, the race consisted of 22 stages with a total length of 4,407 km. Gustaaf finished first and his older brother

Alfons Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

finished second overall.

Biography

Deloor was professional from 1932 until 1939 when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

caused the end of his career. Deloor was serving in the

army at

Fort Eben-Emael Fort Eben-Emael (french: Fort d'Ében-Émael, ) is an inactive Belgian fortress located between Liège and Maastricht, on the Belgian-Dutch border, near the Albert Canal, outside the village of Ében-Émael. It was designed to defend Belgium ...

near

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

when the German army invaded the fort on 10 May 1940, but Deloor together with some 1,200 Belgians were taken prisoner. In

Stalag II-B Stalag II-B was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp situated west of the town of Hammerstein, Pomerania (now Czarne, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland) on the north side of the railway line. It housed Polish, French, Belgian, Serbian, Dutch ...

or the

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

II-B, Deloor was able to work in the kitchen due to a German officer that was interested in sports. When Deloor returned from the war, he came back to a plundered house and decided to start a new life in the United States of America in 1949. After ten years in New York he moved to Los Angeles. He worked as a mechanic until, in 1956, an affluent client helped him find a job at Cape Canaveral aerospace centre. Here he worked for the Marquardt Corporation, the aeronautical engineering firm, in the development and design of the ramjet engine for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

that was used on the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

rocket. He lost his first wife in 1966 but remarried. In 1980, Deloor returned to Belgium.

Major results

;1935 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

:: 1st Stages 3, 11 & 14 ;1936 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

:: 1st Stages 2, 4 & 6 ;1937 : 1st Stage 6

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

: 2nd

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional r ...

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Gustaaf Deloor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deloor, Gustaaf 1913 births 2002 deaths Belgian male cyclists Vuelta a España winners Belgian Vuelta a España stage winners Belgian Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from East Flanders Belgian military personnel of World War II Belgian prisoners of war in World War II People from Sint-Gillis-Waas