Romain Maes (; 10 August 1913 – 22 February 1983) was a Belgian cyclist who won the

1935 Tour de France The 1935 Tour de France was the 29th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 28 July. It consisted of 21 stages over . Although the French team was favourite, Belgian Romain Maes took the lead in the first stage, and never gave it a ...

after wearing the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

of leadership from beginning to end. Maes was the 13th child in his family. He started racing when he was 17. He turned professional in 1933 and won the Omloop van het Westen (Tour of the West). The following year he started the Tour de France and twice finished stages in second place. He then crashed on the day from

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Cô ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

and left the race in an ambulance. His win in 1935 ended a six-year run by French riders. He became a hero in Belgium. He won the 1936 Paris–Roubaix but wasn't given the victory. The judge said he had seen the Frenchman,

Georges Speicher Georges Speicher (; 8 June 1907 – 24 January 1978) was a French cyclist who won the 1933 Tour de France along with three stage wins, and the 1933 World Cycling Championship. After Speicher had won the 1933 Tour de France, he was initially not ...

, win. In 1938 he was well on the way to winning Paris-Brussels, leading the race by 100m with only 500m to go. He rode into the

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

on which the race finished, crossed the line and stopped. The chasers, who had remembered that there was a further lap to ride, swept by him. Maes realised his mistake too late and

Marcel Kint Marcel Kint (20 September 1914, in Zwevegem – 23 March 2002, in Kortrijk) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who won 31 races Velopalmares: Sterckx between 1935 and 1951. His finest year was 1938 when he won the World Cycling ...

won. Maes started the Tour de France in 1939 and won the stage from Caen to

Vire Vire () is a town and a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Vire Normandie. Geography The town is located on the river Vire. Much of i ...

, a time trial over 63 km. It gave him the lead. Then he crashed on the eighth stage and abandoned the race. Maes rode on the track for several years with his namesake, Sylvère Maes, to whom he wasn't related. Romain Maes stopped racing in 1944 and opened a bar, "In de Gele Trui" (In The Yellow Jersey), near the North station in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Career achievements

Major results

;1933 :Stekene ;1934 :Wevelgem ;1935 :Paris - Lille :

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 ...

: ::

Winner overall classification ::Winner stages 1, 11 and 21 :Tournai ;1936 :Circuit de Paris ;1939 :

Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten The Omloop der Vlaamse gewesten was a men's cycling race of which the original format was organized for the last time in 1972. The race was run in variating Flemish provinces or Brussels. The competition's roll of honor includes the successes o ...

: ::Winner stage 2A

Grand Tour results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Romain Maes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maes, Romain Belgian male cyclists Tour de France winners Belgian Tour de France stage winners 1913 births 1983 deaths Cyclists from West Flanders People from Jabbeke