Rudy Dhaenens (10 April 1961 – 6 April 1998) 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 ...

professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

who is most famous for winning the

World Cycling Championships The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

in 1990 as a member of the Belgian national team. Dhaenens excelled several times in the

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

classic race; finishing second in 1986 and third the following year. Dhaenens won the 1990 World Championship Road Race, held in

Utsunomiya is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

, Japan, ahead of

Dirk De Wolf Dirk De Wolf (born 16 January 1961 in Aalst, East Flanders) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. Cycling career In 1982 at the age of 23 De Wolf won the Sealink International and finished 8th at the World Road Champions ...

of Belgium and

Gianni Bugno Gianni Bugno (; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Bugno was a versatile rider, able to do well in different types of races. He won numerous stages in the Tour de France, and the Milan–S ...

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 The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

bicycle race. From 1999 to 2007, the

Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens was a professional road bicycle race held annually in Nevele (Belgium) to honor the former World Racing Champion Rudy Dhaenens. In 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circ ...

was held in his honour in late March, in

Nevele Nevele () is a village and former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2 ...

, Belgium.

Career achievements

Major results

;1981 :2nd

Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften ( en, Tour of Flanders U23) is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. It is the version of the Tour of Flanders for under-23 riders and is usually contested a week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Ludovic Capelle is t ...

;1984 :3rd Overall

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), th ...

:4th

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classics r ...

:8th Gent-Wevelgem ;1985 :1st

Druivenkoers Overijse Druivenkoers Overijse is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in Overijse, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road ...

:3rd Gent-Wevelgem :3rd Road race, National Road Championships :5th

:10th Overall 4 Jours de Dunkerque :10th Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Bet ...

:10th Paris-Tours ;1986 :1st Stage 11

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

De Kustpijl De Kustpijl is a cycling race held annually in Belgium. It is part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.2 The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scal ...

:6th Overall

::1st Stage 1 :7th Gent-Wevelgem :10th Overall 4 Jours de Dunkerque ;1987 :3rd

:4th

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the G ...

:6th Gent-Wevelgem ;1988 :4th Omloop Het Volk :8th

:8th Gent-Wevelgem ;1989 :5th Grand Prix de la Libération ( TTT) :7th Milan-San Remo :9th Overall Tirreno-Adriatico :10th Overall

Ronde van Nederland The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005, it was replaced by the Enec ...

;1990 :1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

:1st Stage 2a

Vuelta a Asturias Vuelta Asturias is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early May each year. The event was first run in 1925 but has not been held consistently until 1968 to present. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

:2nd

:3rd

Wincanton Classic Wincanton Classic (also known as Leeds International Classic and Rochester International Classic) was a cycling classic taking place in the United Kingdom as part of the UCI Road World Cup. It was first held in 1989 in Newcastle, moving to Brigh ...

:4th Liège-Bastogne-Liège :5th

Tre Valli Varesine The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which c ...

:8th GP des Amériques :9th

:10th Gent-Wevelgem

Tour de France record

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

: 101st overall *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

: 122nd overall; 1 stage win *

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

: 87th overall *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

: 43rd overall

Notes

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Rudy Dhaenens
1961 births 1998 deaths People from Deinze Belgian male cyclists Belgian Tour de France stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Road incident deaths in Belgium Cyclists from East Flanders {{Belgium-cycling-bio-1960s-stub