Yvonne Reynders (born 4 August 1937) is a former track and road cyclist from Belgium. With

Beryl Burton Beryl Burton, OBE (12 May 1937 – 5 May 1996) was an English racing cyclist who dominated women's cycle racing in the UK, winning more than 90 domestic championships and seven world titles, and setting numerous national records. She se ...

of Great Britain, Reynders was one of the top female riders of the 1960s, winning 13 medals at world championships, including seven gold medals. Reynders' first sport was athletics: her heroine was Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four sprint golds at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. However, after her coaches told her that she did not have the speed on the track to follow in Blankers-Koen's footsteps, she initially switched to the discus, winning two consecutive Belgian junior discus titles in 1955 and 1956. Reynders then switched to cycle racing, having ridden a carrier tricycle when delivering coal in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

after leaving school at the age of 16. In order to lose the muscle mass she had built up as a discus thrower, she developed a weekday routine of riding her race bike 40 km from her home in the

Campine The Campine ( French ) or De Kempen (Dutch ) is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-eastern Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands. It encom ...

to Antwerp, where she did her 8–16 km coal round on her carrier trike in the morning, and then riding another 100–140 km on her racing bicycle along the Scheldt valley before returning home. After six months her weight had reduced from 74 kg to 59.5 kg. She subsequently won ten of the 14 races she entered in her first year, and earned selection to the Belgian national team. Reynders won her first world road title in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. In

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

she won her second, defeating Burton and Elsy Jacobs, and also won the world individual pursuit title the same year. She won two more road world titles, in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

on home ground in the Belgian city of Ronse, and in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

in West Germany, and another two track rainbow jerseys, in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. She initially retired from competition in 1967, however she returned to racing in 1976 at the age of 39: she took her final world championship medal, a bronze, at that year's

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 ...

. She retired a second time the following year. Reynders is a pedicure specialist.

References

1937 births Living people Belgian female cyclists People from Schaerbeek UCI Road World Champions (women) UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Belgian track cyclists Cyclists from Brussels 20th-century Belgian women {{Belgium-cycling-bio-1930s-stub