Paul Deman (25 April 1889 in

Rekkem Rekkem is a section of the Belgian city of Menen, in the province of West Flanders. Until 1977, it was an independent municipality. It was called ''Retchème'' in Picard. In 1173, the village was still called Rekkem, similar to Reclinghem in Art ...

, West Flanders, Belgium – 31 July 1961 in Outrijve, Belgium)The Cycling Website, Rider database, Paul Deman
was a Belgian 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 ...

for 15 years from 1909–1924, and a carpet maker by trade.CyclingArt. History archives, Wednesday, January 16, 2008, Article - Secret agent man
/ref> He won the first

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 ...

race in 1913 at the age of 25, defeating a field of 37 riders over a 330 km course that ended with 4 laps of the wooden track around a small pond at Mariakerke, the suburb of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. He won the gruelling 592 km

Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional cycle race was one of Europe's classic cycle races, and one of the longest in the professional calendar, covering approximately – more than twice most single-day races. It started in northern Bordeaux in sout ...

in 1914. His career almost ended with the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He joined Belgium's espionage service and smuggled documents by bike into the neutral

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After many trips he was arrested by the Germans and jailed in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

ready to be shot. The

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

saved him. He started racing again and won

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 ...

in 1920 and

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m, ...

in 1923.Schroeders, Fer (1999), Les Classiques du 20ème Siècle, De Eeclonaar, Belgium, , p146

References

External links

* 1889 births 1961 deaths People from Menen Belgian male cyclists Cyclists from West Flanders {{Belgium-cycling-bio-stub