Theofiel ("Theo") Middelkamp (23 February 1914 – 2 May 2005) was a Dutch

road cyclist Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

. In 1947, Middelkamp became

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 1936, he was the first Dutch cyclist ever to win a stage in the

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 ...

Biography

Middelkamp was born as the second son in a family of nine children. At an early age, he wanted to be a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, but he soon realised that there was much more money to be earned in cycling, as football was not yet a professional sport in the Netherlands. Middelkamp was the first Dutchman to win a stage in the

. When he came to the Tour, he had never even seen mountains, coming from the very flat parts of the Netherlands. However, in his first Tour, on 14 July 1936, he won the difficult mountain stage from Aix-les-Bains to Grenoble, which went over the

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint-Mi ...

. That year, he finished 23rd overall. In 1937 he had to quit the Tour because of a fall, in which he broke a finger. In 1938 he won the seventh stage (Bayonne-Pau). In that tour, he won 8,000 francs, much less than he could have earned in races in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, and so he decided not to participate in any later Tours. As Middelkamp famously said, "I cannot live on fame and honour".Haan, Rob de
Liever poen dan roem
16 June 2010, nu.nl During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, Middelkamp earned money by smuggling, but he was caught and spent several months in prison. After the war, he went back to full-time cycling. In 1947, Middelkamp became the first Dutch world champion on the road, in Reims, after having been close to that title in the previous year. Middelkamp ended his career in 1951, when he bought a pub in Kieldrecht. For a long time, he would not talk to journalists about his cycling years, until he spoke about his famous 1936 stage win in a television program in 2003. Middelkamp died in 2005.

Major results

;1935 : 5th

Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (Championship of Flanders) or Koolskamp Koerse is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Koolskamp (part-municipality of Ardooie), West Flanders, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a ...

;1936 : 1st GP Stad Vilvoorde : 1st Stage 7

: 3rd

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 ...

;1938 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 7

;1943 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Road race, National Road Championships ;1944 : 2nd Grand Prix Jules Lowie : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1945 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs : 10th Circuit des Onze Villes ;1946 : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 10th

Scheldeprijs The Scheldeprijs is a cycling race in Flanders and the Netherlands which starts in Terneuzen, crosses the Scheldt River, and finishes in Schoten. Until 2018 it was held entirely in Belgium. The event, ranked as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour, ...

;1947 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: 3rd

;1948 : 1st GP Stad Vilvoorde : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd

;1950 : 2nd Silver medal blank

Road race,

: 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 in sports, 1948. It's an annual race since 1975 in sports, 1975. Because of the start of the Union Cycliste Intern ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Theo Middelkamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middelkamp, Theo 1914 births 2005 deaths Dutch male cyclists Dutch Tour de France stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) People from Hulst UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Cyclists from Zeeland