Gustaaf Deloor (24 June 1913 – 28 January 2002) was a Belgian

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

cyclist and the winner of the first two editions of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

in 1935 and 1936. The 1936 edition remains the slowest winning finish time of the Vuelta in 150:07:54, the race consisted of 22 stages with a total length of 4,407 km. Gustaaf finished first and his older brother Alfons finished second overall.

Biography

Deloor was professional from 1932 until 1939 when

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

caused the end of his career. Deloor was serving in the Belgian army at

Fort Eben-Emael A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

near

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

when the German army invaded the fort on 10 May 1940, but Deloor together with some 1,200 Belgians were taken prisoner. In

Stalag II-B Stalag II-B was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp situated west of the town of Hammerstein, Pomerania (now Czarne, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland) on the north side of the railway line. It housed Polish, French, Belgian, Serbian, Du ...

or the

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

II-B, Deloor was able to work in the kitchen due to a German officer that was interested in sports. When Deloor returned from the war, he came back to a plundered house and decided to start a new life in the United States of America in 1949. After ten years in New York he moved to Los Angeles. He worked as a mechanic until, in 1956, an affluent client helped him find a job at Cape Canaveral aerospace centre. Here he worked for the Marquardt Corporation, the aeronautical engineering firm, in the development and design of the ramjet engine for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

that was used on the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...

rocket. He lost his first wife in 1966 but remarried. In 1980, Deloor returned to Belgium.

Major results

;1931 : 3rd

GP Dr. Eugeen Roggeman The GP Burgemeester Dokter Eugeen Roggeman is a Belgian cycling race organized for the first time in 1929. The race is named after doctor Eugeen Roggeman (1883–1965), who was mayor of Stekene for more than 38 years (from 1927 to 1965). With St ...

;1932 : 1st

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

amateurs ;1934 : 1st

Heistse Pijl The Heistse Pijl is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June around the municipality of Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium. Since 2016, the race is organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Victor Van Schil, ...

: 1st

: 4th Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium (; ) 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. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not org ...

;1935 : 1st Jersey orange

Overall

:: 1st Stages 3, 11 & 14 :3rd

Scheldeprijs The Scheldeprijs is a road bicycle racing, 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 UCI race cla ...

:3rd ;1936 : 1st Jersey orange

Overall

:: 1st Stages 2, 4 & 6 :2nd Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

;1937 : 1st Stage 6

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

: 2nd

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

:3rd

De Drie Zustersteden De Drie Zustersteden was a one-day road cycling race held annually around Dendermonde and Willebroek, Belgium between 1919 and 2012. It was held as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

;1939 : 1st : 1st Grote 1-MeiPrijs

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Gustaaf Deloor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deloor, Gustaaf 1913 births 2002 deaths Belgian male cyclists Vuelta a España winners Belgian Vuelta a España stage winners Belgian Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from East Flanders Belgian military personnel of World War II Belgian prisoners of war in World War II People from Sint-Gillis-Waas 20th-century Belgian sportsmen