Herman Van Springel
Herman Van Springel (born 14 August 1943) is a Belgian former road racing cyclist, from Grobbendonk, in the Flemish Campine or Kempen region. He wore the Maillot Jaune during four stages of the 1968 Tour de France and for three stages in 1973.
 Van Springel in 2013 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Herman Van Springel | |||||||||||||
| Born | 14 August 1943 Belgium | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
| Current team | Retired | |||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||
| Rider type | Sprinter, Time Trial | |||||||||||||
| Professional teams | ||||||||||||||
| 1965 | Dr Mann | |||||||||||||
| 1966–1970 | Mann-Grundig | |||||||||||||
| 1971–1972 | Molteni | |||||||||||||
| 1973 | Rokado | |||||||||||||
| 1974 | MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy | |||||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | Flandria-Velda | |||||||||||||
| 1977 | IJsboerke-Colnago | |||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Marc Zeepcentrale-Superia | |||||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Safir-Ludo | |||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||
| Tour de France green jersey (1973) Tour de France, 5 career stage wins Gent-Wevelgem (1966) Giro di Lombardia (1968) Bordeaux-Paris (1970, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He was an accomplished time-trial rider, almost winning the Tour de France in 1968. He was beaten in the last stage by Dutch rider Jan Janssen in a time-trial. This still remains as one of the closest races in Tour de France history. In the autumn that year, he won the classic Giro di Lombardia.
In 1971 he finished on the podium in 2nd place at the Giro d'Italia.
He won a record seven editions of the marathon Bordeaux–Paris. He also won the Green Jersey in the 1973 Tour de France without winning a single stage. He finished in 6th place overall that year, the third time in his career he would finish in the top 10 of the Tour de France. He would finish in the top 10 one final time during the 1974 edition.[1] He would win a total of five stages during his ten participations in the Tour.
He kept on cycling through the seventies and ended his impressive career at the end of the 1981 season.
Flemish TV-maker and presenter, Marc Uytterhoeven, motivated by the 1968 Tour, founded a Herman Van Springel fan club.[2]
Major results
- Season champion, Super Prestige Pernod International (1968)
- Tour de France
- 1966, 6th overall,
- 1967, 24th overall, 1 stage win
- 1968, 2nd overall, 1 stage win
- 1969, 18th overall, 2 stage wins
- 1971, 14th overall, 1 stage win
- 1973, 6th overall, Points classification
- 1974, 10th overall
- 1975, 31st overall
- Giro d'Italia
- 1971, 2nd overall
- One-day events, classics and semi-classics
- UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, 2nd/Silver Medal (1968)
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Belgian National Road Race Championships (1971)- Giro di Lombardia (1968)
- Gent–Wevelgem (1966)
- Omloop Het Volk (1968)
- Paris–Tours (1969)
- Grand Prix des Nations (1969, 1970)
- Bordeaux–Paris (1970, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981)
- Züri-Metzgete (1971)
- Grote Prijs Jef Scherens (1966)
- Nokere Koerse (1971)
- E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (1974)
- Boucles de l'Aulne (1974)
- Le Samyn (1978)
- Trofeo Baracchi (1969 with Joaquim Agostinho)
References
- "Herman Van Springel Overview". Pro Cycling Stats. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020.
- citation needed - if the link to Uytterhoeven is the right person then this could use a citation for clarification as Uytterhoeven was born in 1957 and therefore a child in 1968. He could have started this fan club as a child, but he likely wouldn't have been a TV-Maker/presenter at the time.