Walter Godefroot

Walter Godefroot (born 2 July 1943) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer and former directeur sportif of Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile Team, professional team. He won a bronze medal in the individual road race at the 1964 Summer Olympics.[1]

Walter Godefroot

Godefroot in 1997
Personal information
Full name	Walter Godefroot
Born	(1943-07-02) 2 July 1943 Ghent, Belgium
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Manager
Rider type	One-day specialist
Professional teams
1965–1966	Wiel's–Groene Leeuw
1967–1969	Flandria–De Clerck
1970	Salvarani
1971–1972	Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1973–1975	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano
1976–1979	IJsboerke–Colnago
Managerial teams
1991–2005	Team Telekom
2006	Astana–Würth
2007	Astana
Major wins
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1967) 10 stages, Tour de France Green jersey, Tour de France (1970) Tour of Flanders (1968, 1978) Paris–Roubaix (1969) Bordeaux–Paris (1969, 1976) 1 stage, Giro d'Italia (1970) 2 stages, Vuelta a España (1971) National Champion
Medal record Representing  Belgium Men's road bicycle racing Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Individual road race

Godefroot was a specialist in one-day classic cycle races, winning the Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1967), Paris–Roubaix (1969), and the Tour of Flanders (1968, 1978). Besides winning the green jersey at the 1970 Tour de France, Godefroot was the first to win the final stage on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France.

Godefroot was disqualified three times for doping. On 25 May 2007 Bjarne Riis, winner of the 1996 Tour de France and member of Team Telekom of which Godefroot was coach, admitted using EPO. Riis claims Godefroot turned a blind eye to drug use on the team.[2]

Godefroot stepped down as team manager before the 2006 season. Olaf Ludwig became manager. After the exclusion of Astana–Würth from the 2006 Tour de France, Godefroot returned to the peloton when he became manager of Astana. His contract was not renewed when it ran out in July 2007.[3]

In his racing days he was called 'The Bulldog of Flanders'.