Briek Schotte

Briek Schotte
Alberic "Briek" Schotte (born Kanegem, West Flanders, 7 September 1919 – died Kortrijk, 4 April 2004) was a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, one of the champions of the 1940s and 1950s. His stamina earned him the nickname "Iron Briek" (IJzeren Briek).
He was world champion in 1948 and 1950, won the last stage of the 1947 Tour de France and finished second in the 1948 Tour, behind Gino Bartali. He twice won the Tour of Flanders (1942, 1948), Paris–Tours (1946, 1947) and Paris–Brussels (1946, 1952). He also won the inaugural Challenge Desgrange-Colombo, a season-long competition to identify the world's best road rider, in 1948. He holds the record with twenty consecutive participations in the Tour of Flanders and in addition to his two victories made the podium on six other occasions. Schotte corresponded to the archetype of the Flandrien, the diligent farm boy who competes against better equipped and guided riders from France and Italy. Although he himself put that into perspective: "Because of my position on the bike, I gave the impression that I was suffering more than was actually the case".
After retirement in 1959, he was a team coach for 30 years, mostly for Flandria where he also served as Directeur Sportif for many years. Riders such as Rik Van Looy, Herman Van Springel, Freddy Maertens, Eddy Merckx, Sean Kelly, Joop Zoetemelk, Michel Pollentier, Walter Godefroot and Roger De Vlaeminck rode for Schotte at various points during their respective careers. None of these riders would win the Tour de France while riding for Flandria, however Zoetemelk would finish 2nd in 1970 and 1971 while riding under Schotte's direction.
He died on the day of the 2004 Tour of Flanders. The commentators during the race said "God must have been one of Briek's greatest fans".
Major results
1939
1st Overall Tour de l'Ouest
1st GP de Bruxelles
1940
1st Ransart–Beaumont–Ransart
3rd Tour of Flanders
1941
1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
1st Desselgem Koerse
1st Merelbeke
2nd Grote 1-MeiPrijs
3rd GP Stad Zottegem
1942
1st Tour of Flanders
1st Desselgem Koerse
1st Oostkamp
3rd Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten
1943
1st Desselgem Koerse
3rd La Flèche Française (TTT)
3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1944
1st Wetteren
2nd Tour of Flanders
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
1945
1st Nokere Koerse
1st Tielt–Antwerpen–Tielt
1st Olsene
1st Waregem
2nd Dwars door België
2nd Halle–Ingooigem
2nd Gullegem Koerse
2nd Brussels–Everbeek
2nd Circuit de Paris
3rd Across Paris
3rd Circuit de la Capitale
3rd Brussels–Sint-Truiden
1946
1st Interclubs road race, National Road Championships
1st Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde
1st Paris–Tours
1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg
1st Stages 1 & 2
1st Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten
1st Paris–Brussels
2nd Gullegem Koerse
2nd Halle–Ingooigem
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
3rd Tour of Flanders
3rd Overall Dwars door België
1st Stage 1
3rd Nokere Koerse
1947
1st Interclubs road race, National Road Championships
1st Paris–Tours
1st Stage 21 Tour de France
1st Circuit de la Region Liniere
1st Heule
2nd GP Tielt
3rd GP Stad Vilvoorde
1948
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Challenge Desgrange-Colombo
1st Tour of Flanders
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Tour de France
1949
1st GP Stad Vilvoorde
3rd Tour of Flanders
1950
1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Stage 5 Tour of the Netherlands
1st Critérium Aalst
1st Montenaken
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2nd Tour of Flanders
2nd Gullegem Koerse
3rd Omloop Het Volk
1951
1st Vijfbergenomloop
3rd Brussels–Izegem
1952
1st Omloop der Zuid-West-Vlaamse Bergen
1st Paris–Brussels
2nd Paris–Tours
3rd Tour of Flanders
1953
1st Overall Dwars door België
1st Stage 2b
1st Grote Bevrijdingsprijs
1st Antwerpen–Luik–Antwerpen
1st Antwerpse Havenpijl
1st Waregem
2nd Paris–Brussels
2nd Overall Tour of Belgium
1954
1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
1st Omloop der drie Provinciën
1st Prix de Soignies
1st Oedelem
2nd Overall Dwars door België
2nd Overall Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde
3rd GP Mesen
1955
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Overall Dwars door België
1st Stage 2b
1st Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen
2nd Nokere Koerse
2nd Paris–Limoges
1956
1st Overall GP Bali
1st Stage 1
1st Lauwe
1st Boulogne-sur-Mer
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Driedaagse van Antwerpen
2nd Omloop Het Volk
3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
1957
1st Interclubs road race, National Road Championships
1st Wervik
1st Langemark
3rd Circuit des Régions Frontalières
1958
1st Interclubs road race, National Road Championships
1st Wervik
1st De Panne
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Driedaagse van Antwerpen
2nd GP Roeselare
3rd Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke
1959
3rd Dwars door België
Awards and honours
Challenge Desgrange-Colombo: 1948
Trophée Edmond Gentil: 1948
Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 1950
Swiss AIOCC Trophy: 1972
Honorary Citizen of Waregem: 1987
Statue in Kanegem: 1996
UCI Hall of Fame: 2002
GP Briek Schotte: since 2004
Monument and square in Desselgem: 2005
Bust in Waregem: 2007
Monument in Moorslede: 2010
10 Euro Silver commemorative coin: 2019
Books
20 jaren rennersloopbaan van Briek Schotte by Berten Lafosse in 1955, Atlas Kortrijk, 79 p. (Dutch)
IJzeren Briek: de wielersport zal niet sterven: het levensverhaal van Briek Schotte by André Blancke in 1987, Het Volk, 192 p. (Dutch)
Briek Schotte by Noël Truyers in 1998, De Eecloonaar, 48 p. (Dutch)
Briek Schotte: de laatste der Flandriens by Rik Vanwalleghem and Bo Decramer in 1999, Lannoo, 176 p. (Dutch)
Briek Schotte: De erfenis van Briek by Rik Vanwalleghem and Anna Luyten in 2011, Kannibaal, 187 p. (Dutch)
Briek! De laatste Flandrien by Herman Chevrolet in 2019, De Arbeiderspers, 248 p. (Dutch)
Flandrien by Stephan Vanfleteren in 2021, Kannibaal, 132 p. (Dutch)
References
External links
Official Tour de France results for Alberic Schotte
1919 births
2004 deaths
Belgian Tour de France stage winners
Belgian male cyclists
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
People from Tielt
Sportspeople from West Flanders
Challenge Desgrange-Colombo winners