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Historic Overview Stan Ockers

Rider

Overall Rank45
NameStan OCKERS
Country
  Belgium
Date of birth03-Feb-1920 - Borgerhout (Antwerpen)
Date of death01-Oct-1956 - Merksem (Antwerpen)
ContemporiesView Contemporary Ranking

Biography

Stan Ockers

Constant ("Stan") Ockers (3 February 1920 – 1 October 1956) was a Belgian professional racing cyclist.

He was runner-up in the Tour de France in 1950 and 1952, and the best sprinter in that Grand Tour in 1955 and 1956. In 1955 he won the Classic "Ardennes double" by winning La Flèche Wallonne and the Liège–Bastogne–Liège in the same year. At this time, the races were run on successive days as "Le Weekend Ardennais". He also won the World Cycling Championship that year.

Ockers did not have the most congenial riding style - he was known as a crafty cyclist who often took advantage of other people's work - but he more than made up for this through his contact with the public. Stan Ockers always remained himself, had time for everyone and thus became one of the most popular riders of his generation, together with Rik Van Steenbergen and the young Rik Van Looy.

At the opening of the 1956 Antwerp track season, Ockers crashed heavily. He didn't see how Ernest Sterckx had returned to the track after a mechanical failure, looked back and drove full into his opponent. Ockers suffered a fractured skull and four broken ribs. The Antwerp folk hero fell into a coma, regained consciousness twice more but died of his injuries two days later on 1 October. Antwerp was in mourning, even 11-year-old Eddy Merckx was in shock at the passing of his great idol. Tens of thousands of Antwerp people saluted the corpse of their Stanneke whose body was laid to rest in Antwerp Sportpaleis.

A year later, a monument was built in Les Forges, Sprimont, in the south of Belgium.

source - Wikipedia

Badges

6 3 2 2 21

Major Victories

Challenge "Desgrange-Colombo" 1955
Corsa XX Settembre (Roma-Napoli-Roma) 1956
La Flèche Wallonne 1953, 1955
Liège - Bastogne - Liège 1955
Scheldeprijs - Schoten 1941, 1946
World Championships Road Race 1955
Corsa XX Settembre (Roma-Napoli-Roma) - stages 1952 (1), 1953 (1), 1956 (5)
Dauphiné Libéré - stages 1956 (2)
Tour de France - stages 1950 (1), 1954 (1), 1956 (1)
Vuelta a la Nueva Argentina - stages 1952 (1)
More results

Seasons

Stan Ockers - Scores by Season

Year Team Score Rank
1. 1941 Individual 46 298
2. 1942 Helyett - Hutchinson 152 137
3. 1943 Métropole - Dunlop 426 25
4. 1944 Métropole - Dunlop 255 34
5. 1945 Métropole - Dunlop 0 794
6. 1946 Métropole - Dunlop - Hutchinson 305 126
7. 1947 Mondia 786 51
8. 1948 Garin - Wolber 1431 15
9. 1949 Garin - Wolber 1379 10
10. 1950 Terrot - Wolber - Hutchinson 1769 10
11. 1951 Terrot - Wolber - Hutchinson 1533 8
12. 1952 Peugeot - Dunlop 2845 3
13. 1953 Peugeot - Dunlop 2116 7
14. 1954 Peugeot - Dunlop 2162 9
15. 1955 Elvé - Peugeot 3216 2
16. 1956 Elvé - Peugeot 3870 1
Overall: 22291 45