Monsieur Bordeaux-Paris, also known as Herman Van springel, has gone away. The Belgian, who amassed over 130 victories over his career, was suffering from a serious illness. The age of Vanspringel was 79.
Herman Van Springel died
Herman Van Springel, a former cyclist, passed away after a protracted illness overnight between Wednesday and Thursday at his Grobbendonk residence, Gazet van Antwerpen reported on Thursday.
On August 14, he had just turned 79 years old.
Herman Van Springel Cause of death
At the age of 79, Herman Van Springel passed away on Thursday. The former cyclist from Belgium, who came in second place to Jan Janssen in the 1968 Tour, had been ill for a while.
Van Springel’s moniker, “Monsieur Paris-Bordeaux,” alludes to the competition he not once but seven times won. His accolades list also includes events like Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Lombardy, Paris-Tours, and E3 Harelbeke.
He is well-known in the Netherlands for finishing in second place in the 1968 Tour. Van Springel started the last time trial in yellow at the time, but Dutchman Jan Janssen overtook him. Janssen was now the first Dutch Tour champion at the time.
Who is Herman Van Springel?
Herman Van Springel was a Belgian road racer who was born in Grobbendonk in the Flemish Campine or Kempen region and died on August 25, 2022. He wore the Maillot Jaune on three of the 1973 Tour de France’s stages and four of the 1968 Tour de France’s stages.
Van Springel was a skilled time-trial rider who came close to winning the 1968 Tour de France. In a time trial, Dutch cyclist Jan Janssen defeated him in the last stage. One of the tightest races in Tour de France history, until this day. He won the prestigious Giro di Lombardia that autumn.
He placed second in the Giro d’Italia in 1971, placing him on the podium.
Career of Herman Van Springel
He set a record by winning seven times in the Bordeaux-Paris marathon. Without winning a single stage, he also captured the Green Jersey during the 1973 Tour de France. That year, he placed sixth overall, making it the third time in his career that he had been in the top 10 in the Tour de France. In the 1974 race, he would place in the top 10 for the last time. Through his ten Tour appearances, he would win a total of five stages.
Van Springel continued cycling throughout the 1970s, and at the conclusion of the 1981 season, his illustrious career came to an end.
The 1968 Tour inspired Flemish TV producer and broadcaster Marc Uytterhoeven to start a Herman Van Springel fan club.
At the end of the 1981 season, the year of his greatest success in Bordeaux-Paris, he finished his career, which had started in 1965, at the age of 37.
Honors of Herman Van Springel
A book Herman Vanspringel 68 by Mark Uytterhoeven
A statue in Grobbendonck
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