{"id":55934,"title":"Fast Freddy Maertens - His rise and fall","description":"Freddy Maertens was a mercurial cycling talent who reached the very highs and lows of his sport.\n\nThe highs included two cycling World Championships, fifteen stages of the Tour de France, three green jerseys at the Tour de France, overall victory at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and over one hundred and forty professional wins.\nWe look back at his career and consider the challenges he faced that led to his decline.","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: RETRO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

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Freddy Maertens, once described by defunct cycling magazine Pro News as \u201cthe man who could pass anything, but a chemist\u201d, was a mercurial cycling talent who reached the very highs and lows of the sport.<\/p>

We look back at his outstanding career and ponder why he declined from world beater to barely an also-ran.<\/p>

\"FreddyFreddy Maertens at De Ronde 1982 in his World Champion\u2019s jersey. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

The highs included two World Championships, fifteen stages and three green jerseys at the Tour de France, overall victory at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a and over one hundred and forty professional wins.<\/p>

The lows were almost as numerous. Accusations of alcohol abuse, an almost perpetual dispute with Belgian tax authorities, bankruptcy, sackings, unemployment and the odd run-in with doping controls.<\/p>

During a fifteen-year career, he racked up almost all his victories in just six seasons. In 1977, for example, he was first on over forty occasions, including twenty stages of the Giro d\u2019Italia and Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. In the latter, he also captured the overall general classification, points and sprints competitions.<\/p>

Maertens was a formidable sprinter who could out-time-trial all but the very best and hang on in the high mountains when needed. A rider in the style of Sean Kelly<\/strong><\/a>, in terms of natural talent, if not in long-term professional success. The two riders were teammates at the Flandria squad for the first two seasons of Kelly\u2019s professional career.<\/p>

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Maertens\u2019 Golden Years<\/h2>

1976 - World Championships success<\/h3>

Freddy\u2019s golden years ran from 1976 to 1978. During these three seasons, he was victorious on ninety occasions. The twenty-four-year-old began his fourth full year as a professional in 1976 with the Tour de Corse (Corsica).<\/p>

Long since forgotten, the Tour de Corse was one of the many early-season \u2018training races\u2019 that were used by riders to fine-tune their form in the relative warmth of southern Europe.<\/p>

They\u2019ve been replaced by training camps and races like the Tour of Oman, but back then, they were a good indicator of form. Freddy duly scored stage and individual time trial victories. In mainland France, he lit up Paris-Nice with five stage wins and fourth-place overall.<\/p>

Wins in the Amstel Gold Race, De Brabantse Pijl and Gent-Wevelgem were a prelude to Quatre Jours de Dunkerque, where another time trial victory gained him the overall win. The Tour de Suisse followed, where two stages earned him the points jersey and seventh overall.<\/p>

\"MaertensMaertens on his way to his renaissance win at the 1981 World Championships. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

A solo victory in the Belgian National Championship propelled him into the Tour de France with form and confidence, where he delivered an incredible performance. Eight stage victories, including three individual time trials, netted the green points jersey and eighth place overall.<\/p>

The 1976 Professional World Championship Road Race was expected to be a showdown between the Italians, riding on home soil in the city of Ostuni in the Puglia region, and the Belgians, led by Maertens and his unfriendly rival Eddy Merckx.<\/p>

\u201cTheir deep mutual enmity would last decades\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

The antipathy between Maertens and Merckx dated back to the 1973 World Championships, when Merckx claimed that Maertens\u2019 actions had cost him the victory. Their deep mutual enmity would last decades.<\/p>

On this occasion, the Belgian team rode as one, and they orchestrated to deliver Freddy into the race-winning break with Italian Francesco Moser<\/strong><\/a>. It was a mere formality for Maertens, a superior sprinter, to take his first World title.<\/p>

He rounded out the year with victory in the Grand Prix des Nations, often thought of as the \u2018World Championships\u2019 of time trialling, and the two-up time trial Trofeo Baracchi with teammate Michel Pollentier.<\/p>

\"Retro<\/u><\/a><\/p>

1977 - Vuelta domination<\/h3>

The next year started in the same vein. Wins in one-day races, Trofeo Laigueglia and Omloop Het Volk, and overall wins at Giro di Sardegna, Paris-Nice and Setmana Catalana demonstrated that Maertens was in ferocious form.<\/p>

His disqualification at the Ronde van Vlaanderen for an illegal bike change was a bitter blow, especially as it was completely unnecessary and a direct result of his team manager\u2019s, Lomme Driessens, lack of diligence.<\/p>

Two days after Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge, where he was fifth, Freddy romped to victory in the prologue time trial of La Vuelta Espa\u00f1a. This was to be expected, but not that he would ride away with first place in thirteen of the twenty-one stages. It was total domination. Unsurprisingly, he was the overall victor and winner of the points jersey.<\/p>

\u201cMaertens\u2019 stuff is getting boring\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

El Pa\u00eds wrote \u201cLo de Maertens y aburre\u201d (Maertens\u2019 stuff is getting boring) to describe his domination. And the Spanish newspaper berated the home riders for failing to unseat him from the podium.<\/p>

His next race was the Giro d\u2019Italia, and it looked like history would repeat itself. The Belgian missile tore across the Italian countryside, scorching home with seven victories in eleven stages. And then it all went horribly wrong. A crash fractured his wrist, and he had to abandon. Neither Maertens nor his team were to know, but his best years were already behind him.<\/p>

\"Freddy\u2019sFreddy\u2019s former teammate, Michel Pollentier (right), was caught doping at the Tour de France. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

Less than three weeks later, with his wrist heavily strapped and still in pain, Freddy was, against his wishes, on the start line of the Tour de Suisse. Incredibly, he triumphed in the first stage. It\u2019s been claimed that to ease his pain, he\u2019d adopted a sideways position that led to back problems that would plague him for the rest of his career.<\/p>

With overall victory in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and second place in the Trofeo Baraccchi time trial with Joop Zoetemelk, it appeared that he was back on track.<\/p>

1978 - Second green jersey<\/h3>

Things looked good for the start of 1978 with victories at Tour du Haut Var, Omloop Het Volk, E3-Prijs Harelbeke and the general classification of Quatre Jours de Dunkerque.<\/p>

Even two stage wins and the green points jersey at the Tour de France gave the semblance of business as usual, but this was no longer the dominant Freddy Maertens of the previous two seasons.<\/p>

Perhaps it was a legacy of his crash the previous year, personal issues or the loss of Lomme Driessens, his mentor and team manager, who had left the Flandria team at the end of 1977.<\/p>

The wilderness years<\/h2>

1979 - Flandria are bust<\/h3>

Maertens himself continued with the Flandria team into 1979, but the bike manufacturer was in financial trouble. Once the largest producer of bicycles in Western Europe, the company had expanded into mopeds.<\/p>

An influx of Japanese mopeds and motorbikes, plus changes to laws on mopeds in Belgium and a decline in bike sales hit the company hard.<\/p>

\u201cIt was a spectacularly unsuccessful season\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Freddy wasn\u2019t paid in 1979, and Flandria Bikes closed the team at the end of the season, followed shortly by receivership and bankruptcy. It was a spectacularly unsuccessful season for Maertens. He only finished a handful of races with a best result of sixteenth at the Scheldeprijs.<\/p>

1980 - Italian folly<\/h3>

In 1980, he signed for the San Giacomo team. Maertens was one of only two Belgians in an Italian-dominated squad. With stars such as Roberto Visentini, a rider who expected to get his own way, and Moreno Argentin, it was probably never going to be a good fit.<\/p>

It was a marginally better year. There were glimpses of promise. His sole win was in the early-season Cronostafetta, but other than sixth place at Ronde van Vlaanderen, it was another year to forget. It culminated in him finishing outside the time limit on stage eleven of the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>

Rebirth<\/h2>

His former mentor, Lomme Driessens, had, by now, moved to the Boule d\u2019Or - Sunair - Colnago team. He brought Maertens into the fold for what would prove to be a miraculous, but short-lived, renaissance.<\/p>

A third green jersey<\/h3>

There was little in his early-season results that heralded what was to come at the Tour de France. Some must have wondered why he\u2019d made the team\u2019s squad. Even the prologue time trial, Freddy\u2019s former speciality, offered scant encouragement when he finished 66th.<\/p>

On the first road stage, however, he sprinted home first ahead of former teammate Sean Kelly. He repeated the trick on four further stages, including the most prestigious, the final stage in Paris. He was a clear winner of the points competition, too.<\/p>

World Championships in Prague<\/h3>

Despite his success at the Tour de France, Maertens was not a favourite for the World Championships in Prague. Tour de France winner and reigning World Champion Bernard Hinault and Giuseppe Saronni were expected to be the real contenders.<\/p>

The race consisted of twenty-one laps of a 13.4 kilometre circuit. Lumpy, but not overly taxing. With seventeen laps completed, an attack by Swede Sven-\u00c5ke Nilsson triggered a split that drew some thirty riders clear. Saronni was there, as was Maertens, who, with limited team support, decided to follow the Italian star\u2019s every move.<\/p>

\u201cBernard Hinault had inexplicably missed the action\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

But pre-race favourite Bernard Hinault had inexplicably missed the action. By the time he realised, he was already two minutes in arrears. He set off in pursuit with Spaniard Ismael Lejarrata glued to his wheel.<\/p>

It was a daunting prospect. The Frenchman had a seemingly impossible task, faced with a yawning gap, and Saronni\u2019s seven Italian teammates determined that the Breton should not regain their group.<\/p>

\"BernardBernard Hinault, with Lejarrata following, in his bid to win the Prague World Championships. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

Ismael Lejarrata stuck resolutely like a leech to his French rival. Even if he could have contributed, Ismael had his brother Marino in the front group. It was the ride of a lifetime as Hinault made contact, but it came at a cost. Drained by his efforts, Bernard could only finish third. Victory went to Maertens, who pipped Saronni to dash Italian hopes.<\/p>

Professional decline<\/h2>

It wasn\u2019t quite the Belgian\u2019s last professional victory, but it might as well have been. He would win the 1.2-classified Grand Prix Hannut in April 1983, but nobody recalls it. If Freddy had stepped off his bike and into retirement in Prague, it would have been the jewel in a glittering career.<\/p>

Riding for the money<\/h3>

But he didn\u2019t. He was only twenty-nine and needed the money. The tax authorities were hounding him, and he\u2019d lost money in allegedly fraudulent investments. 1982 was another poor year. He was, surprisingly, selected for the World Championships in Goodwood, England. Perhaps another miracle could occur. It didn\u2019t.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s been claimed he was too drunk to start\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

It\u2019s been claimed he was too drunk to start, but as you can see from Mick Searle\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> photographic evidence, he did. Maertens didn\u2019t finish, and it was the last World Championships he\u2019d contest. Saronni was victorious, with a winning sprint that would become known as Lu Fucilata di Goodwood<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>

Freddy\u2019s professional descent continued with the modest Masta-TeVe Blad-Concorde outfit in 1983. He made little impact, other than the Grand Prix Hannut, on a team whose most notable feature was the presence of three brothers on the roster - Emiel, Jos and Eric Gysemans.<\/p>

Kermis rider<\/h3>

The teams came and went as Freddy\u2019s career limped on for another six seasons until he finally retired in 1987. He was no longer the big star, but restricted to kermesses and the occasional semi-classic where he failed to finish.<\/p>

\u201cFinally, he was cycling\u2019s equivalent of a Victorian Freak Show\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

The once World Champion was even seen in the UK, riding in the televised professional town centre criteriums. He didn\u2019t shine, but he was a draw for the nostalgic and the voyeur of a decaying career. Finally, he was cycling\u2019s equivalent of a Victorian Freak Show. A sad end to the career for a once-brilliant rider.<\/p>

\"Gifts<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Over racing<\/h2>

Maertens claims that he raced over two hundred times a season. Procyclingstats lists 84 races for the 1977 season. What this doesn\u2019t reveal are all the non-UCI classified races, such as post-Tour criteriums<\/strong><\/a>, Six-day track events and even cyclocross races.<\/p>

Tadej Poga\u010dar may ride in the region of fifty UCI classified races per year, but he rides very few other events. Perhaps one or two lucrative post-Tour criteriums. And that\u2019s the big difference between today\u2019s riders and the stars of yesteryear.<\/p>

\"ProofProof that Freddy Maertens (fourth left) started the World Championships at Goodwood. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

The base salaries of Maertens\u2019 era were modest. They supplemented their income by riding exhibition and invitation races. They had limited control over their race programmes and were expected to ride from February to October, all of the Spring Classics and then two Grand Tours.<\/p>

\u201cthe answer was to ride vast numbers of hours in training\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

The training demands were huge, too. Leading up to his 1981 World Championships victory, Maertens was riding three one-hundred-kilometre sessions a day behind a motorbike. In the absence of modern knowledge on physiology, nutrition, and recovery techniques, the answer was to ride vast numbers of hours in training.<\/p>

It\u2019s no wonder that riders resorted to illegal methods to enable their bodies to cope with the debilitating physical effects of the burdens placed on them.<\/p>

Doping<\/h2>

As the quote at the start of this article implied, Freddy Maertens was not averse to using prohibited substances to improve his performance. It was claimed by some that his travails and decline were the result of substantial doping, in particular, the long-term use of steroids.<\/p>

Doping - an accepted norm<\/h3>

There\u2019s certainly a scientifically accepted causation between steroid abuse and a reduction in bone mass leading to corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis. Whether this was the case with Maertens is unknown. What\u2019s also not clear is why the doping finger of suspicion was pointed at him in particular.<\/p>

\u201cthe use of illicit products was commonplace\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

During the period when he was at his peak, the use of illicit products was commonplace and, within the environment of professional cycling, considered perfectly normal.<\/p>

Riders who didn\u2019t \u2018prepare themselves properly\u2019, as it was euphemistically described, would often be considered unprofessional, like neglecting to shave their legs or apply embrocation before a race.<\/p>

Negligible doping sanctions<\/h3>

Those riders who were caught were usually sanctioned with short suspensions, fines, relegation, or time penalties. Giovanni Battaglin, for example, failed a dope test on stage 13 of the 1979 Tour de France. He was penalised by 10 minutes, but this didn\u2019t prevent him from winning the King of the Mountains or from placing sixth overall.<\/p>

\"GiovanniGiovanni Battaglin was penalised ten minutes at the Tour de France. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

Freddy\u2019s teammate, Michel Pollentier, was the culprit in one of cycling\u2019s most notorious doping incidents. He was thrown off the 1978 Tour de France when he was caught with a condom filled with urine tucked under his arm when he was required to supply a sample.<\/p>

\u201cReputedly, Pollentier\u2019s real urine sample would prove negative\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Pollentier had just taken the yellow jersey after winning the stage to Alpe d\u2019Huez. His sanction was a two-month suspension before continuing his career uninterrupted. French rider Antoine Gutierrez was disqualified for the same reason. It was Gutierrez\u2019s suspicious behaviour that resulted in his and Pollentier\u2019s misdemeanour being uncovered. Reputedly, Pollentier\u2019s real urine sample would prove negative.<\/p>

Admission of doping<\/h3>

Maertens admitted that he used amphetamines during \u2018round the house\u2019 races where dope controls were rare, but denied their use in important races. Not for moral reasons, but because he would have been tested.<\/p>

Freddy, Eddy Merckx and others were disqualified from the result of the 1977 La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, having failed a test for a stimulant, Pemoline, which was used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. Pemoline was later withdrawn from many countries due to issues with serious liver toxicity. Apparently, a new test had been introduced to detect the substance, but \u2018unsportingly\u2019, the Belgian federation neglected to tell the riders.<\/p>

There\u2019s no doubt that Maertens, like so many of his fellow professionals, used illegal drugs for performance-enhancing benefits. Whether he was a more serious user than his competitors, or whether it led to his decline, is an open question. There\u2019s no evidence to suggest that this was the case in an era where drug taking was normalised amongst his peers.<\/p>

Father figures<\/h2>

Freddy\u2019s story has been told many times, by Maertens himself, journalists, cycling commentators, his past teammates, managers, rivals, and anyone who thinks they deserve to express a view.<\/p>

Feddy\u2019s autobiography, co-written with journalist Manu Adriaens, \u2018Fall From Grace<\/em>\u2019, published in 1993, six years after his last professional season, presents his real story. Or at least, Freddy\u2019s version of the real story. I\u2019m not suggesting that he deliberately lied or presented a falsehood; we\u2019d all refine or sugarcoat parts of our biography if we could.<\/p>

Victim narrative<\/h3>

It\u2019s the victim narrative in his autobiography that troubles me. Freddy positions himself as an innocent party unfairly treated by other riders, agents, the press, tax authorities and Belgian cycling organisations. No real reason is given other than he was the new kid in town and wasn\u2019t prepared to wait his turn for a slice of cycling\u2019s feast of fame and success.<\/p>

He claims he was a naive initiate into the world of cycling stardom. Although this part rings true, Maertens sounds like a football team that repeatedly claims its defeat is due to the referee being biased against it.<\/p>

I believe that Freddy\u2019s struggles were, in part, the result of his poor decisions that a more worldly, wiser or better-guided individual wouldn\u2019t have made. Rather than accepting personal culpability, he always found someone else to blame. It\u2019s a recognised unconscious psychological defence mechanism to reduce negative emotions.<\/p>

Abusive father<\/h3>

But if Freddy is at fault, I cannot help but wonder how much his upbringing and those responsible for his care should shoulder the responsibility. Certainly, his relationship with his father could only be described as abusive.<\/p>

\u201can overbearing bully\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Although Maertens does not label him as such, based upon his recollections, you\u2019d describe his father as an overbearing bully. If not a physical one, then certainly a psychological one.<\/p>

His interference in every aspect of his son\u2019s life, from the choice of his female acquaintances to his first professional team, and his demanding expectations of his son\u2019s training are quite unpleasant to read.<\/p>

Lomme Driessens<\/h3>

Maertens\u2019 first professional manager was Guillaume \u2018Lomme\u2019 Driessens (1912-2006). A controversial character who polarised opinion. He was highly scathing of riders\u2019 wives and their ability to look after their husbands in a way he saw fit. His intrusion into their personal lives caused tension with Maertens\u2019 wife, Carine. She knew her husband was vulnerable to the unscrupulous, but was unable to fully protect him.<\/p>

Freddy never said a bad word against his boss, although there were many who did. As well as having a domineering influence on Maertens, Driessens\u2019 laissez-faire attitude and ability to create conflict certainly cost young Freddy victories.<\/p>

Lomme failed to read the briefing that notified his team that bike changes would not be permitted on the Koppenberg at the 1977 Ronde van Vlaanderen.<\/p>

A pre-arranged bike change took place, for unclear reasons, and Maertens was disqualified and informed whilst in the winning break with Roger De Vlaeminck. It was the closest he would come to victory in a Monument<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>

Notably, Maertens\u2019 best years came under the tutelage of Driessens. Perhaps, as a result of his upbringing, without a strong father figure guiding him, he could not get the best out of himself.<\/p>

The role of the media<\/h2>

Belgium\u2019s, or more specifically Flanders\u2019, obsession with bike racing places huge pressure on riders. Their press loves to build up a rider\u2019s potential as the \u2018next Merckx\u2019 and equally quickly to damn them when they fail to live up to expectations. It\u2019s only the very thick-skinned that aren\u2019t affected by the hype and sometimes caustic criticism.<\/p>

Reading Belgian cycling and sports websites, it seems that there are almost as many \u2018expert commentators\u2019 as there are riders. Ex-riders, career journalists, and anybody who thinks they are entitled to an opinion are all jockeying to be heard.<\/p>

\u201ca maelstrom of virulently unpleasant commentary\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

It was true in the world of traditional print media that sensationalist headlines sell papers, but in the world of digital clickbait, it\u2019s been taken to extremes. Add in the free-for-all toxicity of social media, and it can be a maelstrom of virulently unpleasant commentary.<\/p>

\"MaertensMaertens on his way to almost his last professional victory in 1981. Image: Mick Searle<\/em><\/p>

Take, for example, the deeply distasteful comments made on Flemish TV about Remco Evenepoel\u2019s wife, Oumi. It was claimed that Remco was financially supporting his wife\u2019s family. The implication that the Belgian star was funding the lifestyle of his Muslim in-laws, who are of Moroccan descent, was not only an unjustified intrusion into his private life, but also stereotyping people of a different faith and culture.<\/p>

It was a bizarre and unwarranted claim. Remco, clearly incensed, denied the rumours and pointed out that his in-laws were wealthy in their own right. Oumi has a master\u2019s degree in applied economic sciences and grew up in the same neighbourhood as her husband.<\/p>

Freddy Maertens might not have been subject to the same claims, but several sensationalist accusations were made by the press during his time as a rider. Some true, many not, but surely they must have hit hard to someone who had not enjoyed a loving and stable upbringing.<\/p>

READ MORE<\/strong>: Read all of Rijden\u2019s retro cycling stories<\/strong><\/a> for free.<\/p>

\"Read<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Conclusion<\/h2>

Over racing, the illegal use of drugs, a bullying father, unscrupulous individuals and the pressure of the media and public, were a destructive mix for the youthful Maertens. His lack of success after the peaks of his early career and the rumours that surrounded him tarnished his reputation, which has, to some extent, been rehabilitated in recent years.<\/p>

His success and failure have been seen as a product of the \u2018bad old days\u2019. But how much has it really changed? Riders are being signed by major teams at ever-younger ages. The fact that they are better protected than before is possibly more due to teams wishing to safeguard their investment, rather than action by the UCI.<\/p>

If the cycling drugs issue has truly improved from the 1970s, 80s and EPO era, it\u2019s probably due to changed attitudes towards doping, and rapid improvements in scientifically founded training rather than action by federations and underfunded doping authorities.<\/p>

We probably won\u2019t see another rider experience the same dramatic rise and fall as Freddy Maertens, but the pressures on young riders still exist, and the bile of the media and social media is worse than ever.<\/p>

Freddy Maertens\u2019 Brief Palmares<\/h2>

Professional Road Race World Champion 1976, 1981<\/p>

General Classification winner Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a 1977<\/p>

Points winner at the Tour de France 1976, 1978, 1981<\/p>

Fifteen stage wins at the Tour de France<\/p>

Thirteen stage wins at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/p>

Seven stage wins at the Giro d\u2019Italia<\/p>

14 May 2026, Tim Costello.<\/em><\/p>

All images and text are the copyright of Rijden unless stated otherwise.<\/em><\/p>

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