CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Flandria (cycling team)

cycling team (1957-1979)

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ775093 ↗
Source-derived summary

Flandria was a Belgian professional cycling team that existed from 1957 to 1979. It was sponsored by Flandria a bicycle manufacturer located in West Flanders that also manufactures mopeds, lawnmowers, and motorbikes.

History

Started with a team built around Joseph Planckaert, and Rik Van Looy. Youngsters Eddy Merckx, Peter Post, Herman Van Springel, and Walter Godefroot all joined at early stages of their career, although some such as Merckx left soon after to become leader of his own team.

After Van Looy's retirement, Belgian Freddy Maertens took over the leadership mantle, famous for his rivalry with Eddy Merckx. Irishman Sean Kelly also started his professional career with Flandria, as Maertens' super-domestique.

Joop Zoetemelk rode for the team from 1970-1972 finishing on the podium twice in the Tour de France during this span. He also finished 5th in the 1972 Tour de France and won the King of the Mountains classification in the 1971 Vuelta a España.

Roster

Roster in 1975:

Christian Ardouin (FRA)

Eddy Cael (BEL)

Raphaël Coene (BEL)

Carlos Cuyle (BEL)

Wilfried David (BEL)

Ronald De Witte (BEL)

Régis Delépine (FRA)

Marc Demeyer (BEL)

Robert Fontaine (BEL)

Walter Godefroot (BEL)

Cyrille Guimard (FRA)

Eric Jacques (BEL)

Freddy Maertens (BEL)

Gerard Martens (BEL)

Gérard Moneyron (FRA)

Michel Pollentier (BEL)

Jean-Jacques Sanquer (FRA)

José Sersté (BEL)

Roger Vandemaele (BEL)

Arthur Van De Vijver (BEL)

Marcel Van der Slagmolen (BEL)

Julien Van Geebergen (BEL)

Herman Van Springel (BEL)

Daniel Verplancke (BEL)

Roger Verschaeve (BEL)

References

Further reading

Charlesworth, Pedr (18 June 2019). "Flandria Cycling Team: Van Looy, De Vlaeminck, Godefroot & Maertens".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Flandria (cycling team)” as cycling team (1957-1979). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Flandria, cycling and team.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1957, 1979, 1970, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1957. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Flandria, cycling and team providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Flandria (cycling team)”, the useful work is to connect “cycling team (1957-1979)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q775093. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1957, 1979, 1970 and 1972.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Flandria (cycling team)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Flandria (cycling team) primary sources, Flandria (cycling team) archive and Flandria research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Flandria (cycling team)”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Flandria (cycling team)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.