Roger De Vlaeminck is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed "The Gypsy" because he was born into a family of traveling clothiers, he is known for exploits in the cobbled classic Paris–Roubaix race, but his performances in other "Monument" races gave him a record that few can match. His record in Paris–Roubaix earned him another nickname, "Monsieur Paris–Roubaix".
Henri "Rik" Van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period. Nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals, he dominated the classic cycle races in the late 1950s and first half of the ‘60s.
Freddy Maertens is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist who was twice world road race champion. His career coincided with the best years of another Belgian rider, Eddy Merckx, and supporters and reporters were split over who was better. Maertens' career swung between winning more than 50 races in a season to winning almost none and then back again. His life has been marked by debt and alcoholism. It took him more than two decades to pay a tax debt. At one point early in his career, between the 1976 Tour and 1977 Giro, Maertens won 28 out of 60 Grand Tour stages that he entered before abandoning the Giro due to injury on stage 8b. Eight Tour stage wins, thirteen Vuelta stage wins and seven Giro stage wins in less than one calendar year.
Sylvère Maes was a Belgian cyclist, who is most famous for winning the Tour de France in 1936 and 1939. In 1937, Maes left the 1937 Tour de France together with his Belgian team while he was leading the general classification, in response to actions from French spectators and decisions from the jury.
Andrei Tchmil is a retired Soviet, Moldovan (1992–1994), Ukrainian (1994–1998) and Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
Frans De Mulder was a professional road racing cyclist from Belgium between 1958 and 1963.
Eddy Planckaert is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist. In 1988, Planckaert enjoyed perhaps his best year by capturing the green jersey at the 1988 Tour de France and winning the Tour of Flanders. In 1990, he won Paris–Roubaix, his second monumental classic, with the closest finish in the race's history beating Canadian Steve Bauer by less than a cm. A strong sprinter, Planckaert is one of the riders with stage wins at all three cycling Grand Tours.
Wilfried Peeters is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Nowadays, he is sportif director of the Quick Step team. During his cycling-career, he was a major help for Johan Museeuw in classics such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix.
Marc Demeyer was a professional road racing cyclist from Avelgem, Belgium. Although known as the "master servant" for Freddy Maertens, the powerful Demeyer was able to win 60 professional road races. He died of a heart attack at the age of 31.
Leon Vandaele was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. His biggest victory was the 1958 Paris–Roubaix.
Frans Melckenbeeck is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer. In 1962, Melckenbeeck won one stage of the Tour de France, and in 1963 he won Liège–Bastogne–Liège. He won 4 stages in the 1964 and 1965 Vuelta a España. Melckenbeeck also competed in the team pursuit at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Panasonic was a Dutch professional cycling team, sponsored by the Matusishita Corporation, formed in 1984 by team manager Peter Post, when the TI–Raleigh main sponsors, withdrew sponsorship. Some of the riders, followed Jan Raas to his newly formed team, Kwantum Hallen–Decosol. Peter Post retained some riders, and rebuilt his team, with riders, who became one of the most dominant teams, for both classics, and stage races.
Amaury Capiot is a Belgian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Arkéa–B&B Hotels. He is the son of former Belgian racing cyclist Johan Capiot.
Jaak De Boever is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He won the 1968 E3 Harelbeke.
Carpano was an Italian professional cycling team that existed from 1956 to 1966. The team's main sponsor between 1956 and 1964 was the Turin-based wine company Carpano, with Fausto Coppi's bicycle company Coppi a co-sponsor for the first two seasons. When Carpano took sole sponsorship of the team, the team adopted black and white striped jerseys similar to the shirts worn by Turin's Juventus Football Club. For the final two years, 1965 and 1966, Italian food producer Sanson took over the sponsorship. Whilst with Carpano, Franco Balmamion won the general classification of the Giro d'Italia in 1962 and 1963.
Solo–Superia was a Belgian professional cycling team that existed from 1961 to 1966. Its main sponsor was Belgian margarine manufacturer Solo. Its most notable wins were the 1965 Paris–Roubaix with Rik Van Looy and the 1966 Tour of Flanders with Edward Sels.
Faemino–Faema was a professional cycling team that existed from 1968 to 1970. Faema's most prominent rider was Eddy Merckx who won his first four grand tours with the team.
Novemail–Histor–Laser Computer was a French professional cycling team that existed in 1993 and 1994. The team participated in the 1993 and 1994 editions of the Tour de France.
Collstrop was a Belgian professional road cycling team that existed from 1986 until 2000, when it merged into Palmans–Ideal.
