Lucien Van Impe

Lucien van Impe, (born 20 October 1946) is a Belgian cyclist, who raced between 1969 and 1987. He was mainly a climber in long races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner of the 1976 Tour de France. He won the polka dot jersey for best climber in the Tour de France six times.

Lucien Van Impe

Van Impe at the 1975 Acht van Chaam
Personal information
Full name	Lucien Van Impe
Nickname	de kleine van Mere
Born	(1946-10-20) 20 October 1946 Mere, Belgium
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Professional teams
1969–1974	Sonolor–Lejeune
1975–1976	Gitane–Campagnolo
1977	Lejeune–BP
1978	C&A
1979	Kas–Campagnolo
1980	Marc-Carlos-V.R.D.-Woningbouw
1981	Boston–Mavic
1982-1984	Metauro Mobil
1985	Santini–Krups
1986	Dormilon
1987	Sigma–Fina
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1976) Mountains Classification (1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983) 9 Individual Stages Giro d'Italia Mountains Classification (1982, 1983) 1 Individual Stage Vuelta a España 1 Individual Stage One-day races and Classics National Road Race Champion (1983)

Biography

In 1968 van Impe was King of the Mountains in the Tour de l'Avenir. He says that Federico Bahamontes helped van Impe to get a contract with a cycling team. Bahamontes had previously won the Tour de France.

In 1969, Van Impe started his professional career with 12th place in the Tour de France.

In 1971, Van Impe won his first polka dot jersey. He would repeat that five more times, winning in 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, and 1983. He shared the record for most wins in the polka dot jersey competition with Bahamontes. Richard Virenque broke this record when he won his seventh polka dot jersey in 2004.

He won the mountain classification in the Giro d'Italia twice.

He was not as good at one day races. It was a surprise that he won the national championship in 1983.

Van Impe started the Tour de France fifteen times. He reached the finish in Paris every time. Only Joop Zoetemelk finished more times.

He is now head of a cycling team of professional riders, called Wanty-Groupe Gobert.

Lucien Van Impe lives in Impe with his wife Rita. He has two grown up children, a son and a daughter. His house is called Alpe D'Huez. It is named after the French mountain where he took the yellow jersey of the Tour de France in 1976.

Van Impe has never tested positive for drugs, refused a doping test or confessed to doping.

Most important successes

1968

1st Stage 8 Tour de l'Avenir

1969

1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a Navarra

1st Stage 6 Tour of Belgium

1971

3rd Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1972

4th Overall 1972 Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 12

1973

5th Overall Tour de France

1st Stage 12b

2nd Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 3

1st Stage 3 GP du Midi-Libre

1975

3rd Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 14

1st Stage 18

1st Overall Tour de l'Aude

1st Stage 1

1st Stage 3

1976

1st Overall Tour de France

1st Stage 14

2nd Overall GP du Midi-Libre

1st Stage 4b

1st Stage 2b Tour de l'Aude

1977

3rd Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 15b

3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné

1st Stage 6

2nd Overall Tour de Suisse

1st Stage 7

1st Stage 8

1979

5th Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stage 15

1st Stage 16 Tour de France

1st Stage 7b Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

1981

2nd Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 5

1982

2nd Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Mountains classification

1983

1st National Road Race Champion

4th Overall Tour de France

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 19

9th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Mountains classification

1st Stage 11

1986

1st Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros

1st Stage 1

Other websites

• Cycling hall of fame biography Archived 14 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine