Roger Decock (20 April 1927 – 30 May 2020) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer.
Decock won Paris–Nice in 1951. During the 1951 Tour de France he was having the best Tour of his career and was 5th place overall when he became the only witness to one of the most infamous moments in cycling history. Wim Van Est was defending the Yellow Jersey; he was descending the Col d'Aubisque when he lost control of his bike and went off a cliff. Decock was the only person to witness this and he stopped to get help for the fallen rider. It took several minutes to locate Van Est and over two hours to rescue him from 200 feet down the mountain. In total, Decock waited 25 minutes until it was clear the situation was in hand, but the time he waited cost him his high place and he ultimately finished the Tour in 17th.
The following year he had the biggest victory of his career when he won the 1952 Tour of Flanders.Roger Decock, de oudste winnaar van de Ronde, is overleden As the finish line approached, Decock, Loretto Petrucci and Briek Schotte, one of the best riders of his generation, were the three lead riders fighting for the win and he defeated them in the sprint. Wim Van Est finished 4th.
Major results Sources
1948 1st Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften 2nd Kattekoers 1949 2nd Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 1950 1st Vijfbergenomloop 2nd Grand Prix Jules Lowie 4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 9th Gent-Wevelgem 9th Paris-Brussels 1951 1st Overall Paris-Nice 1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 1st Ronde van West-Vlaanderen 4th Gent-Wevelgem 9th Grand Prix des Nations 1952 1st Tour of Flanders 2nd Brussel-Ingooigem 2nd GP de Suisse 4th Overall Dwars door België 5th Vijfbergenomloop 6th Liège-Bastogne-Liège 7th La Flèche Wallonne 1953 1st Stage 11 Tour du Maroc 5th Roubaix–Huy 6th Paris-Roubaix 6th GP de Suisse 9th Gent-Wevelgem 9th Overall Paris-Nice 1954 Tour of Belgium 1st Stages 3, 4a (ITT) & 5 1st Scheldeprijs 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2nd Brussel-Ingooigem 2nd Roubaix–Huy 2nd Grand Prix Jules Lowie 2nd Circuit des XI Villes 7th Liège-Bastogne-Liège 7th Paris-Tours 8th La Flèche Wallonne 8th Paris-Brussels 9th Tour of Flanders 10th Paris-Roubaix 1955 1st Brussel-Ingooigem 4th Paris-Brussels 6th Ronde van Brabant 7th Tour of Flanders 1956 4th Omloop Het Volk 6th Giro di Lombardia 6th Tre Valli Varesine 8th Nationale Sluitingsprijs 1957 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs 1st Stage 1 Ronde van Nederland 9th Paris-Brussels 1958 10th Milan-San Remo 1959 1st Omloop van Oost-Vlaanderen 7th GP Flandria 1960 5th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
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