Dirk Baert (14 February 1949 – 7 July 2026) was a Belgian road and track cyclist. On track, he won one gold and two bronze medals in the individual pursuit at the world championships in 1971, 1972, and 1975, as well as several national championships. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 1 km time trial and finished in 18th place. On the road, he won the Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden (1975), Le Samyn (1976), Halle–Ingooigem (1978), and Grote 1-MeiPrijs (1979), as well as one stage of the Tour of Belgium (1974). He rode the Tour de France in 1974.
In 1981 Beart broke Ferdinand Bracke's 5 km record in Ghent's legendary indoor velodrome, het Kuipke. The record stood until 2019 when it was broken by then world hour record holder Victor Campenaerts.
After his career as a cyclist, Baert became national coach of the Belgian amateurs, and in 2013 he was also briefly team manager at the UCI Continental team BKCP-Powerplus, at the time the team of Niels Albert and a very young Michael Vanthourenhout.
Baert died on 7 July 2026, at the age of 77.
Personal life As a child, Dirk Baert overcame the effects of polio. He married Imelda, daughter of 1952 Tour of Flanders winner Roger Decock. The couple had a son and two daughters, one of which, , became a professional cyclist.
Major results
Source:
Road 1972 1st stage 3b Four Days of Dunkirk 1st stage 4b Tour de Luxembourg 2nd Omloop van het Zuidwesten 3rd Egmont Cycling Race 3rd Brussels–Ingooigem 3rd GP Marcel Kint 1973 1st GP Stad Vilvoorde 1st stage 1 & 2b Tour de Picardie 1st Flèche Halloise 2nd Ronde van West-Vlaanderen 2nd Nationale Sluitingsprijs 2nd Renaix–Tournai–Renaix 2nd Circuit du Brabant Central 3rd Grand Prix de Denain 3rd GP Marcel Kint 1974 1st stage 1 Tour of Belgium 1st Renaix–Tournai–Renaix 1st Circuit des Frontières 2nd Grand Prix Pino Cerami 2nd Grand Prix des Nations 3rd Trèfle à Quatre Feuilles 1975 1st Omloop der drie Provinciën 1st Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden 1st Trèfle à Quatre Feuilles 1st Circuit du Tournaisis 1st Omloop van West-Brabant 1st Grote Prijs Raf Jonckheere 2nd Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 3rd Brussels–Ingooigem 1976 1st Le Samyn 1st Trèfle à Quatre Feuilles 1st Omloop van West-Brabant 1977 1st stage 3b Three Days of De Panne 1st Circuit du Tournaisis 3rd Circuit de Niel 1978 1st stage 1 Three Days of De Panne 1st stage 1 Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 1st Brussels–Ingooigem 3rd Omloop van Neeroeteren 1979 1st Grote 1-MeiPrijs 3rd GP Marcel Kint 1980 1st Gullegem Koerse 1981 3rd Grand Prix de Denain 1982 1st Omloop van de Vlasstreek 2nd Grote 1-MeiPrijs 2nd Omloop der drie Provinciën 1983 2nd Raf Jonckheere 3rd Brussels–Ingooigem
Track 1968 1st National Track Championships, 1 km time trial 1970 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 1971 1st UCI World Championships, Men's individual pursuit 1972 3rd UCI World Championships, Men's individual pursuit 1974 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 1975 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 3rd UCI World Championships, Men's individual pursuit 1976 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 1977 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 1981 1st National Track Championships, Individual pursuit 1984 1st National Track Championships, Omnium
Honours and Awards Honorary citizen of Deerlijk, Belgium
References
External links