Eric Vanderaerden

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox cyclist Eric Vanderaerden (born 11 February 1962) is a Belgian retired road cyclist.

He was a considerable talent, winning the prologue time trial of the Vuelta a España in his debut year of 1983. During the 1983 Tour de France he also won the prologue and held the yellow jersey for two days. During the 1984 Tour de France he won two stages, including the final stage of the race which finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. His participation in the 1985 edition was a strong one, beating the eventual Tour winner Bernard Hinault in a time trial stage. He held the yellow jersey again during this tour, this time for three days. The following year, he won the green jersey.

In subsequent years, he won two monument races: in 1985, at 23, he won the storm ridden edition of the Tour of Flanders, and in 1987 he won Paris–Roubaix.

After 1988, his career went in decline and, despite his talent, he failed to win major races. He certainly had considerable talent as a time trial racer, but as a climber in the mountains his talent was limited. Perhaps, he was partly a victim of the high expectations the Belgian public had to get a successor for Eddy Merckx, a cyclist who was very versatile in winning both classic races and big stage races.

After his active career, Vanderaerden has led a few semi-professional racing teams and was also assistant-manager of a professional Belgo-Italian team. He became a directeur sportif with the DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed team in August 2006. His son Michael Vanderaerden signed a contract with the team in September 2007.

Major results

File:Interview Eric Vanderaerden na overwinning Dwars door België 1991, Waregem, Maurice Terryn (collectie KOERS. Museum van de Wielersport).jpg

Eric Vanderaerden gives an interview after victory during Dwars door België 1991 (Maurice Terryn, collection KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing)

1982

1st Flèche Ardennaise

1983

Tour de France

1st Prologue

Held File:Jersey yellow.svg for two days

Vuelta a España

1st Stages 2 & 11

3rd Dwars door België

4th Milan–San Remo

5th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

1984

1st File:MaillotBélgica.PNG Road race, National Road Championships

Tour de France

1st Stages 10 & 23

Tour de Suisse

1st Prologue, Stages 2 & 7

1st Paris–Brussels

2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne

2nd Gent–Wevelgem

2nd Rund um den Henninger Turm

3rd Milan–San Remo

9th Omloop Het Volk

10th Tour of Flanders

10th Nokere Koerse

1985

Tour de France

1st Stages 13 (ITT) & 19

Held File:Jersey yellow.svg for three days

1st Tour of Flanders

1st Gent–Wevelgem

1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx

1st Ronde van Nederland

1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse

2nd Dwars door België

4th Milan–San Remo

4th Rund um den Henninger Turm

1986

1st File:Jersey green.svg Points classification Tour de France

1st File:Jersey white.svg Overall Three Days of De Panne

1st Halle–Ingooigem

1st Dwars door België

1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen

1st Trofeo Isla de Mallorca

3rd Scheldeprijs

10th Tour of Flanders

1987

1st File:Jersey white.svg Overall Three Days of De Panne

1st Paris–Roubaix

1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx

2nd Milan–San Remo

3rd Tour of Flanders

5th Omloop Het Volk

8th Gent–Wevelgem

1988

1st File:Jersey white.svg Overall Three Days of De Panne

1st Ronde van Limburg

1989

1st File:Jersey white.svg Overall Three Days of De Panne

1st File:Jersey yellow.svg Overall Nissan Classic

1st GP Impanis

1st Stage 1 Tour de Suisse

4th Gent–Wevelgem

5th Omloop Het Volk

1990

Étoile de Bessèges

1st Stage 2 & 3

1st Stage 5 Tirreno–Adriatico

1st Six Days of Antwerp

2nd Scheldeprijs

3rd Binche–Tournai–Binche

8th Omloop Het Volk

9th Overall Three Days of De Panne

1991

1st Dwars door België

2nd Le Samyn

3rd Milan–San Remo

4th Gent–Wevelgem

5th Amstel Gold Race

1992

1st Stage 17 Vuelta a España

1st GP Wielerrevue

2nd Le Samyn

3rd Omloop Het Volk

3rd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen

1993

1st File:Jersey white.svg Overall Three Days of De Panne

1st Stage 3 Étoile de Bessèges

2nd Gent–Wevelgem

3rd Omloop Het Volk

8th Le Samyn

1995

4th Scheldeprijs

6th Paris–Roubaix

1996

3rd Scheldeprijs