Walter Godefroot

Walter Godefroot (born 2 July 1943) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer and former directeur sportif of Team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile Team, professional team. He won a bronze medal in the individual road race at the 1964 Summer Olympics.[1]

Walter Godefroot
Godefroot in 1997
Personal information
Full nameWalter Godefroot
Born (1943-07-02) 2 July 1943
Ghent, Belgium
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleManager
Rider typeOne-day specialist
Professional teams
1965–1966Wiel's–Groene Leeuw
1967–1969Flandria–De Clerck
1970Salvarani
1971–1972Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1973–1975Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano
1976–1979IJsboerke–Colnago
Managerial teams
1991–2005Team Telekom
2006Astana–Würth
2007Astana
Major wins
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1967)
10 stages, Tour de France
Green jersey, Tour de France (1970)
Tour of Flanders (1968, 1978)
Paris–Roubaix (1969)
Bordeaux–Paris (1969, 1976)
1 stage, Giro d'Italia (1970)
2 stages, Vuelta a España (1971)
National Champion

Godefroot was a specialist in one-day classic cycle races, winning the Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1967), Paris–Roubaix (1969), and the Tour of Flanders (1968, 1978). Besides winning the green jersey at the 1970 Tour de France, Godefroot was the first to win the final stage on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France.

Godefroot was disqualified three times for doping. On 25 May 2007 Bjarne Riis, winner of the 1996 Tour de France and member of Team Telekom of which Godefroot was coach, admitted using EPO. Riis claims Godefroot turned a blind eye to drug use on the team.[2]

Godefroot stepped down as team manager before the 2006 season. Olaf Ludwig became manager. After the exclusion of Astana–Würth from the 2006 Tour de France, Godefroot returned to the peloton when he became manager of Astana. His contract was not renewed when it ran out in July 2007.[3]

In his racing days he was called 'The Bulldog of Flanders'.

Major results

1964
Summer Olympics Men's Road Race
1965
 Belgium National Road Race Championship
1966
1st Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé
2nd, Omloop Het Volk
1967
Stage 1 Tour de France
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1968
Tour de France
Stage 3b win
Stage 9 win
2nd, Points Classification
Tour of Flanders
Gent–Wevelgem
2nd, Paris–Tours
3rd, Paris–Roubaix
1969
Bordeaux–Paris
Paris–Roubaix
Scheldeprijs
1970 Salvarani
Tour de France
Winner points classification
Winner stages 4 and 5A
Stage 8 Giro d'Italia
Züri-Metzgete
2nd, Tour of Flanders
2nd overall, Tour of Belgium
1971 Peugeot
Stage 9 Tour de France
Stage 7 Vuelta a España
Stage 8 Vuelta a España
1972 Peugeot
 Belgium National Road Race Championship
Stage 5a Tour de France
1973 Carpenter
Tour de France
Stage 5 win
Stage 16a win
2nd, Paris–Roubaix
1974
Rund um den Henninger Turm
Züri-Metzgete
Four Days of Dunkirk
1975 Flandria
Stage 22 (Champs-Élysées) 1975 Tour de France
1976
Bordeaux–Paris
1978
Tour of Flanders

References

  1. "Walter Godefroot Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  2. "Former Tour de France winner Riis admits doping". 25 May 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
  3. "Astana und Godefroot gehen getrennte Wege". Der Spiegel (in German). Sport-Informations-Dienst. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
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