Wout Wagtmans

Wouter " Wout " Wagtmans ( born November 10, 1929 in Rucphen; † August 15, 1994 in Sint- Willebrord ) was a Dutch cyclist. Together with Wim van Est he scored in the 1950's to the best and most versatile cyclists of the Netherlands.

1947 Wout Wagtmans began his cycling career as an amateur; In 1949 he became Dutch road champion of amateurs. In 1950 he was forced to professional, as he should have taken money for a win.

In the following years Wout Wagtmans participated eight times in the Tour de France. Three times - 1954, 1955 and 1956 - he wore the yellow jersey. At the Tour de France 1953, he earned a stage win in the sprint against Gino Bartali and was fifth in the standings, 1956 sixth. He also won three stages of the Giro d' Italia, the 1940 Ronde van Noord -Holland, 1952, the Tour de Romandie, twice, in 1950 and 1952, the eight- van Chaam as well as a large number of one-day races in the course of his eleven-year professional time ..

Wagtmans also drove on the track, as upright as well as in Six Days. In 1957 he was third in Stayers World Cup. In 1961 he ended his active career, but acted for some time as a sports director.

Personal and professional

After the end of his cycling activities Wout Wagtmans took over the parental forwarding. In the late 1980s he met with an accident, after which he remained disabled.

Wagtmans was known for his belligerence, as for his youthful enthusiasm and had no doubt why many nicknames, including " clown " or " Dik Trom ". 1958 he took with his racing colleagues Wim van Est, a song titled "Tour de France " on the record. He is the uncle of the cyclist Marinus Wagtmans.