How to Wear a Cycling Cap: Briek Schotte

 Old school style, with goggles. At the end of his long career as a road cyclist, Belgian Briek Schotte often was referred to as the last of the Flandrians. What does that mean? a novice to the sport might ask. Another of Schotte's well-earned nicknames, by itself, may provide the answer better than any long-winded explanation - Iron Briek. A Flandrian is someone who can pound out the miles all day long, over anything between smooth tarmac and cobbled tracks, in scorching heat or freezing cold, and be there at the end of the race.

That said, there have been riders since Schotte's time who have been worthy recipients of the name, but lets just say the designation - Flandrien - is not one that is handed out lightly, nor conferred upon just anyone from the Flanders region of Belgium who happens to race a bicycle. None less than the towering figure of Eddy Merckx said of Schotte: "Briek was the reference point for all of us, the father of the sport in this country."

Schotte began his career as a professional bicyclist in 1940, not an easy time to be a racer in Europe. Over the next eighteen years Schotte tallied sixty-one victories, including two World Championships in 1948 and 1950. He was a double victor in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1942, 1948), Gent Wevelgem (1950, 1955), Paris-Tours (1946, 1947), Paris-Bruxelles (1946, 1952), and the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (1941, 1954). In 1948 Schotte came 2nd overall in the Tour de France. His greatest association was with the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen) where, in addition to his two wins, he stood on the podium eight additional times, a record only fellow countryman Johan Museeuw has ever equalled. Though Schotte retired from racing in 1959, he immediately took the reins as manager of the Flandria team, guiding his riders to five 1st place finishes and 11 podium spots at the Tour of Flanders. Emblematic of his career, Briek Schotte died in 2004 on the very day of the Ronde van Vlaaderen at which time it was said, "God must have been one of Briek's greatest fans."