The Backpedal #2 - The Flying Milkman
So another random page of a random thing?
Yes, this time it’s an issue of Pro Cycling magazine from April 2015 with Mark Cavendish in his Quick Step days, the first time he rode for the team. 2015 would actually be his final year with them, he ended up at Dimension Data the following year.
OK, OK, but this isn’t necessarily going to about Cavendish is it? What’s on page 103?
You’re correct. It’s not about Cavendish. Page 103 is the first page of a feature about a rider from the 1970s called Frans Verbeeck. The article was written by Peter Cossins, the world’s most prolific writer of cycling books. For anyone that doesn’t know him, his recent books include Climbers, Full Gas, The Yellow Jersey and Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep.
Who is Frans Verbeeck?
Verbeeck was a Belgian rider who specialised in the classics. He is one of so many riders who was unfortunate enough to be racing in the era of Eddy Merckx and in Verbeeck’s case his career overlapped almost completely with Merckx from 1963 to 1977 (Merckx was 1965-1978). Consequently, his entire career is usually framed by what he didn’t win and what Merckx did to him - namely, pummelled him time and time again. But Verbeeck’s achievements are not to be sniffed at.
He won Amstel Gold, Het Volk twice, Flèche Wallonne, E3 Prijs, Scheldeprijs - basically all of the biggest races which are not considered monuments these days, which is slightly unfortunate but still extremely impressive.
You keep telling us there’s something interesting on every page of every publication you’ve got…. so, what’s the most interesting thing from page 103?
Well I love stats and Cossins has picked one out here which is that Verbeeck finished second in a major classic 17 times. He doesn’t state which races he considers to be a ‘classic’ for this stat (which is always a source of ambiguity) so it’s hard to compare and find out if this is the most ever. But having done some nerding myself, I can see that he also finished on the podium of one of the five monuments (Milan Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Tour of Lombardy) eight times but never won any of them.
This is the most ever. The closest to Verbeeck on this ranking of unfortunates are Michael Boogerd with seven podiums and no wins, and Phil Anderson with five podiums and no wins.
I’m also cheating a bit here and moving on to the next page of the feature but it contains a quote from Verbeeck which I have read in several different places and it has always stuck with me.
“Het Volk is one of the most beautiful races a rider can win, because it is the first classic of the season and public interest is particularly high in the sport. The publicity you get for a victory in Het Volk is definitely worth more than first place in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.”
Bollocks! Het Volk worth more than a monument victory?!
I think there’s a lot of truth in it. When it comes to evaluating an entire career as we are sort of doing here with Verbeeck, of course a Liege win has come to mean far more than a win in Het Volk, or ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ as it’s known now. But there is so much build up to Het Volk because it’s the first cobbled race. It doesn’t just involve the build-up to that specific race, it’s the build-up for an entire new classics season and an entire new season. Even when I was at GCN, there were nerves before Het Volk, making sure all our infrastructure and all of our content was ready to go for that big first day. By the time we got to Liege in April, the big deal-ness of it all had gone and we were already settled into a rhythm and everything had calmed down and become more normal. I think the same is true for fans watching these races.
Also in the aftermath of both, Het Volk gets analysed to death. What do all of the performances mean for the remaining Spring classics? Can anyone break the curse and win Het Volk and Flanders in the same year (which still no male rider has ever done). The same is not true for Liege. Once that race is done, there’s almost no point in trying to analyse it for clues of what’s to come because there’s nothing left to come. Classics season is over and we all move on instantly to looking forward to the Giro.
Yeah OK, you make some good points. Anything else we should know about Verbeeck? What’s with the headline on this blog post? Why is he called The Flying Milkman?
Yeah, he got grumpy after a few years when he started racing that he wasn’t winning anything, so he gave it up. He became a milkman for a few years. Then when he saw what he perceived to be lesser riders than him winning big races, he couldn’t stomach it, and returned to racing. The milkman moniker stuck, unfortunately for him, it’s a bit of a shit nickname. A memorable one though.
So he was a bit like Lance Armstrong then?
Yes, exactly like that. “Carlos Sastre… CARLOS SASTRE WON THE TOUR DE FRANCE?!!”
Also, before I forget, his name is still visible across the world of cycling to this day, sort of. In retirement he didn’t become a DS or open a pub or any of the usual things. Instead, he started a clothing company and called it Vermarc (after his son Marc Verbeeck) and they provide the pro team kit for Lotto Dstny, Bingoal, Flanders-Baloise, Fenix-Deceuninck and Baloise Trek Lions.
Aren’t you supposed to finish this with a bit of engagement farming?
Yes!
What is the worst nickname in cycling?
Leave your answer in the comments section down below…
