“The Last Belgian Winner of the Tour of Italy: Johan De Muynck’s Inspiring Story”

At the age of 14, Johan De Muynck was still working six days out of seven in the Société Anonyme de Waerschoot textile factory. He took up cycling to escape the gray working-class life and after his army service he was given one year of carte blanche by his parents to retrain as a professional cyclist. With success, because 45 years later, De Muynck is still the last Belgian winner of the Tour of Italy. “Two days after the folk festival I was already back on the plane to Italy to race there again.”