Romain Maes

Romain Maes (Romanus Maes, 10 August 1912 to 22 February 1983) was a Belgian professional road cyclist who won the 1935 Tour de France after wearing the yellow jersey of race leader from the first stage to the last. He was the thirteenth child in his family, started racing at 17 and turned professional in 1933, winning the Tour de l'Ouest. His Tour victory ended a six-year run of French winners and made him a hero in Belgium. According to his article he won the 1936 Paris-Roubaix but was not given the victory, because the judge ruled that Georges Speicher had won. In 1938 he lost Paris-Brussels by stopping at the velodrome line one lap early, and in 1939 he won a 63 km time trial stage from Caen to Vire at the Tour de France before crashing out. He stopped racing in 1944 and opened a bar near the North station in Brussels called In de Gele Trui, The Yellow Jersey.