Flandria (cycling team)

Flandria was a Belgian professional road cycling team that raced from 1957 to 1979 under the sponsorship of Flandria, a West Flanders manufacturer of bicycles that also built mopeds, lawnmowers and motorbikes. The squad grew around the sprinter Rik Van Looy and the rider Joseph Planckaert, and over two decades it became one of the most successful teams of the Belgian peloton. Young riders who passed through its ranks include Eddy Merckx, Peter Post, Herman Van Springel and Walter Godefroot, although Merckx left early to lead a team of his own. After Van Looy retired, Freddy Maertens took over as leader and became famous for his rivalry with Merckx, while the Irishman Sean Kelly began his professional career at Flandria as Maertens' super-domestique. The Dutch rider Joop Zoetemelk rode for the team from 1970 to 1972, finishing on the podium of the Tour de France twice in those seasons and winning the King of the Mountains classification at the 1971 Vuelta a Espana. A 1975 roster listed in the article names twenty five riders, mostly Belgian with a French group that included Cyrille Guimard.