Ferdinand Bracke (born 25 May 1939) is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist who is most famous for holding the World Hour Record (48.093 km) and winning the overall title at the 1971 Vuelta a España in front of Wilfried David of Belgium and Luis Ocaña of Spain. He also became world pursuit champion on the track in 1964 and 1969.

Biography

Bracke was born in Hamme East Flanders, Belgium, on 24 May 1939. A rouleur and time trialist, he emerged as an amateur in 1962 by winning the tenth stage of the Peace Race. In May of the same year he won the Grand Prix des Nations, a time trial race. He turned pro on 26 September 1962, joining the Peugeot-BP-Dunlop team headed by Gaston Plaud. In the following years he obtained numerous prestigious victories on road: he won the Trofeo Baracchi, together with Eddy Merckx, in 1966 and 1967, a stage in the 1966 Tour de France and the final time trial of the 1976 Tour de France. He finished in third place in the general classification at the 1968 Tour de France. In 1971 he won the Vuelta a España, beating compatriot Wilfried David (who placed second) and Spaniard Luis Ocaña (who placed third). He became world champion in track pursuit in 1964 in Paris and again in Antwerp in 1969, then winning second place in 1972 and 1974 and placing third in 1973. On 30 October 1967 he recorded the hour record with 48,093 kilometers at the Olympic Velodrome in Rome, becoming the first cyclist to reach the milestone of 48 kilometers. The record, broken the following year by Ole Ritter, remained the best performance on track below 600 meters of altitude for a long time. In 1978 he ended his cycling career and took over a furniture business with his wife. On 17 February 1979, Bracke was bid farewell to cycling at a cycling gala in the Sports Palace in Ghent.

Honours

In 1967 Bracke was voted Belgian Sportsman of the Year (the first in history to receive this award) and was awarded the Belgian Sports Merit Award.

Major results

Road

Track

World record info