Patrick SERCU

The 1962 Belgian amateur sprint champion at the age 18, Patrick Sercu went on to become the most successful six-day racer in cycling history. With 88 victories form 233 starts, he had a success ratio of nearly one in three. His first win came in 1965, his first year as a professional, and he continued to win one or more events through 1983, the year of his retirement. He partnered some greats of the day, including Eddy Merckx, his partner on the occasion of his first six-day win, and Peter Post, with whom Sercu enjoyed the most success. Ironically, when he won the Berlin Six with Dietrich Thurau on 17 October 1979, it was Sercu's 66th win, it broke the previous record held by Post. Sercu's 88th, and last, six-day win was in the Copenhagen Six with Gert Frank in 1983.

Sercu also won three sprint world titles, one as an amateur (1963) and two as a pro (1967, 1969), as well as the 1964 Olympic gold in the 1 km time trial. He also broke both the indoor and outdoor 1km world record. Sercu was also a successful sprinter on the road, capturing the green jersey in the 1974 Tour de France, as well as total of 6 stage wins in the Tour and 13 in the Giro d’Italia. He also twice finished second in the Het Volk (now Omloop Het Nieuwsblad) minor classic, a race his father won in 1947. In total, Patrick won 1,038 track races and a further 168 on the road. Later, he was active as an organiser of six-day races in his native Belgium, including the famous Six Days of Ghent, a race he won 11 times between 1965-81. He was also the Belgian national track coach.