Johan MUSEEUW

Johan Museeuw was a Belgian professional who raced in the pro peloton fom 1988 to 2004. A strong rider with a top sprint, he was one the best racers in the 1990s in the one-day classics, winning six titles in the monument races. In 1995 and 1996 Museeuw won the UCI World Cup, adding the 1996 World Championship road race, making him the only rider to win both in the same year. He was a three-time winner at both the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1993, 1995, 1998) and Paris-Roubaix (1996, 2000, 2002). He also won the Amstel Gold Race in 1994, Omloop Het Volk in 2000 and 2003, Paris-Tours in 2003, and Züri-Metzgete in 1991 and 1995. Museeuw’s later victories came after a serious crash at 1998 Paris-Roubaix, in which he shattered his kneecap. A later infection put him at risk of losing his leg, but he recovered to win many races. Late in 2003 Museeuw was implicated in a doping investigation and in January 2007 he gave a press conference admitting that he “had not been completely honest in my last year as a pro.”