Briek Schotte is sometimes called "The last real Flandrien". The word 'Flandrien' was originally a swear word for the Flemish seasonal workers in Wallonia and Northern France: rough guys, perseverers, not afraid of anything. Later, the word took on a completely different color in the cycling world and was included in the Dikke Van Dale: "a cyclist who, in addition to great physical strength, is characterized by the ability to maintain his fighting spirit in unfavorable (weather) conditions, and is therefore extremely suitable for riding the Flemish spring classics."
Albéric (Briek) Schotte, nicknamed IJzeren Briek (Kanegem, 7 September 1919 - Kortrijk, 4 April 2004) was a Belgian cyclist and team leader.
In 1941 he became a member of the cycling club KSV DEERLIJK, which included greats such as Marcel Kint, André Noyelle, Dirk Baert, Marc Demeyer, Patrick Lefevere, Dirk Demol, Johan Bruyneel, Eric Van Lancker.
During his long career he won the Tour of Flanders twice (1942 and 1948) in which he participated twenty times, and became world champion twice (1948 and 1950). He also participated four times in the Tour de France (1947 to 1950) in which he finished second behind Gino Bartali in 1948.
With his angular, working style Schotte was the epitome of the Flandrien. He was called the Last Flandrien. A statue of him as a hard-working cyclist has adorned the village square of Kanegem since 1997 (statue by Jef Claerhout). A square in Desselgem was named after him.
After his active career as a cyclist, he was active as a team leader for another 30 years, where he also won the Tour of Flanders four times with his cyclists.
Briek Schotte also committed himself to women's cycling by creating and supervising a women's section of the Flandria team in the early sixties. He arranged clothing and bicycles, among other things. Nicole Van Den Broeck, Denise Bral, Rosa Sels, Christiane Goeminne, Marie-Thérèse Naessens and Louiza Smits rode for the team, among others. The Flandria team stopped in 1979 due to the bankruptcy of the main sponsor.[1]
Briek Schotte died in 2004 on the day of the Tour of Flanders and was given a funeral in style - he was carried in and out of the church by eight cycling greats from four generations, including four world champions: Rik Van Looy, Benoni Beheyt, Eddy Merckx, Freddy Maertens, Roger De Vlaeminck, Eric Leman, Seán Kelly and Frank Vandenbroucke. A cycling race, the GP Briek Schotte, is named after him and is held in Desselgem, a sub-municipality of Waregem.
His grave can be found in the cemetery of Waregem, the city of which he was also an honorary citizen. Schotte lived in the sub-municipality of Desselgem for many years. In 2010, Desselgem was the "village of the Tour of Flanders".