Joseph Bruyère

Joseph Bruyere or Bruyère (born 5 October 1948 in Maastricht, Netherlands) is a former Belgian cyclist.

Joseph Bruyère

Joseph Bruyère in 1971
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Bruyère
Born	(1948-10-05) 5 October 1948 Maastricht, the Netherlands
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
1970	Faemino–Faema
1971-1976	Molteni
1977	Fiat France
1978	C&A
1979	Flandria-Ça va seul-Sunair
1980	Marc-Carlos-VRD-Woningbouw
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 1 individual stage (1972) Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (1976) Other stage races Tour Méditerranéen (1975) One-day races and Classics Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1976, 1978) Omloop Het Volk (1974, 1975 1980)

Career

Professional from 1970 to 1980, Joseph Bruyère, athlete of one meter 88 for 80 kilo, notably won Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice and an individual stage of the Tour de France 1972.

He is one of the specialists of the classic Het Volk, which he won in 1974, 1975 and 1980 (a shared record) and of Liège-Bastogne-Liège which he won in 1976 and 1978.

Bruyère participated in six Tours de France and achieved a victory in 1972 in the 19th stage between Auxerre and Versailles. He wore the yellow jersey twice, in 1974 for three days and in 1978 for eight days. On the 1978 edition, he finished fourth in the general classification, despite a size that was not well suited to the mountains.

From the start of his professional career, he was part of Eddy Merckx's team, until the latter retired from sport.

Team mate of Eddy Merckx

Bruyère rode several seasons as the strongest, and most loyal lieutenants, to the super-star rider Eddy Merckx. He was known to ride on the front of the peloton for many miles, and often for much of a mountain stage until the last climb, doing the work of a whole team of domestiques.

After Merckx retired from racing Bruyère tried to take over from Merckx as a big star, but he wasn't able to, having given his best years to the service of Merckx.

Major results

As amateur

1968

1st stage 4 Tour de Namur

3rd National Track Championship - Men's individual pursuit

1969

1st Flèche Ardennaise

1st Championship of the Liège province

1st Romsée-Stavelot-Romsée

1st Seraing-Aix-Seraing

As professional

1970

1st Stage 3a Tour de France (TTT)

2nd Trophée des Grimpeurs

2nd Tour du Condroz

2nd Flèche Hesbignonne

1971

1st Prologue Tour de France (TTT)

1st Ronde van Oost-Vlaanderen

1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (TTT)

2nd Overall Tour de la Nouvelle France

5th Milan-San Remo

7th Liège-Bastogne-Liège

1972

Tour de France

1st Stage 3b (TTT) & 19

1st Overall Cronostaffetta

1st Stage 1b (ITT)

1st Flèche rebecquoise

3rd Leiedal Koerse

1973

1st Stage 3b (TTT) Vuelta a España

1st Overall Cronostaffetta

1st Stage 1c (ITT)

3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies

1974

Tour de France

1st Stage 6b (TTT)

Held for 3 days

1st Omloop Het Volk

1st Prologue Paris–Nice (with Eddy Merckx)

2nd GP Union Dortmund

3rd Classica Sarda

1975

1st Overall Tour Méditerranéen

1st Omloop Het Volk

1st stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

3rd Amstel Gold Race

5th Milan-San Remo

8th Paris–Nice

1976

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st Prologue Tour de Romandie (with Eddy Merckx)

1t Stage 22 Giro d'Italia (ITT)

1st Druivenkoers Overijse

1977

2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

1st stage 1 Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

1st Stage 7b Tour de France (TTT)

2nd Belgian National Road Race Championships - Road Race

3rd Tour du Condroz

4rd Paris–Nice

10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1978

4th Overall Tour de France

Held for 8 days

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st Tour du Condroz

2nd Overall La Méditerranéenne

10th La Flèche Wallonne

1980

1st Omloop Het Volk

Tour de France

• 1970 - 50th
• 1971 - 60th
• 1972 - 26th; winner of 19th stage
• 1974 - 21st (4 days in the yellow jersey)
• 1978 - 4th (8 days in the yellow jersey)

External links

• Palmarès
• Joseph Bruyère at Cycling Archives (archived)