We thought it would be good to remember Walter Godefroot’s finest hour. It was the 1969 Paris-Roubaix when the man they called the Belgian Bulldog beat Eddy Merckx when he was the best he’d ever be.
Merckx dominated the 1969 season, obliterating everyone in the Tour of Flanders the week before. He would go on to win the 1969 Tour de France at his first attempt by almost 20 minutes, but he couldn’t win Roubaix. Walter Godefroot knocked him out flat there.
Godefroot didn’t wait for Merckx to land the first punch, he did it instead. He put in two big attacks, then threw everything into his third, hitting out as the leaders came off a section of cobblestones. The others hesitated for a moment. Merckx had closed the first two attacks himself, but in turning to look for help Godefroot had gone. He quickly put fifty metres into the group, then piled on the pressure.
He didn’t look around to see if he was gaining, that would have been a waste. He just pounded a huge gear, his mouth open wide, his chest heaving and his eyes fixed resolutely ahead. This was real bulldog stuff. Godefroot had the race between his teeth and wouldn’t let go. There was 28 kilometres left.
Eight kilometres later his 50-metre lead was 45 seconds. Merckx and Felice Gimondi were chasing flat out behind, but Roger and Erik De Vlaminck in the group with them were Godefroot’s team-mates, they wouldn’t help. Another Belgian, Willy Vekemans, was also there, but he was punching so far above his weight in that company he couldn’t help.
Godefroot burst into the velodrome in Roubaix to a massive welcome. Then Merckx won the sprint for second place ahead of Vekemans, but two minutes 39 seconds behind his Flemish rival. It had been an amazing performance, a very special victory. Walter Godefroot had taken Merckx down, and Merckx would never be better than he was in 1969. He’d beat Merckx at his very best.
Read more about the legends of Flanders in the fourth edition of our Cycling Legends Illustrated Book Collection, available here.
