Bjorg Lambrecht

Bjorg Lambrecht (2 April 1997 – 5 August 2019) was a Belgian cyclist, who rode for UCI WorldTeam Lotto–Soudal.

 In August 2018, he was named in the startlist for the 2018 Vuelta a España. He died on 5 August 2019 after crashing into a concrete culvert during the third stage of the 2019 Tour de Pologne.

Early life and family

Lambrecht came from the Belgian village of Knesselare, situated between Bruges and Ghent. He was born to Kurt and Anje Lambrecht and had a sister, Britt.

Career

In 2015, Lambrecht became the Belgian national junior champion, relegating Glen Van Nuffelen and Stijn Goolaerts to second and third places respectively.

In 2016, he caused a surprise by winning the opening stage of the Ronde de l'Isard. In the final stage he was sent in the wrong direction by the race management. The race jury recognized the error and so Lambrecht became the third Belgian to win this race after Yannick Eijssen (2010) and Louis Vervaeke (2014). Just under two weeks after his final win in France, Lambrecht took part in the Grand Prix Priessnitz spa race with a Belgian selection. Here he managed to win the last leg, with a sloping finish on cobbles in Jeseník, with a lead of a few seconds.

At the beginning of 2017, he won Liège–Bastogne–Liège U23 race by beating his three fellow poursuivants in the sprint. Later that year he was fifth in the Flèche Ardennaise race, second in the final classification of the Ronde de l'Isard, eighth in that of the Tour of the Jura, he won a stage and the final classification in the Grand Prix Priessnitz spa and became second in the final classifications of the Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc, the Giro della Valle d'Aosta and the Tour de l'Avenir2017.

In 2018, Lambrecht turned professional with Lotto–Soudal.[12] In 2019, he recorded his biggest result as a professional, finishing fourth at the Flèche Wallonne race. In April of the same year, he signed a two-year contract extension with Lotto–Soudal.

Death

Lambrecht crashed into a concrete culvert during stage three of the 2019 Tour de Pologne. He was taken to hospital in Rybnik by ambulance, but died during surgery. Out of respect for Lambrecht, the fourth stage of the race was neutralised, allowing riders to honor his memory. The remaining members of the Lotto-Soudal team led the peloton in the first part of the race until kilometre 48, where Lambrecht had crashed the previous day, at which point the peloton stopped and a moment of silence was held.

Major results

The following are some of the major achievements of Lambrecht.

2015

1st  Road race, National Junior Road Championships

Driedaagse van Axel

1st  Mountains classification

1st Stage 4

2nd Overall Oberösterreich Juniorenrundfahrt

1st  Mountains classification

3rd Overall GP Général Patton

1st  Mountains classification

3rd Trofeo Emilio Paganessi

3rd La Philippe Gilbert Juniors

4th Overall Trofeo Karlsberg

2016

1st  Overall Ronde de l'Isard

1st  Points classification

1st  Young rider classification

1st  Mountains classification

1st Stage 1

2nd Road race, UEC European Under–23 Road Championships

3rd Piccolo Giro di Lombardia

4th Flèche Ardennaise

4th Overall Course de la Paix U23

1st Stage 3

10th Overall Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc

10th Overall Giro della Valle d'Aosta

2017

1st  Overall Grand Prix Priessnitz spa

1st  Points classification

1st Stage 2

1st Liège-Bastogne-Liège Espoirs

2nd Overall Giro della Valle d'Aosta

1st  Points classification

2nd Overall Ronde de l'Isard

1st Stage 3

2nd Overall Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc

2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir

5th Flèche Ardennaise

8th Overall Tour du Jura

1st  Young rider classification

10th Overall Circuit des Ardennes

2018

2nd  Road race, UCI Road World Under–23 Championships

2nd Overall Tour des Fjords

1st  Young rider classification

1st Stage 3

2019

1st  Young rider classification Critérium du Dauphiné

4th La Flèche Wallonne

5th Brabantse Pijl

6th Amstel Gold Race