Georges Ronsse (4 March 1906, Antwerp - 4 July 1969, Berchem) was a two-time national cyclo-cross and two-time world champion road bicycle racer from Belgium, who raced between 1926 and 1938.[1]

George Ronsse
Ronsse in 1928
Personal information
Full nameGeorge Ronsse
Born(1906-03-04)4 March 1906
Antwerp, Belgium
Died4 July 1969(1969-07-04) (aged 63)
Berchem, Belgium
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad, track and cyclo-cross
RoleRider
Professional teams
1926–1929Automoto
1930–1933La Française
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 individual stage (1932)

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Championships (1928, 1929)
Paris–Roubaix (1927)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1925)
Scheldeprijs (1927)
Paris–Brussels (1928)
Bordeaux–Paris (1927, 1929, 1930)
GP Wolber (1930)

Cyclo-cross

Belgian Championship (1929, 1930)

Track cycling

Belgian Championship Stayers (1934, 1935, 1936)
Medal record
Men's road bicycle racing
Representing  Belgium
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1928 Budapest Elite Road Race
Gold medal – first place 1929 Zürich Elite Road Race
Bronze medal – third place 1930 Liège Elite Road Race
Men's track cycling
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1935 Brussels Motor-paced
Bronze medal – third place 1936 Zürich Motor-paced

In addition to his several national and world championships, Ronsse won several of the classic races in road cycling including the 1925 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the 1927 Paris–Roubaix, and the 1927, 1929 and 1930 editions of the now-defunct Bordeaux–Paris.[2] He won his first world championship title in 1928 in Budapest with a lead of 19 minutes and 43 seconds over second-placed finisher Herbert Nebe, the largest winning margin in road world championship history.[3]

Ronsse, followed by Alfredo Binda and Nicolas Frantz during the 1929 world championship in Zürich.

In 1932, Ronsse capped off his career with a Stage 4 win at the 1932 Tour de France. After retiring from competition he served as manager of the Belgian national team at the Tour.[4]

Major results

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Road race

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1925
1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1st Schaal Sels
6th Overall Tour of Belgium Independents
1st Stage 6
1926
3rd Championship of Flanders
3rd Omloop der Leiestreek
1927
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Bordeaux–Paris
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Circuit of North-Belgium
3rd Paris–Tours
6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
9th Tour of Flanders
1928
1st   Road race, UCI World Championships
1st Paris–Brussels
1st Rupelmonde
2nd Paris–Roubaix
3rd Circuit de Paris (fr)
1929
1st   Road race, UCI World Championships
1st Bordeaux–Paris
2nd   Belgian National Road Race Championships
2nd Tour of Flanders
2nd Paris–Roubaix
3rd Paris–Tours
1930
1st Bordeaux–Paris
1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs
1st GP Wolber
1st Antwerp–Brussels–Antwerp
2nd Circuit du Midi
3rd   Road race, UCI World Championships
6th Paris–Tours
6th Paris–Roubaix
1931
2nd Circuit de Paris (fr)
3rd Paris–Lille (fr)
3rd GP Wolber
4th Paris–Roubaix
1932
Tour de France
Winner stage 4
5th place overall classification
2nd Paris–Roubaix
3rd Paris–Brussels
1933
1st GP Stad Antwerpen
3rd Overall Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 1 & 4

Cyclo cross

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1927
2nd   National Championships
1928
2nd   National Championships
2nd Critérium International de Cyclo-cross (fr)
1929
1st   National Championships
1930
1st   National Championships
2nd Critérium International de Cyclo-cross (fr)
1931
3rd Critérium International de Cyclo-cross (fr)
1933
1st Cyclo-cross championship of Antwerp

Track Cycling

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1934
1st   Motor-paced Belgian National Track Championships (fr)
1935
1st   Motor-paced Belgian National Track Championships (fr)
3rd   Motor-paced, UCI Track World Championships, Brussels
1936
1st   Motor-paced Belgian National Track Championships (fr)
3rd   Motor-paced, UCI Track World Championships, Zürich
3rd Six Days of Antwerp (with Adolf Schön)
1937
3rd   Motor-paced Belgian National Track Championships (fr)
3rd Six Days of Antwerp (with Maurice Depauw)
1938
2nd   Motor-paced Belgian National Track Championships (fr)

References

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  1. ^ "Georges Ronsse". FirstCycling.com. 2023.
  2. ^ "Palmarès de Georges Ronsse (Bel)". Memoire-du-cyclisme.eu (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  3. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (19 May 2015). "Giro d'Italia stage 11 preview: Organizers bring back 1968 Worlds finish circuit in Imola". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  4. ^ Fotheringham, William (2012). Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson. Random House. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4464-3587-8.
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