Number 500 in the challenge B.I.G

KURT VAN DE WOUWER

B.I.G Our 500^th B.I.G member was 11^th in the "1999 Tour de France"

Winner of the Belgian national championship for the beginners in 1988, 2nd of the Flanders'tour for the amators in 1990 and 3rd of the national championship 1993 in the same class, Kurt discovers himself in the Baby-Giro for the amators in 1991 where he finished 8^th having realised magnificent results in the mountaineous stages.

Since his professionnal beginning in 1994 in the Lotto team, he specialised himself as a climber and above all a regular rider in the stages'races .

He wins the spanish Circuito Montañes and two mountaineous stages of the german Hofbrau Cup in 1997 in the Vlaanderen 2002 team, before really increasing his results during the years 1998-2001 back in the Lotto-team.

31^st in the Vuelta and 26th in the Giro, reaching often a top10 in the top's arrivals ; he made still better in the Tour de France. After having finished 11^th in the Dauphiné and 9^th in the Tour of Romandy in 1998, he finished 16^th in the general classification of the Tour in July. Belgium has found a new climber. In 1999, 13^th in the Dauphiné where he realised an excellent time-trial on the Ventoux'slopes, he missed for details the top 10 in the Tour. He ended it at the 11^th rank, having hurt our mind when he came back to Armstrong and his main opponents at the curve number 3 of the Alpe d’Huez. He also performed many top 10 in the spanish classic races finishing at a great wellknown pass like the "subida al Naranco" or "a Urkiola".

In 2000, he is again 11^th in the Dauphiné and 16^th in the tour de France. Kurt isn't a winner, he always plays to be well ranked at the end and is very very regular in mountains.

In 2001, he avoided the tour, but performed an excellent Polish Tour with a beautiful 4^th place in the Tatras. He also finished 8^th in the general classification of the tour of Romandy and 15^th in the German Tour.

In 2002,he falled in the tour de France, still well ranked and broked his shoulders . Before that event, he performed excellent Dauphiné and Giro, and above all finished 3^rd in the GP of Frankfurt.

In 2003, he reached the Quick Step Team and must ride the Tour as a Team-man, mainly helping Richard Virenque. He leaded the whole pack during all the Maurienne valley, and obviously just afterwards lost all his qualities in the Galibier Pass, it was a pity job for him. Nevertheless, he was 22^nd in Paris-Nice, 9^th in the slopy italian GP of the Industry and 12^th in the national championship but it was not the funniest year of his carreer.

He reached for the more recent years the Palmans-Team which became Mr Bookmaker and now Unibet. Team near the Pro-Tour but still deleted by it, he performed with fine results some mountaineous stage races. 8^th in theTour of Langkawi, 20^th in the Tour of Murcia and 17^th in the Tour of Burgos, he realised a top 10 in the Race of Peace but must leave the race in the last stage with an urgent medical operation not very well located. One month of break.

Unlucky in the beginning of 2005, too, when he falled hardly in the Ruta del sol, he thought that his carreer was finished, but he found the capacity to come back again finishing 13^th in the Black Forest's race and 15^th in the Naranco Race before performing a superb 4^th ranking in the general classification of the vey steep Austrian Tour, after having ended 5^th under the snow on the top of the Hochtor (picture) and performed a magnificent time-trial against the uncredible steep slopes of the Kitzbüeheler Horn. July and august saw him with still good rankings like14^th in the Saxe Tour, 10^th in the Paris-Corrèze, 8^th in the Hessen Tour .

During the beginning of the 2006 season,he helped his spanish team-colleguas of the Unibet.com team to win some national Tours and just ended now to take part in the excellent Peace Race for his team because the Team won three times a stage and won finally the Team ranking..

One is waiting now for july and the Austrian Tour . (on the left)

(With his first child and his wife Sabine)

Kurt is also just like us, a guy fond of climbing passes and steep climbs but having a life aside. he must often leave his wife Sabine and his two children at home, in Herenthals. Biking doesn't push him to extreme things. One can be astonished with the few good results of his carreer for a racer having finished 11th in a Tour de France, juts like his Quick-Step managers who told that he was too calmful for the races. Other ones can understand his carreer differently, in the way to love stages' mountaineous Tours,to have a long and regular carreer and admire him above all for having never, never at all, being included in any doping affair since the beginning of his carrer. When one is speaking of those affairs to him, he just smiles. I really think in this subject that he is a beautiful example of sportivity and a magnificent 500th member for our challenge using only passion.