PORTRAIT. Ludo Dierckxsens, the Eternal Attacker with the Broadest Possible Smile and His Heart on His Sleeve

When you say Ludo Dierckxsens, you immediately think of a room-wide smile. The ever-cheerful Belgian has had an extraordinary career in the professional peloton. No attack was too much for him. With absolute highs, lows, a laugh and a blunder in 1999 as a result: this is the racing legacy of the character from Kempen.

Ludo Dierckxsens (60) is no more. Belgium loses one of its most remarkable and striking cyclists from the period around the turn of the century. A portrait.