Jean Aerts

Jean Aerts became the first cyclist to win the World Road Championship as both an amateur and a professional. Aerts also won multiple races in his native Belgium, as well as a dozen stages of the Tour de France, and competed at the Olympics. In 1926 he finished second in the road race at the national championships before winning the amateur road race at the World Championships one year later. In 1927 and 1928 he won back-to-back Belgian road race titles as an amateur, in addition to finishing 11th in the road race at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. At the Games he also finished ninth in the velodrome in the 1,000 metres time trial.

In 1929 Aerts turned professional, finishing second overall at the Volta a Catalunya and winning five stages of the race along the way. That same year he also had top-ten finishes at both Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Tours. One year later Aerts had his first victory at the Tour de France when he won stage six of the race. He continued to be consistent in the spring classics, finishing sixth at Paris–Roubaix in 1930 and third in the Tour of Flanders in 1931, followed by fourth at Paris–Roubaix in 1932.

The next couple of years saw Aerts reach the peak of his career, starting with victory at the 1933 edition of the Tour of Belgium. That same year he finished ninth at the Tour de France, winning six individual stages. Two years later he won the UCI World Road Race Championships in Belgium, finishing almost three minutes ahead of his nearest rival. Aerts continued to have success over the border, winning four individual stages of the 1935 Tour de France, as well as finishing third at Paris–Roubaix. His final national title on the road came in the road race in 1936, before winning the Belgian track title in 1941 and 1942.