Alfons De Wolf

Alfons De Wolf
Personal information
Full name	Alfons De Wolf
Born	22 June 1956 (age 68); Willebroek, Belgium
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Classics specialist
Major wins
	Giro di Lombardia (1980); Milan – San Remo (1981); Tour de France, 1 stage; Vuelta a España, 5 stages; Points Competition (1979)

Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.

He was forecast, with Daniel Willems, to be the successor to Eddy Merckx. De Wolf seemed to fulfill that promise by winning the 1980 Giro di Lombardia and the 1981 Milan – San Remo, the last and first classic of the season . He almost won the 1982 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, beaten by Italian Silvano Contini in the final sprint.

After winning a stage in the 1984 Tour de France, his career faded. He helped his teammate Eddy Planckaert win the green jersey in the 1988 Tour de France. He ended his career in 1990.

He now helps his wife in her funeral parlour in Dworp, in the south of Brussels.

Although he won the Omloop Het Volk two times, De Wolf was an atypical Flemish cyclist, preferring Italian races such as Milan – San Remo to Paris–Roubaix, Gent–Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. He was at ease in hilly races, though he was not an impressive climber.

He complained that he was seen as a 'new Eddy Merckx', that the public had expected too much.