He was forecast, withDaniel Willems, to be the successor toEddy Merckx. De Wolf seemed to fulfill that promise by having an absolutely dominant1979 Vuelta a España winning 5 stages including an individual time trial as well as the Points Classification, securing a top 10 place in the General Classification and then following it up by winning the 1980Giro di Lombardia and the 1981Milan–San Remo, the last and first classic of the season. He almost won the 1982Liège–Bastogne–Liège, but he finally lost it to the ItalianSilvano Contini in the final sprint due to a shifting error.
After winning a stage in the 1984Tour de France, his career faded, however the stage win he claimed was an impressive individual effort in which he was able to beat the group of favorites includingBernard Hinault and eventual winnerLaurent Fignon by a stunning margin of almost eighteen minutes.[2]He helped his teammateEddy Planckaert win thegreen jersey in the1988 Tour de France. He ended his career in 1990.
He now helps his wife in her funeral parlour inDworp, in the south ofBrussels.
Although he won theOmloop Het Volk two times, De Wolf was an atypical Flemish cyclist, preferring Italian races such as Milan–San Remo toParis–Roubaix,Gent–Wevelgem and theTour 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.
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OverallTour de Namur
Road race, National Amateur Road Championships
Points classification
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
