1950 Sels Cup - Ernest Sterckx

Races in which cycling clubs compete against each other are few and far between. Named after Antwerp sports journalist Jacques-Charles Sels, killed in an accident in 1920, the Sels Cup is just such a one. Thirty years later, Ernest Sterckx - Nest to his friends - crossed the finishing line in Merksem first. His Lierse Bicycle Club finished second in the team classification. Albert Ramon, who became Belgian champion that year in Nest Sterckx's place of birth, Westerlo, finished in second place. Apart from the Sels Cup, Sterckx also won the Omloop Het Volk race three times and a whole host of lesser-known races. But his name is also, unfortunately, linked to one of the traumas of the Belgian cycling world. Nest took part in a track meeting at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on 29 September 1956. Also riding on the wooden oval track was folk hero Stan Ockers. Sterckx and Ockers ended up colliding with each other. The legendary consequences of this accident are common knowledge.