Truculent, with an accent from the capital recognizable among thousands, Emile Daems is no more. Died Thursday at the age of 86, he had voluntarily kept a low profile since the end of his career in 1965. When we contacted him in April 2014 for an interview, he was surprised. “An interview? But no one knows me anymore! I discovered last month that the organizers of Milan-Sanremo invited the winners who were still alive. I’m still waiting for the invitation card! »
This is because the career of the Brussels resident, native of Genval, was as short as it was dazzling. Between 1960 and 1963, Emile Daems won Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Lombardy, Paris-Roubaix, four stages of the Tour and two of the Giro. A mind-blowing track record that would satisfy 90% of the contemporary professional peloton. A track record established at the time of the undivided domination, or almost, of the “Emperor of Herentals”, Rik Van Looy, who should not be offended. However, in 1963, “Miel” Daems took the scalp of Antwerp by winning Paris-Roubaix, which surprised no one because he had real skills on the cobbles, proven the previous year with a second place.
Initially a worker in a photograph frame factory, Emile was touched by the interest in cycle racing during… sick leave. “I had dental problems and had to go to the dentist by bike every day. I got a taste for it, I wanted to compete! »
A member of the Italian Philco team, despite his small size, Daems therefore tamed the cobblestones, which he loved “because in Brussels, all the streets were made of cobblestone. » His masterpiece in Roubaix was not praised by the beaten, Rik Van Looy, who explained that his chain had blown off during the sprint. “He never liked me because I rode in a foreign team and not in his service. »
A fall at the Six Days of Brussels which caused him to break his hip stopped Emile Daems in his tracks. Disgusted with cycling, he opened a snack bar then very quickly a fishmonger, which will be his “life” job with his wife. He cut ties with the industry, otherwise to follow the career of his son Corneille in the 1980s. But until illness threatened him, he never stopped riding, three times a week, with his cycling friends from the café. From Linde to Dilbeek where an aperitif was of course appropriate after the effort… His funeral will be celebrated in Court-Saint-Etienne this coming Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Our editorial staff extends their most sincere condolences to the family.
