Hitachi - Miniature racing cyclists

Claude Criquielion

The sponsor Hitachi was a sponsor in the cycling peloton in the 80s. It is a Japanese company with headquarters in Tokyo. We know Hitachi from electronic devices such as television sets and video recorders.

The most eye-catching riders for the team are: Etienne De Wilde, Dirk De Wolf, Rudy Dhaenens, Jean-Marie Wampers, Marc Sergeant, Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke and Claude Criquielion. The team consisted mainly of Belgian riders.

Claude Criquielion, also known as Claudy Criquielion, was a Belgian cyclist. He was a professional rider from 1979 to 1991. His biggest victory was in 1984 when he became world champion on the road.

Claude Criquielion won 60 races. He was elected Belgian Sportsman of the Year in 1984, after his victory at the World Championships in Barcelona. During the sprint of the 1988 World Championship in Ronse, when he was about to win his second world title, things went wrong. Criquielion was the best sprinter of the 3 who would sprint for the rainbow jersey. But the Canadian Steve Bauer pushed him against the nadars, and Criquielion crashed. Steve Bauer was disqualified, but Criquielion lost the title. Walking with the bike in his hand he crossed the line. The third rider, the Italian Maurizio Fondriest, who was totally surprised, won the world title.

Criquielion became Belgian champion in 1990. He won the the Walloon Arrow in 1985 and 1989, the Classica San Sebastian in 1983 and the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1987. However, he never managed to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He was 2nd in 1985, 4th in 1986, 3rd in 1987 and 2nd in 1991. In 1987, he escaped with Stephen Roche in the final, but the two riders looked at each other too much and were taken back by Moreno Argentin who won the race.

In the stage races in 1986 he won the Tour of Romandy and the Midi libre in 1986 and 1988. In the big tours Claudy Criquielion was a very regular rider, he finished 3rd in the Tour of Spain 1980, 5th in the Tour of France 1986 and 7th in the Tour of Italy 1989. He finished 5 times in the top 10 in the general classification of the Tour de France. For many years he was the best Belgian stage race cyclist.

After his career he became sports director at Lotto and then at the Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team. At the end of his career he gave his name to a cycling event, the Grand Prix Criquielion.

In 2015 he died in Aalst after a severe stroke. He was 58 years old.

Teams:
1979-1979 KAS-Campagnolo
1980-1980 Splendor-Admiral
1981-1982 Splendor-Wickes
1983-1983 Splendor-Euroshop
1984-1984 Spenco
1985-1985 Hitachi-Splendor
1986-1986 Hitachi-Marc-Splendor
1987-1987 Hitachi
1988-1988 Hitachi-Bosal
1989-1989 Hitachi
1990-1991 Lotto-Super Club

Major wins:
1982 Brabant Arrow
1983 Clásica San Sebastián
1984 GP Eddy Merckx
1984 World Champion
1985 Walloon Arrow
1987 Tour of Flanders
1989 Walloon Arrow
1990 Belgian champion

Discover our other miniature cyclists as well.