team in Belgium to spend more time with his family, However he was tempted back to the sport in November 2004 as advisor to the Zimbabwe team as it prepared for the world championship in St. Wendel, Germany, at the end of January 2005. De Vlaeminck is known for firm opinions about cycling and is often consulted by journalists. In particular, he criticizes the trend to have multiple leaders in a team. That, he says, means the best racers share important races between them. De Vlaeminck is also known for his harsh opinion of Tom Boonen, calling him unworthy of equaling his Paris–Roubaix record of 4 wins, claiming cycling isn't as hard as it used to be. This led to the meme "In den tijd van Roger De Vlaeminck ..." ("in the days of Roger De Vlaeminck") where De Vlaeminck was attributed to doing all kinds of unrealistic stuff. Major results Road 1967 1st Stage 4 Amateur Tour of Belgium 1st Stage 4 Tour de la province de Namur 3rd Belgian National Road Race Championships Amateurs 7th Road race, UCI Road World Amateur Championships 1968 1st Road race, National Amateur Road Championships 1st Overall Amateur Tour of Belgium 1st Stage 8 1st La Flèche Ardennaise 10th Overall Tour de l'Avenir 1st Points classification 1st Stages 10a & 10b 1969 1st Road race, National Road Championships 1st Omloop Het Volk 1st Brussels–Ingooigem 1st Stage 3 Tour of Belgium 1st Omloop Schelde-Durme 1st LuK Challenge Chrono (with Herman Vanspringel) 1st Kampioenschap van Oost-Vlaanderen 1st Ronde van West-Vlaanderen 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 2nd Omloop der Zennevallei 2nd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens 3rd GP Stad Vilvoorde 3rd Züri–Metzgete 3rd Overall Paris-Luxembourg 3rd Wattrelos-Meulebeke 5th Paris–Roubaix 6th La Flèche Wallonne 1970 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 1st Grote Scheldeprijs 1st Druivenkoers Overijse 1st Omloop van het Houtland 1st Stage 6 Tour de France 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1st Points classification 1st Stage 4 1st Geraardsbergen-Viane 1st Prologue (TTT) Four Days of Dunkirk 2nd Paris–Roubaix 2nd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 3rd Wattrelos-Meulebeke 3rd GP Roeselare 5th Paris–Tours 8th Omloop Het Volk 1971 1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse 1st Points classification 1st Stage 3 1st La Flèche Wallonne 1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 1st Omloop van het Zuidwesten 1st Stage 1 & 4 Tour de la Nouvelle France 1st Omloop van de Westkust 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 3rd Overall Vuelta