Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed The Lion of Flanders, he was particularly successful in the cobbled classics of Flanders and Northern France and was considered one of the best classic races specialists of the 1990s. He won both the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix three times and was road world champion in 1996. Other notable career achievements include two individual stage wins in the Tour de France, two final classifications of the UCI Road World Cup, two national road race championships and several classic cycle races. In 1996 he received the Vélo d'Or, awarded annually to the rider considered to have performed the best over the year. Early life and amateur career Born in Varsenare, Museeuw grew up in Gistel, West Flanders. His father Eddy had been a professional cyclist for two seasons, albeit without much success. As a junior and amateur, Museeuw practiced cyclo-cross in winter and had a few minor successes on the road. Professional career 1988–1989: The early years Johan Museeuw started his professional career in 1988 with ADR. In 1989 he was part of the ADR team with which Greg LeMond won his second Tour de France. During the Tour, Museeuw headed the peloton for days on end for his team leader who wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. 1990–1992: Sprinter In 1990 he signed for the Lotto team and won two prestigious stages in the 1990 Tour de France. He won the uphill-sprint stage to Mont Saint-Michel and the final stage of the Tour in Paris, both in a mass sprint. In an era of successful breakaways, he was an unfortunate sprinter, being unable to win further individual stages. In 1991 he won several stage wins in smaller stage races and in August he won the Championship of Zürich, his first win in a World Cup race. In 1992 he placed third in Milan–San Remo, winning the peloton sprint behind Sean Kelly and Moreno Argentin. He won E3 Harelbeke, his first cobbled semi-classic race win, and the Belgian national road race title in Peer. He was second in the final points classification of the 1992 Tour de France behind Frenchman Laurent Jalabert for the second time. He did not win a stage, despite having won every peloton sprint behind a group of escapees