A deep subject Armel - thks for the post. Merckx was clearly a uniting figure - and is a Baron, in fact.
For cycling, though, surely the Flemish or Walloon identity is very explicit (I see how it isn't a big deal for footballers etc) The Flandrian hardman image is unequivocally connected with the classics more than any other group of people, cyclocross is absolutely Flemish - couldn't name a top level Walloon crosser tbh. I'm not talking about Flemish nationalism or anything like that, but everyone knows Flanders is the Mesopotamia of bike racing.
Ah like that. The term flandrien; was originally a bit of a pejorative term used by the French speaking newspapers to describe the Flemish cyclists that constantly battered all the other riders on the velodrome in Brussels. It implied half savages riding around in the capital on the velodrome. Later evolved to a cyclist that continuously attacks and keeps riding until he's completely knackered when reaching the finish line. All while riding the Flemish classics and fighting the cobbles. You also need to display perseverance and have to be strong willed; show resistance to pain etc... Add in there a bit of rain, enjoying wind, cobbles, enjoy adverse weather conditions (preferably apocalyptic weather)... And preferably you have to be Flemish but it doesn't take a lot to get adopted really, like Gilbert, VDB etc... The attacking part is very important though, and you have to be an instinctive rider (like Gilbert when he won the Tour of Flanders, not a lot of thinking or calculating and all that). Tbf riding races in Flanders kind of instils all that in you, for all sorts of reasons (not the best of weather, lots of wind, narrow substandard roads- meaning you will suffer punctures etc...). If you're used to riding on perfect roads around Malaga in perfect weather conditions you don't really need an aggressive riding style/you're less likely to acquire affinity with echelons...
Yes and winning something like the Tour of Flanders of course results in immortality in Flanders; I suppose that is a bit less in the other part of the country. Oh and in Flanders; the week leading up to the Tour of Flanders is the holy week; they don't have that same level of devotion. There's also less of a run-up; over here you now already have all the build-up to the Omloop on 02/03 etc...
A flandrien: see Vanderaerden in 1985: horrible weather, has lots of adversity on the Koppenberg wins.
Walloon cycling (as in forming actual riders) is pretty much dead/has always been quite small in comparison to the Flemish counterpart. Unless you take into account lesser riders like Monfort etc... You should check out all of the selections of the previous national teams etc. Almost no Walloon in sight. Apart from Gilbert. I'm struggling to think of a Walloon rider in track/mtb/cx (there was a Walloon CX rider that constantly rode top ten places but then he ended up having an accident and died) etc. Both for men and women. So you basically have tons of Walloons supporting Flemish riders at WC's etc... Sport has always been the main uniting factor.
The last great Walloon one, apart from Gilbert was VDB (love him), but if you want you can argue, since he lived in Ploegsteert (Henegouwen; Ploegsteert is a village with language facilities since it was originally Flemish and he spoke both languages perfectly). VDB had a bigger following in Flanders than in Wallonia; in fairness a bit deluded also because every comeback they genuinely believed he would be back. When he died you had a special news-report twenty minutes long and 2 weeks of all sorts of VDB related documentaries on television. Now his daughter has taken up racing and the girl is already under immense spotlights. Some absolute idiot thought btw that it was a good idea to release a film about the last moments in VDB's life. Cretin, the family didn't allow it but he got round that by using fake names etc... And before that Criqueilion. Very few Walloons in Belgian cycling history. Almost all of the team-leaders in the association and the teams are Flemish. And if you have exceptions, like Rik Verbrughe, they live in Flanders and they speak perfect Flemish. If they want to improve they go ride for one of the Flemish teams/a French team.
Another side-note. Walloon is a different language from French. Not a lot of people speak it any more - it got pressed away by French. It's quite different. A Walloon identity is a bit lacking btw, it's not as strongly developed as the Flemish one.
They still provide good support though and they do cover cyclocross (because Belgians win - well at least we used to before VDP; and he also lives in Belgium like Dumoulin and a large part of all the good Dutch riders) etc..., but they have no emerging riders. I blame lacking policy. It's the same in every sport (a bit less in football; but also in swimming etc), how they managed to produce Thiam is beyond me. Same with Henin (I prefer her over Clijsters all day long); all the good Walloon sportsmen have come through sheer luck. I mean Thiam can't even train decently in the winter since they don't have adequate indoor facilities (she can't move to the north of the country since she's still studying geography at university and has to go to all her classes) and she still smashes everyone.
