Biography

Ludo Dierckxsens was born on October 14, 1964 in Geel, Belgium. He died on May 29, 2025 in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, Flanders, Belgium.

Dierckxsens died during the 1000 km bike ride of Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up against cancer) on 29 May 2025.

Dierckxsens worked as a gun painter for DAF trucks until he was 29, after which he became a professional cyclist.

In 1999 he won the Belgian championship in Geraardsbergen with a lead of more than two minutes over Michel Vanhaecke and Axel Merckx, which meant he won the eleventh Tour stage of 1999 in the tricolour. After his cycling career, Dierckxens opened a bicycle shop.

Ludo Dierckxsens was a Belgian racing cyclist.

He was best known for winning the 11th stage of the 1999 Tour de France, while competing for Lampre-Daikin. After this stage victory, Dierckxens went to take the obligatory doping tests. When the doctors asked him the routine question if he had taken any products which might cause a positive test result, Dierckxens replied that he had taken tetracosactide (Synacthen) in the Tour of Germany, to reduce knee pain. He claimed to have a prescription for them, but his team Lampre-Daikin did not know about this, and sent him home a few days later. The doping tests returned negative.