Patrick Sercu was a giant of the track and a great one of the road too. And in his time, the second half of the 60s and 70s, it was not easy to end up on the front pages having among your fellow countrymen champions like Merckx e From Vlaeminck, and yet Sercu managed it. And he managed it especially on the track and through the Six Days, of which he is still the King today. The King of the Six Days: he won 88 of them.
Christophe Sercu is his son. Now fifty, he grew up on cycling and is carrying on his father's legacy. He is in fact the organizer of the Six Days of Ghent, as well as the team manager of the Team Flanders-Baloise, professional team that works a lot with young people.
Christophe, let's start with the Six Days of Ghent, now the only true Six Days: what's the secret?
This makes us happy, but unfortunately it is the last real Six Days because the only other one left is the one in RotterdamI can only say: let's hope for the future. What's the secret behind this? A combination of things: its vitality, its tradition, a good crowd, a proven organization and excellent riders.
Does running still play a central role here?
I would say yes, for this reason too people stay late. Here you meet friends, drink a beer and watch the races: we have a good balance between all of this and I think that's the secret of our success.
Cycling is a family affair for you. Was it natural to follow in your father's footsteps?
My dad always ran here. He was successful here first as a rider, and then as an organizer. I, who have always been close to him, in fact... I have been in this organization for 40 years, since I was a child, so well before my father's illness and then death (which occurred in 2019, ed.). We continued to work the same way, but we also modernized everything. I believe we must move with our times, but also respect traditions.
You mentioned your father, let's start talking about him, about Patrick. What's your most important cycling memory?
Oh, it's hard to say! I have so many, but they're also distant. I was 12 or 13 when he stopped running, so I'd have to think about that quite a bit. But there's a photo at home that I often see and it's a beautiful shot of his last Six Days of Milan and I was there with him. This photo shows us from behind, as we were leaving the track. And he puts his arm around me. A beautiful memory. Symbolic.
Between the Six Days of Winter and the road during the rest of the season, your father wasn't very present at home… What do you remember of that time?
In fact, it was very much missed, There have been seasons in which he has even done more than 200 days of competition in a yearWe saw him very little, but he tried to be present anyway.
It wasn't as easy to get in touch as it is today? How did you manage?
"Yes," Sercu smiles, "it was actually quite a problem. I remember having to make an appointment when he was abroad." You had to get a line from the operator for that day at that timeYou paid a lot and had a certain number of minutes available.
We imagine that there has been a certain coming and going of samples in your house…
I remember many, but it wasn't just riders who came to the house. They were good friends. I'm thinking of Eddy (Merckx, ed.), Roger (De Vlaeminck, ed.), Martin Van Den Bossche. But when you're young, you don't have the feeling of having champions of that caliber in front of you.
Your dad raced with great riders. Is there anyone he was closer to?
It's hard to say this or that. Let's just say he had a lot of friends in the group.
Did his personality, his character, change when he was on his bike and when he was at home?
I think so, to a certain extent, like all riders. But as far as I'm concerned, he was the same; his character didn't change once he got off the bike. He was always a civilized person. To say that he was aggressive on the bike is perhaps the wrong word, but he was certainly very motivated.
And between street and track? Was he more competitive on the court… given his track record?
Ninth… Road or track he was always very determined. A great rider is always professional.
Did you ever talk about cycling when you were at home?
Yes, of course. We were talking about competitions. Afterwards he became the head of the national team, then again head of the organization of this Six Days. But in general I had the opportunity to travel a lot with him after his career and Cycling has always been in all of us.
Compared to your father's time, what has changed most about the Six Days?
I believe in the Americana. In the past, these races were longer. Those who did this specialty were really good. In the end, they were doing 200 kilometers a day on the track. There were other races too, like the time trial, but you had to deal with trends and demands. And these were American, American, American... Then little by little, things changed. Before, we started at six in the afternoon and finished at three, even four in the morning.Now everything is shorter, there are other timeframes and other interests.
Sercu and Italy
Patrick Sercu was therefore a great, a giant of Belgian cycling. And it's not easy to be among the giants there. On the track he won an Olympics (Tokyo 1964) in the standing kilometre, 88 Six Days as mentioned, but also three world titles and around thirty national championships.
And he also has a very impressive track record on the road, especially since he often rode in support of Eddy Merckx. Patrick Sercu was clearly a sprinter, given his skills on the track. Just think: 13 stages at Tour of Italy, you're at the Tour wearing the green jersey in 1974.
Before parting, Christophe himself, with a big, honored smile, recalled these numbers and added: "My dad spent so much time in Italy. He raced there a lot: Faema, Brooklyn, and even though he was Belgian, he drove for Fiat… he considered Italy his second home. Really. He said it often."
