Roger Decocq, winner of the 1952 Tour de Flanders, passed away at the age of 93 at his home in Arcel. The Belgian was the oldest living Ronde winner.

Decocq, a professional from 1949 to 1961, also won Paris-Nice in 1951 and Scheldepri in 1954 as he continued his career with countrymen Bleek Schotte, Rick van Steenbergen, and Rick van Roy.

Decock's brightest moment came in the 1952 Tour of Flanders, when he escaped with Schotte and Loretto Petrucci after Luison Bovet attacked in Mühl van Geraalsbergen. He outpaced Petrucci and Schotte to win in the finish in Wetteren.

Decock had witnessed Wim van Est in the yellow jersey fall into a ravine on the descent of the Col d'Aubisque on stage 13 to Tarbes in the Tour de France the previous year. He raised the alarm and stopped at the side of the road to help the fallen Dutchman. De Kock had been in fifth place overall before the stage, losing 25 minutes in the process. He finished the Tour in 17th overall.

"I tried to let everyone know that Van Est had fallen badly, but no one stopped. Sylvère Maes, the sport director, came over and asked me what I was doing there. 'I told them that Van Est was down and needed immediate help. Maes told me it was okay; I had to wait 25 minutes, but I didn't care. People in need were more important."

Van Est, incidentally, finished fourth behind Decoc in the 1952 Tour de Flanders. Speaking to L'Équipe last month, De Coq expressed regret that this year's Ronde had to be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak.

"It's a terrible situation," he said. It's the first time in my life that I won't be able to see the Ronde. Not even war could prevent it from taking place!"

After getting off his bicycle, Dekock ran a cafe, first in Izegem, then in Tielt, and finally in Ghent; Het Nieuwsblad magazine remembers the Rondo winner as a natural storyteller." With his death, the great storyteller on cycling during and after World War II also leaves us."

Patrick Leferet, manager of the Detunink Quickstep, paid tribute to DeCocq on social media on Sunday: "We have lost a legend. Not only was he a rider, he was also a storyteller.