Jef Scherens Explained

Jef Scherens
Fullname:Joseph Scherens
Nickname:Poeske Scherens
Birth Date:17 February 1909
Birth Place:Werchter, Belgium
Death Place:Leuven, Belgium
Discipline:Track
Role:Rider
Ridertype:Sprint
Majorwins:National Track Championships

Sprint (1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947)World Track Championships

Sprint (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1947)

Show-Medals:yes

Joseph "Jef" Scherens (17 February 1909  - 9 August 1986), better known as Poeske Scherens, was a Belgian professional track cyclist, specializing in sprint where he won seven World Championships.[1]

Biography

Early life

Jef Scherens was born in Werchter, the fifth child of the Felix Scherens-Regina Janssens family. Little Jef soon became 'Jefke', but also 'Poeterke'. In the Hageland, that was a name for a little goat or lamb that did not grow well. His fellow street rabble-rousers first distorted it into 'Poeter', which later became 'Poeske' (Flemish for "small cat"). When Jef Scherens later turned out to be a very fast sprinter with a cat-like final jump, that nickname was given existence.

From the age of five until the end of WWI, young Jef stayed with his family near Bordeaux, where he learned to speak French. At the end of primary school, the Committee for Vocational Orientation recommended that Jefke would go to work. So it happened: Jef worked in a leather factory and cycled up and down to Zaventem every day in group. That gave him the idea of trying out as a cyclist. His brother Giel, who was one year older, competed in the rookies. With one of his two racing bikes, Jef made his debut in a race in Betekom in 1926. That same year he won six victories and numerous places of honour. In 1927, he joined the Leuven Stoempersclub and won forty races in the newcomers' category. Because of the many successes, he decided to quit his job and put everything on cycling. The following year, he won 27 times among the juniors. In particular, his sprinting skills came to the fore.

Professional career

His qualities as a sprinter did not go unnoticed and the team's president Edward Van Hove, offered him a contract to compete in a sprint competition at the Brussels Sports Palace. On 14 October 1928, Scherens won against the then Belgian champion Jules Vervust. All connoisseurs were then convinced they had discovered a new champion.[2]

In 1929, he won five road races. That year, he did his military service and was granted the privilege of training at certain times. A fall in 1930 kept him in bed for seven weeks.

In 1931, he made a comeback and became Belgian champion in the professional category. Between 1931 and 1947, he won the Belgian individual sprit championship 15 times.

In 1932, Scherens competed in the world championship in Rome and faced the Frenchman Lucien Michard in the final. Their duel lasted more than 20 minutes, however, so the jury decided to draw lots to see which of the two would go first. Michard was chosen and Scherens, with his famous spurt, won the title of world champion. He was celebrated in Leuven, where he had lived since 1930. He subsequently won the world track championships five times: in 1933 in Paris, in 1934 in Leipzig, in 1935 in Brussels, in 1936 in Zurich and in 1937 in Copenhagen. In July 1938, he had a serious fall during the Paris Grand Prix at the Cipale2. Not yet fully recovered from his fall, he lost his title to the Dutchman Arie van Vliet.

Van Vliet and Scherens met again a year later in the final in Milan and both fell. The final was postponed. The next day, the Second World War broke out and the championship was cancelled.

After a six-year break, the world championships were held again in Zurich in 1946. Scherens lost to the Frenchman Georges Senfftleben. The following year, he managed to win a seventh and final title in Paris.[3] Scherens also won numerous Grand Prix in various countries, breaking records at all the major velodromes in Europe. In 1933, he was awarded the Belgian National Sports Merit Award.

Since 1963, the Grote Prijs Jef Scheren has been held in his honour in Leuven, the place where he died in 1986.[4]

Major Results

1929
  • 1st Sprint, Independent Belgian National Championships
    1930
  • 3rd Sprint Belgian National Championships
    1931
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Angers
  • 1st Grand Prix de la République
  • 1st Grand Prix de Cholet
  • 3rd Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Copenhagen
    1932
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Rome
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
  • 1st Amsterdam Grand Prix
  • 1st Berlin Grand Prix
  • 1st Brussels Grand Prix
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Tours
  • 2nd Grand Prix de l'UVF
    1933
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Paris
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de l'UVF
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Europe
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Alger
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Angers
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Europe
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
    1934
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Leipzig
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de l'UVF
  • 1st Grand Prix de Lorient
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Lyon
  • 1st Grand Prix de Roanne
    1935
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Brussels
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de Reims (fr)
  • 1st Grand Prix d'Europe
  • 1st Grand Prix de Brest
  • 1st Grand Prix de Lorient
  • 1st Milan Grand Prix
  • 3rd Grand Prix de l'UVF
    1936
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Zürich
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de Genève
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
  • 1st Cologne Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Lorient
  • 1st Zürich Grand Prix
  • 2nd Grand Prix de Paris
  • 2nd Grand Prix de l'UVF
  • 3rd Grand Prix de Reims (fr)
    1937
  • 1st Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Copenhagen
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
  • 1st Grand Prix de Turin (fr)
  • 1st Antwerp Grand Prix
  • 1st Berlin Grand Prix
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
  • 1st London Grand Prix
  • 1st Milan Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
  • 3rd Grand Prix de l'UVF
    1938
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st London Grand Prix
  • 1st Milan Grand Prix
  • 2nd Sprint, UCI Track World Championships, Amsterdam
  • 2nd Grand Prix de l'UVF
  • 2nd Copenhagen Grand Prix
    1939
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
    1940
  • 2nd Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 2nd Six Days of Brussels (with Achiel Bruneel)
    1941
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Ghent Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Bordeaux
  • 2nd Schaarbeek
    1942
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Grand Prix de l'UVF
  • 3rd Grand Prix de Paris
    19431st Ghent Grand Prix
  • 2nd Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 2nd Grand Prix de Paris
    1944
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
    1945
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Zürich Grand Prix
    1946
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 1st Copenhagen Grand Prix
  • 1st Grand Prix de Bruxelles
  • 3rd Grand Prix de Paris
    1947
  • 1st Sprint Belgian National Championships, Paris
    1949
  • 1st Grand Prix de Paris
  • 2nd Sprint Belgian National Championships
  • 3rd 1km Sprint European Track Championships
    1950
  • 3rd Sprint Belgian National Championships

    Honours

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: 19 December 2022 . Poeske Scherens . erfgoedcelleuven.be . nl.
    2. Web site: Joseph "Jef" SCHERENS . 31 December 2021 . Memoire-du-cyclisme.eu . fr.
    3. Web site: 2023 . Jef Scherens . FirstCycling.com . en.
    4. Web site: 15 December 2022 . Grote Prijs Jef Scherens . gpjefscherens.be . nl.
    5. Web site: Red Lions volgen Nina Derwael op met winst van Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste . . nl . 7 November 2019.
    6. Web site: 12 October 2022 . Leuven in de ban van vernieuwde GP Jef ‘Poeske’ Scherens: "De weerstand tegen de nieuwe naam Tour of Leuven–Memorial Jef Scherens is stilaan verdwenen" . . nl.