Robert de Wilde
Encyclopedia
Robert de Wilde is a Dutch
professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990–2003. His nicknames are "The Flying Dutchman" in reference to his speed and his nationality and "Afro-Bob" because of his long wild, uncombed hair. He was chosen for the Dutch BMX Olympic team to participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics
games in Beijing, China where he reached the Quarter Finals.
Started Racing: 1982 at five years old. A friend got him into it.
Sanctioning Body:
First race result:
First win (local):
First sponsor:
First national win:
Turned Professional: January 1999 at 21 years old. During 1999 and prior de Wilde was one of only three total pros Europe ever had (Dylan Clayton and Wilco Groenendaal were the other two) due to the nature of racing rules with the European sanctioning bodies at the time, which did not permit a full pro class in which an unlimited amount of money can be earned by the racer at a race.
First Professional race result (Holland/Europe):
First Professional race result (US):
First Professional win (Holland/Europe):
First Professional win (US):
First Junior Pro* win (Holland/Europe):
First Junior Pro* win (US):
First Senior Pro** race result (Holland/Europe):
First Senior Pro** race result (US):
First Senior Pro win (Holland/Europe):
First Senior Pro win (US):
Retired: Still active.
Height & weight at height of his career (1999–2006): Ht:6'2" Wt:215 lbs.
Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU)
Nederlandse Fietscross Federatie (NFF)
National Bicycle League (NBL)
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
Nederlandse Fietscross Federatie (NFF)
National Bicycle League
(NBL)
American Bicycle Association
(ABA)
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
(USBA)
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
International Olympic Committee
(IOC)
Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships
Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
BMX Plus!:
Total BMX:
Bicycles and Dirt:
Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:
Moto Mag:
BMX World:
Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL publication under two names):
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA publication under three names):
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990–2003. His nicknames are "The Flying Dutchman" in reference to his speed and his nationality and "Afro-Bob" because of his long wild, uncombed hair. He was chosen for the Dutch BMX Olympic team to participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
games in Beijing, China where he reached the Quarter Finals.
Racing career milestones
----Started Racing: 1982 at five years old. A friend got him into it.
Sanctioning Body:
First race result:
First win (local):
First sponsor:
First national win:
Turned Professional: January 1999 at 21 years old. During 1999 and prior de Wilde was one of only three total pros Europe ever had (Dylan Clayton and Wilco Groenendaal were the other two) due to the nature of racing rules with the European sanctioning bodies at the time, which did not permit a full pro class in which an unlimited amount of money can be earned by the racer at a race.
First Professional race result (Holland/Europe):
First Professional race result (US):
First Professional win (Holland/Europe):
First Professional win (US):
First Junior Pro* win (Holland/Europe):
First Junior Pro* win (US):
First Senior Pro** race result (Holland/Europe):
First Senior Pro** race result (US):
First Senior Pro win (Holland/Europe):
First Senior Pro win (US):
Retired: Still active.
Height & weight at height of his career (1999–2006): Ht:6'2" Wt:215 lbs.
Amateur/Junior Men
- GT (Gary Turner) Bicycles (European Division)/Chevy: January 1994 -October 2001. De Wilde would turn pro (at least in the US) with this sponsor.
Professional/Elite Men
- GT Bicycles(European Division)/Chevy: January 1994-October 2001
- Giant Bicycles: Late December 2001- De Wilde's public debut on the new Giant team was the 2001 NBL Christmas Classic national on December 27, 2001.
- Staats Bicycles/Troy Lee Designs/Maxxis: January 2004-June 27, 2006. De Wilde says in his blog he left Staats the Tuesday before the NBL Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
nationals. - Troy Lee Designs/Maxxis July 1, 2006-October 3, 2006. Troy Lee Designs and Maxxis were his primary sponsors between Staats and Redline.
- Redline Bicycles/Troy Lee Designs/Maxxis: October 3, 2006–Present. De Wilde is under contract with Redline Bicycles (now owned by the Accell Group, a Dutch company) through 2008 and will race the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing, China sponsored by Redline.
Amateur/Junior Men
- 1990,'92,'93,'94,'95,'98 Dutch National champion.
Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU)
Nederlandse Fietscross Federatie (NFF)
National Bicycle League (NBL)
- None
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
- 1995, 1999 World Cup Champion
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
- None
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
- 1993 16 boys World Champion
- 1994 17 Junior Bronze Medal World Champion
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
- 1995 Junior Men World Cup Champion
Professional/Elite Men
Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU)Nederlandse Fietscross Federatie (NFF)
National Bicycle League
National Bicycle League
The National Bicycle League is a United States based Bicycle Motocross sports sanctioning body originally based in Deerfield Beach, Florida but after several moves it was based in Hilliard, Ohio...
(NBL)
American Bicycle Association
American Bicycle Association
The American Bicycle Association is a United States-based Bicycle Motocross sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona created by Merl Mennenga and Gene Roden in 1977. It is the largest sanctioning body in the United States concerning BMX. It has tracks in Canada and Mexico as well as in the USA...
(ABA)
- 2001 "AA" Pro World Champion
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
The United States Bicycle Association was a short lived Bicycle Motocross national sanctioning body based in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in March 1984 by five former members of the American Bicycle Association : Rich Mann, Dave Cook, Geoff Sims, Steve Schaefer and Rod Keeling, who became the...
(USBA)
- None
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
- None
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
- None
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
- 1999 Elite Men World Champion
- 1999 Elite Men World Cup Champion
- 1999 Elite Men European Champion
- 2000 Elite Men European Champion
- 2005 Elite Men Supercross Champion
- 2005 Elite Men Pan Pacific Champion
- 2007 20" UCi Series Champion
International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
(IOC)
- Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008 Summer Olympics)
- Dutch National BMX Teammates: Rob van den WildenbergRob van den WildenbergRob van den Wildenberg is a Dutch BMX racer.Van den Wildenberg reached his first podium spot at a BMX World Cup meeting in the 2005/06 season when he won the bronze medal in Reutlingen. One season later he won a double silver medal in Kampen and in the 2007/08 season he won his second career...
, Raymon van der BiezenRaymon van der BiezenRaymon van der Biezen is a Dutch BMX racer.Van der Biezen reached the semi final of the 2008 World Championship in Taiyuan, China.He qualified himself for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.-References:...
, Lieke KlausLieke KlausLieke Klaus is a Dutch BMX racer.Klaus reached her first podium spot at a BMX World Cup meeting in 2007 when she won the bronze medal in Victoria, Canada...
. - Location: Beijing, China
- Number of competitors: 32
- Positions:
- Event Results Wednesday August 20
- Men's First Seeding Run‡: 36.803sec.
- Men's Second Seeding Run: 50.268sec.
- Seconds behind leader: +1.111 (23rd place).
- Seeding Run leader: Mike DayMike DayMicheal Day is a professional American "Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years are from 2002–Present. His nickname is a play on a common phrase...
- De Wilde advances to Quarterfinals†
- Men's Quarter Finals (Overall after three motos of Run 3): 7th place; did not qualify for Semi Final*.
- Event Results Thursday August 21
- Postponed due to rain. Rescheduled.
- Event Results Friday August 22
- Men's Semi Finals*: DNQ
- Men's Final (Medal Round): DNQ
- Bronze medalBronze medalA bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
winner: Donny RobinsonDonny RobinsonDonald Robinson is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. His moniker is "dR", his initials. The use of the lowercase "d" for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size...
- Silver medalSilver medalA silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
winner: Mike DayMike DayMicheal Day is a professional American "Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years are from 2002–Present. His nickname is a play on a common phrase...
- Gold medalGold medalA gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
winner:** Māris ŠtrombergsMaris ŠtrombergsMāris Štrombergs is a Latvian professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships....
Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships
Significant injuries
- Broke elbow a the UCI World Championships in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
in July 2001. He crashed on the second jump in the first straight being laid up, he missed the X-Games as a result. - Broke collar bone at the UCI World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the weekend of July 30, 2006
Racing traits and habits
- Doesn't comb or at least mat down his hair after he removes his helmet, resulting in a phenomenon called "helmet/hat hair" in which the hair on a person's head becomes either severely tussled or conversely molded into the shape of the headwear after wearing that headwear for an extended period of time. De Wilde's habit of not attending to hair care after removing his helmet and it being severely tussled as a result led to his moniker of "Afro Bob", a reference to the "AfroAfroAfro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
" style of "hairdo" that was popular with people of African descent, particularly during the 1970s (it has made something of a comeback in recent years). Image of his hair
BMX press magazine interviews and articles
- "Robert de Wilde" Transworld BMX April 2003 Vol.10 Iss.4 No.78 pg.70
BMX magazine covers
----Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
- None
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
- None
BMX Plus!:
Total BMX:
- None
Bicycles and Dirt:
- None
Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:
Moto Mag:
- None
BMX World:
- August/September 2006 Vol.1 Iss.5 (77) ahead of Kyle BennettKyle BennettKyle Bennett is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer and Dirt Jumper whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. He has the moniker "Butter" for his smooth riding style...
(67) Jerrett Kolich (198) and Greg Romero (100)
Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL publication under two names):
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA publication under three names):
External links
- The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
- The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
- The Dutch sanctioning body Nederlandse Fietscross Federatie (NFF) Website.
- The Dutch sanctioning body Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU) Website.
- "BMX and More!!", a Dutch English/Dutch language BMX News site.
- Maxxis racer profile.
- Robert de Wilde's personal Website.
- EXPN.com mini bio.