More than 50 years ago, we experienced a dramatic day. World champion Jean-Pierre Monseré crashed in the Grand Prix of Retie on 15 March 1971, he was only 22.
A few days after Milan - Sanremo, Jean-Pierre " Jempi" Monsere still took the start in Retie, which was not actually on his schedule. Then tragedy struck: halfway through the race, the 22-year-old world champion dropped to last place in the leading group. He looks back and crashes into a parked car. Monseré, who grabbed the world title in Leicester seven months earlier, does not survive the impact.
Close friend Roger De Vlaeminck is in the leading group that day. "That was such a strange hit. We all slammed on our brakes and turned back. When we saw Jean-Pierre lying on the ground, we immediately realised it wasn't good. We all got tears in our eyes..."
Five years later, fate strikes again at the Monseré home. Giovanni dies in almost identical way to his father. In a rainbow jersey (and on the racing bike he had received for his first communion), Jempi's 7-year-old son was hit by a car in Rumbeke ( municipality of Roeselare).
