The Maertens bike was built by Ugo DeRosa. (Heart at the bottom bracket lug and "DeRosa" stamped into the top of the seat stays.) In Freddy's eloquent words, the top of the line Flandria stock frame the team was obligated to ride was "ultimate s**t." The frames he obtained from DeRosa were painted and decaled after normal business hours at the Flandria factory which was near to his home. Since DeRosa got no publicity for his efforts, Freddy had to pay for the frames out of his own pocket.
Freddy relayed a humorous story about the "clandestine" DeRosa frames. One day he received a call from the big boss at Flandria, Mr. Claes. He was instructed to go to the factory offices straight away. Being a good soldier, Freddy was there in a flash. He was ushered into Mr. Claes' office, where he noticed two of his DeRosa frames (now painted and decaled Flandria) sitting next to the desk of the big boss.
Claes said nothing. He stared at Freddy for a few minutes, reached into his desk, and pulled out a hacksaw. With a barrage of obscenities directed at Freddy, he sawed through the top tube and seat tube of both frames.
I asked Freddy if that changed things. Freddy said, "yes". However, there was no way he was going to be caught dead riding the stock Flandia frame. Instead, from that point on he made sure the frame painting to the DeRosa frames was done when the boss was out of town!
Brett Horton San Francisco, CA
<<Can you say what make is your Freddy Maertens bike? A. Claes, Flandria, built by whom?
best wishes,
David Perry
Bike Works, New York City
G.S. Pergolizzi>>