Wilma van der Wal

Wilma van der Wal at the 1958 World Championships in Reims

Wilma van der Wal (1933-2023) was a Dutch road and track cyclist from Amsterdam. She was one of the first women's road bicycle racers of the Netherlands.

She competed in 1958 at the first UCI Road World Championships for women. She competed in the women's road race event in Reims. She also competed at the 1958 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Paris. Van der Wal started on an international license and did not compete for the Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU).

Van der Wal began cycling competitively in France in 1953. The Netherlands did not have women’s races at that time. When the Women's Cycling Club (Antwerpse Vrouwelijke Wieler Club) was formed in Antwerp, Belgium in 1958, she became a member of that club. With the club, she competed in competitions in Great Britain.

After her career, in 1965, she married French-Tunesian sculptor Abdel Ménara and became a French teacher in Amsterdam. She died on 23 August 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Wilma van der Wal". Het Parool. 1958-02-08.
  2. ↑ "Else Jacobs". Nieuwe Tilburgsche courant. 1958-01-09.
  3. ↑ "Amsterdamse wielrenster naar Reims en Parijs". De Volkskrant. 1958-08-29.
  4. ↑ "Ineke van IJken won in 1965 het eerste NK wielrennen voor vrouwen". sportgeschiedenis.nl. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  5. ↑ Benjamin de Bruijn. "In memoriam: Wilma van der Wal droeg haar eigenwijsheid als een schild". Het is koers. Retrieved 2023-08-25.

Other websites