Robert de Wilde

Racing career milestones

Started Racing: 1982 at the age of five years. A friend got him into it.

Sanctioning Body:

First race result:

First win (local):

First sponsor:

First national win:

Turned Professional: January 1999 at the age of 21 years. 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 (Netherlands/Europe):

First Professional race result (US):

First Professional win (Netherlands/Europe):

First Professional win (US):

First Junior Pro* win (Netherlands/Europe):

First Junior Pro* win (US):

First Senior Pro** race result (Netherlands/Europe):

First Senior Pro** race result (US):

First Senior Pro win (Netherlands/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, Pennsylvania 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 Olympics 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 (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

2001 "AA" Pro World Champion

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (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 (IOC)

Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008 Summer Olympics)Dutch National BMX Teammates: Rob van den Wildenberg, Raymon van der Biezen, Lieke Klaus.Location: Beijing, ChinaNumber of competitors: 32Positions:Event Results Wednesday August 20Men's First Seeding Run‡: 36.803sec.Men's Second Seeding Run: 50.268sec.Seconds behind leader: +1.111 (23rd place).Seeding Run leader: Mike Day  United StatesDe 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 21Postponed due to rain. Rescheduled.Event Results Friday August 22Men's Semi Finals*: DNQMen's Final (Medal Round): DNQBronze medal winner: Donny Robinson  United StatesSilver medal winner: Mike Day  United StatesGold medal winner:** Māris Štrombergs  Latvia

Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships

Significant injuries

Broke elbow at the UCI World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky 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 "Afro" 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 Bennett (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):