At the start of his cycling career Staf Hermans won several junior and amateur races in his native Belgium before becoming a world champion. In 1971 Hermans, along with Staf Van Cauter, Louis Verreydt, and Ludo Van Der Linden, won gold in the team time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland. With further consistent results at home Hermans earned himself a place on the Olympic team for the 1972 München Games. The Belgian quartet of Hermans, Van Cauter, Verreydt, and Ludo Delcroix finished fourth in the team time trial. The Dutch team initially finished third, but were later disqualified when Aad van den Hoek failed a doping test. As the Belgians, however, had not been subjected to doping controls, no bronze medal was awarded. Hermans turned professional in 1973, riding for the German team Rokado, but had little success, retiring from the sport in 1975.
Belgium