Jean Aerts (1907-1992) was a brilliant cyclist born in Laken near Brussels. He was the first man to win both the world amateur (1927) and professional (1935) road race championships. In 1927, the professionals and amateurs rode concurrently at the Nurburgring in Germany and Aerts finished 5th overall, but was the highest ranked amateur.
He was an excellent sprinter which helped in the world championships but he lacked the climbing ability to be a factor in the major tours. He used his sprinting ability to win 11 stages of the Tour de France, including six in 1933, but even then his climbing kept his finish down to only 9th place. He won the Paris-Brussels race in 1931.