Retirement
Maertens retired after deciding during a training ride, when he was 35, that he no longer wanted to train in the wind and rain of Flanders. He worked as a salesman after retiring, including in Belgium and Luxembourg for Assos, a Swiss clothing company. He left Assos, he said, when supplies became erratic. He kept a distance from the sport. His weight rose to 100 kg. In 2000 he became curator of the Belgian national cycling museum in Roeselare. Visitors increased 11-fold the following year. He now works at the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders Museum) in Oudenaarde.The bicycle shop "Maertens Sport" in Evergem on the outskirts of Ghent is owned by Freddy's brother Mario.
Read more about this topic: Freddy Maertens
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