E3 Saxo Bank Classic
The E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (English: E3 Prize Flanders) is a single day semi classic cycling race which takes place in the Flanders area of Belgium. The race starts and finishes in the town of Harelbeke and is contested over a distance of approximately 210 kilometres. The event is organised by the Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke and is ranked 1.HC on the UCI Continental calendar. The E3 takes place on a Saturday in mid March and marks the start of the Vlaamse Wielerweek, a week of classic cycling which continues with the Brabantse Pijl on the Sunday and the Driedaagse van De Panne stage race midweek before culminating in the Ronde van Vlaanderen classic on the following Sunday.
The first official edition of the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen took place in 1958 although there had been similar events in the Harelbeke area since 1955. In the early days the event was known as Harelbeke-Anvers-Harelbeke and has also been known as the Grand Prix E3 Harelbeke. The race took its name from the E3 motorway which was built in the mid sixties. The E3 classic is seen as an ideal preparation for the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which takes place the following weekend. The route is similar, although shorter but many of the same climbs are tackled. The racing conditions are also comparable, as the cobbles, wind and climbs tend to decimate the bunch. The route takes in a large lap around East Flanders including twelve hills.
The race starts from Harelbeke's Grote Markt and travels in an easterly direction, the first 110 kilometres are mostly flat although there are some cobbled sections around the towns of Oudenaarde and Zottegem. The riders reach the most easterly point of the event at Ninove after 85 kilometres and after swinging back westerly and going through the towns of Geraardsbergen and Brakel the tough part of the race begins with a steady succession of short, sharp climbs some of which are cobbled as the race loops around the area between the towns of Ronse and Oudenaarde. The twelve hills in the order that they are ascended are La Houppe, Berg Stene, Boigneberg, Eikenberg, Stationsberg, Taaienberg, Oude Kruikens, Kapelberg, Patersberg, Oude Kwaremont, Knokteberg and Tiegemberg. The Patersberg is a cobbled 500 metres long climb that averages a very steep 12.5% while the Oude Kwaremont is cobbled for 1500 metres of it 2200 metres length although its gradient only averages 4.2%. The final climb of the Tiegemberg is 16 kilometres from the finish in Harelbeke by which time a small group has usually escaped from the bunch.
The record for the most wins in the E3 Prijs stands at four to Belgian classics specialist Rik Van Looy, he won in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1969 and Tom Boonen who won four consecutive wins in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Dutchman Jan Raas took three wins on the trot in 1979, 1980 and 1981 after finishing second in 1978. Andrei Tchmil and Johan Museeuw have both won twice. The fastest edition of the race was run in 2003 when Dutchman Steven De Jongh won at an average speed of 45.9 kilometres per hour.
With a ranking of 1.HC the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen is a top ranked race on the UCI Europe Tour. Race president Bart Ottevaere has stated that he would like to see the event step up to become part of the ProTour in the future, however this is dependent on the UCI and whether it plans to expand the ProTour calendar.
Winners since 1980
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