Brussels Cycling Classic

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The Brussels Cycling Classic (English, German: Brussels cycling classic; until 2012: Paris – Brussels , nld .: Parijs – Brussel , French: Paris – Bruxelles ) is one of the oldest classic one-day races in cycling that still exists today . The race, which originally ran from Paris to Brussels, took place for the first time in 1893 and has been held annually since 1906 with a few interruptions.

The Paris – Brussels race was held at the end of April until 1966, and it was considered one of the most important spring classics in cycling. After a break of six years, the race resumed in 1973 and has been held in September ever since. Today the race is considered a "semi-classic" and is classified by the UCI World Cycling Association in the "1.HC" category , the highest category below the UCI WorldTour .

The length of the race has been shortened over the years: in the beginning it was well over 400 km long, in 1987 it was still around 300 km and is now held over around 200 km. Therefore, the start from Paris – Brussels no longer took place in Paris, but in the meantime around 85 km northeast in Soissons . After the start was moved to Brussels in 2013, the race bears its current name.

The record winner of the race, which has long been dominated by Belgians, is Australian Robbie McEwen (2002, 2005-08) with five successes . The French Octave Lapize (1911-13) and the Belgian Félix Sellier (1922-24) follow with three wins each . The German winners are Rolf Gölz in 1988, André Greipel in 2013 and 2014 and Pascal Ackermann in 2018.

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