Tour of Flanders
The Tour of Flanders ( "De Ronde van Vlaanderen", "Vlaanderens mooiste" ) is the most popular one-day race in Belgium . It is counted among the classics and the five monuments of cycling .
After his victory at the Tour de France in 1912 , Odiel Defraeye convinced the Belgian publisher of Sportwereld , Karel Van Wijnendaele , to organize his own tour based on their example: the first Tour of Flanders started in 1913.
The "Ronde" takes place every year at the beginning of April, exactly one week before Paris – Roubaix . The race was part of the cycling World Cup , which was abolished after the 2004 season, and between 2005 and 2010 it belonged to the UCI ProTour , a newly introduced series of the most important cycling races of the year, and since 2011 to the successor series UCI WorldTour .
The race is also held in various other classes. The women's race was added to the calendar of the newly launched UCI Women's WorldTour in 2016 .
history
The one-day race , which now leads from the Grote Markt in Bruges through the cycling-crazy Flemish part of Belgium , was first started in 1913. As the Tour de France was initiated by the journalist Henri Desgrange from L'Auto magazine , it was in this case the journalist Karel Van Wijnendaele from the Flemish sports magazine Sportwereld who came up with the idea for the Tour of Flanders . The current occasion was the victory of the first Belgian on the tour, Odiel Defraeye , in 1912.
The Belgian Paul Deman was the first winner of the Tour of Flanders . Not very successful at first and interrupted by World War I, it became more popular in the 1920s and 1930s. While around half of the route in Flanders consisted of non-asphalted paths until the 1950s due to the inadequate road construction, today there is more of a problem of finding cobblestone stretches at all. Today the “Ronde” is the most important race in Flanders and, together with Liège – Bastogne – Liège and the Flèche Wallonne, the most important in Belgium.
The nickname of the race is Vlaanderens mooiste ( the most beautiful of Flanders ). The countless Flemish fans make the Ronde the largest folk festival in Belgium every year. In Oudenaarde there is a museum about the history of the tour.
In 2020 the race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Instead there was a virtual tour of Flanders with 13 drivers, won by Greg Van Avermaet . The live broadcast of this event had 600,000 viewers in Belgium alone, corresponding to a market share of 56 percent.
route
From 1973 to 2011, the route of the Tour of Flanders changed little from year to year. After completing the first 150 km on a flat track, the second part of the 250 km long race led through the hilly area of the so-called “ Flemish Ardennes ”, often on narrow paths and over short, steep climbs. This makes this race much more difficult than Paris – Roubaix. From 1973 to 2011 the destination was on Halsesteenweg in Meerbeke . Since the contract with Meerbeke as the destination city expired in 2011, Oudenaarde was selected as the new destination from 2012 . As a result of the new destination, the traditional ascent of the Wall from Geraardsbergen was no longer part of the route until 2016. In 2017 the start changed to Antwerp, so that the "Muur" could be included in the route again, but at a much earlier point in the race. The contract with Antwerp was concluded for 5 years.
Decisive for the outcome of the race are the numerous slipways approached there , short and steep climbs, usually no more than 2 kilometers in length and 60-100 meters difference in altitude, but up to more than 20 percent incline, most of which are not asphalted. The most famous and feared are the Oude Kwaremont , the Koppenberg and the Wall of Geraardsbergen with gradients of up to 20 percent. Up until 2011, 17 slips were regularly crossed on the round, with the Geerardsbergen wall and the Bosberg traditionally being the last obstacles before the finish. From 2012, the Tour of Flanders will be completed by the Hellingen Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg , which have to be crossed three times, before the finish in Oudenaarde.
The "cash desks" (Flemish for cobblestones) regularly coincide with the slipways on the round, which makes the climbs all the more difficult. The only exceptions are the Paddestraat and Mater, each of which is flat, cobblestone-paved passages over two kilometers long.
The Koppenberg (integrated into the route since 1977 at the suggestion of Belgian entrepreneur Paul Hoffmann) was not part of the program from 1988 to 2001 after the cyclist Jesper Skibby was hit by the jury car on the climb in 1987 and then fell. After a thorough overhaul of the cobblestones, the mountain was reintegrated into the route in 2002.
At a press conference at the beginning of November 2006, the organizers of the Flemish “Monument” announced that the Koppenberg would not be used for the next edition on April 8, 2007. They want to prevent a "fiasco" like last time. At the 90th Tour of Flanders in spring 2006, numerous drivers on the Koppenberg had forfeited all their chances of winning. Only about ten riders were able to complete the steep, poisonous cobblestone climb on their bikes, the others had to walk when, as is so often the case, falls blocked the road.
winner
The Italian Fiorenzo Magni , the Swiss Fabian Cancellara and the Belgians Achiel Buysse , Johan Museeuw , Eric Leman and Tom Boonen each have three victories in the Tour of Flanders . The only German winners are Rudi Altig in 1964 and Steffen Wesemann in 2004.
Since 2004 there has also been a women's competition. The women drive the same route from Oudenaarde as the men, but start a few hours before them. The first winner was the Russian Sulphija Chassanovna Sabirova .
On the day before the professional race, there is a version for everyone, in which, in addition to partial routes of 75 or 150 km, the entire original route of approx. 260 km can be completed.
Professionals / elite
Amateurs / U23
- 1936 W. 't Jolijn
- 1937 Roger Dujardin
- 1938 André Declerck
- 1939 Albert Sercu
- 1940–1946 no event
- 1947 Florent Rondelé
- 1948 Roger Decock
- 1949 Valère Mekeirel
- 1950 Joseph Lefèvre
- 1951 A. Deschacht
- 1952 Lucien Victor
- 1953 René Muylle
- 1954 Wim Rusman
- 1955 Arthur De Cabooter
- 1956 Gustaaf De Smet
- 1957 José Denoyette
- 1958 Georges Mortiers
- 1959 Constant (Stanny) Goossens
- 1960 Willy Vanden Berghen
- 1961 Ernest Dumez
- 1962 Edward Sels
- 1963 August Verhaegen
- 1964 not held
- 1965 Jos Boons
- 1966 Gregoire Van Kuyck
- 1967 Valere Vansweevelt
- 1968 André Dierickx
- 1969 Rik Van Linden
- 1970 Marcel Sannen
- 1971 Marc Demeyer
- 1972 Yvan Benaets
- 1973 Marc Meernhout
- 1974 Marcel Van der Slagmolen
- 1975 Eddy Copmans
- 1976 Paul De Keyser
- 1977 Johnny De Nul
- 1978 Patrick Devos
- 1979 Luc Colyn
- 1980 Werner Devos
- 1981 Eric Vanderaerden
- 1982 Noël Segers
- 1983 Frank Verleyen
- 1984 Philippe Deleye
- 1985 Franky Pattyn
- 1986 Edwig Van Hooydonck
- 1987 Marc Assez
- 1988 Eddy Vancraeynest
- 1989 Peter Hoydonckx
- 1990 Wim Sels
- 1991 Nico Desmet
- 1992 Wim Omloop
- 1993 Mario Liboton
- 1994 Ludo Giesberts
- 1995 Johan De Geyter
- 1996 Ludovic Capelle
- 1997 Ludovic Capelle
- 1998 Jurgen Guns
- 1999 Kevin Hulsmans
- 2000 Bobbie Traksel
- 2001 Roy Sentjens
- 2002 Nick Nuyens
- 2003 Wim De Vocht
- 2004 Giovanni Visconti
- 2005 Kenny Dehaes
- 2006 Kevyn Ista
- 2007 Alexandru Pliuşchin
- 2008 Gatis Smukulis
- 2009 Jan Ghyselinck
- 2010 Marko Kump
- 2011 Salvatore Puccio
- 2012 Kenneth Vanbilsen
- 2013 Rick Zabel
- 2014 Dylan Groenewegen
- 2015 Alexander Edmondson
- 2016 David Per
- 2017 Eddie Dunbar
- 2018 James Whelan
- 2019 Andreas Stokbro
- 2020 for Corona pandemic canceled
Women
- 2004 Sulfija Sabirowa
- 2005 Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel
- 2006 Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel
- 2007 Nicole Cooke
- 2008 Judith Arndt
- 2009 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
- 2010 Grace Verbeke
- 2011 Annemiek van Vleuten
- 2012 Judith Arndt
- 2013 Marianne Vos
- 2014 Ellen van Dijk
- 2015 Elisa Longo Borghini
- 2016 Elizabeth Armitstead
- 2017 Coryn Rivera
- 2018 Anna van der Breggen
- 2019 Marta Bastianelli
- 2020 for Corona pandemic canceled
Juniors
- 1975 Benjamin Vermeulen
- 1976 Hugues Cosaert
- 1977 Patrick Vermeulen
- 1978 Daniel Rossel
- 1979 Eric Vanderaerden
- 1980 Willy Boden
- 1981 Pino Cerami
- 1982 Ludwig Van Tittelboom
- 1983 Jan Mattheus
- 1984 Kurt Van Keirsbulck
- 1985 Luc Van Parijs
- 1986 Luc Heuvelmans
- 1987 Carl Roes
- 1988 Claude De Bodt
- 1989 Jo Planckaert
- 1990 Hendrik Van Dijck
- 1991 Koen Dierickx
- 1992 Geert Verdeyen
- 1993 Wilfried Cretskens
- 1994 Dieter Verleyen
- 1995 Wesley Theunis
- 1996 Stijn Devolder
- 1997 Stijn Devolder
- 1998 Jurgen Van Goolen
- 1999 Bill Vandererven
- 2000 Kevin Neirynck
- 2001 Johnny Hoogerland
- 2002 Tom Stamsnijder
- 2003 Erwin Roemans
- 2004 Michiel Van Aelbroeck
- 2005 Jan Ghyselinck
- 2006 Sven Vandousselaere
- 2007 Jens Debusschere
- 2008 Thomas Debrabandere
- 2009 Joeri Stallaert
- 2010 Jef Van Meirhaeghe
- 2011 Martijn Degreve
- 2012 Ricardo van Dongen
- 2013 Jenthe Biermans
- 2014 Aaron Verwilst
- 2015 Pavel Sivakov
- 2016 Timo de Jong
- 2017 Maikel Zijlaard
- 2018 Daniel Årnes
- 2019 William Blume Levy
- 2020 for Corona pandemic canceled
Individual evidence
- ↑ Women's World Tour will replace the World Cup from 2016. radsport-news.com, September 25, 2015, accessed October 24, 2015 .
- ↑ karelvanwijnendaele.com ( Memento of March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch)
- ↑ Because of the corona virus: The death of the bike races. In: wort.lu. March 18, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 .
- ↑ Virtual Tour of Flanders attracts over 600,000 television viewers. In: classic.rad-net.de. April 6, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 .
- ↑ radsport-news.com from September 16, 2011: Tour of Flanders 2012 without the wall from Geraardsbergen
- ↑ radsport-news.com | Tour of Flanders 2017. Accessed March 31, 2017 .
- ↑ cf. The slings of the 98th Tour of Flanders. radsport-news.com, April 6, 2014, accessed April 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Oudenaarde is aankomst Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012
- ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau . Frankfurt am Main April 6, 1987, p. 12 .
- ↑ a b De Ronde 2002. Koppenberg. Tom & Eddy Van Laere, 2002, archived from the original on June 7, 2002 ; Retrieved April 10, 2015 (Dutch).
- ↑ Jesper Skibby - Flandern Rundt 1987. YouTube, August 12, 2011, accessed April 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Koppenberg gone, but Boonen still a Flanders favorite (en)
- ↑ Koppenberg 2006. YouTube, November 11, 2006, accessed April 23, 2020 .
Web links
- Race organization website (Dutch, English, French)