Tour of Flanders

Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw

Tour of Flanders
Local name:	Ronde van Vlaanderen
Region:	Flanders, Belgium
Date:	Early April
Type:	One-day race
colspan="2" bgcolor=darkred>History
First Edition:	1913
Number of Editions:	89
Firstwinner:	Paul Deman
Mostwins: 3 times:
Mostrecent:	Alessandro Ballan

The Ronde van Vlaanderen (English: Tour of Flanders) is a road cycling race held in Flanders, Belgium. It is held every spring, exactly one week before Paris-Roubaix, and it used to be part of the UCI Road World Cup. It is now part of the UCI ProTour and is regarded as one of the 'Monuments' of the European professional cycling calendar.

History

File:Wesemann rvv2004.jpg

German road racer Steffen Wesemann climbing the Muur (wall) of Geraardsbergen in the 2004 edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

The race was initiated in 1913 by Karel van Wijnendaele, a former cyclist. Initially not a big success, the race was interrupted by World War I, but continued in 1919. In the 1920s and 1930s, the race became more popular, and is currently considered the most important race in Flanders, where road cycling is extremely popular. The nickname of the race is Vlaanderens mooiste, or "Flanders's finest". The town of Oudenaarde, through which the Ronde habitually passes, has a museum - the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen - dedicated to the race.

Course

The course contains many steep hills, often paved with cobblestones. While it is often compared to the Paris-Roubaix race in that both contain many cobbled sections, the Ronde's inclusion of many steep, and often cobbled, short hills make racing different compared to the flat Paris-Roubaix, where cobbled sections are harder and more technical.

The route does not change much from year-to-year. A major change was the inclusion of the steep Koppenberg climb in 2003, having been refurbished from its previous disrepair. The 2007 edition saw another change with the Koppenberg being dropped once more, the inclusion of the Kluisberg and the Côte de Trieu, which were unavailable through roadworks in past years and the first ascent of the Eikenmolen. Spectators try to watch the Ronde pass as many points as possible [1].

Comments

Belgian cyclist Roger De Vlaeminck riding the Koppenberg in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. De Vlaeminck won the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1977.

• "Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." -Andrea Tafi

Few riders have won both the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix in the same year:

1. 1923 Heiri Suter
2. 1932 Romain Gijssels
3. 1934 Gaston Rebry
4. 1954 Raymond Impanis
5. 1957 Fred De Bruyne
6. 1962 Rik van Looy
7. 1977 Roger De Vlaeminck
8. 2003 Peter van Petegem
9. 2005 Tom Boonen

The day before the race sees the cyclosportive (open) race version of the Ronde in which amateur cyclists participate in large numbers.

Winners

Rider Team 1913 Template:Country data BEL Paul Deman 1914 Template:Country data BEL Marcel Buysse 1915 No race 1916 No race 1917 No race 1918 No race 1919 Template:Country data BEL Henri van Lerberghe 1920 Template:Country data BEL Jules van Hevel 1921 Template:Country data BEL René Vermandel 1922 Template:Country data BEL Léon De Vos 1923 Template:Country data SUI Heiri Suter 1924 Template:Country data BEL Gérard Debaets 1925 Template:Country data BEL Julien Delbecque 1926 Template:Country data BEL Denis Verschueren 1927 Template:Country data BEL Gérard Debaets 1928 Template:Country data BEL Jan Mertens 1929 Template:Country data BEL Jef Dervaes 1930 Template:Country data BEL Frans Bonduel 1931 Template:Country data BEL Romain Gijssels 1932 Template:Country data BEL Romain Gijssels 1933 Template:Country data BEL Alfons Schepers 1934 Template:Country data BEL Gaston Rebry 1935 Template:Country data BEL Louis Duerloo 1936 Template:Country data BEL Louis Hardiquest 1937 Template:Country data BEL Michel D'Hooghe 1938 Template:Country data BEL Edgard de Caluwé 1939 Template:Country data BEL Karel Kaers 1940 Template:Country data BEL Achiel Buysse 1941 Template:Country data BEL Achiel Buysse 1942 Template:Country data BEL Briek Schotte 1943 Template:Country data BEL Achiel Buysse 1944 Template:Country data BEL Rik van Steenbergen 1945 Template:Country data BEL Sylvain Grysolle 1946 Template:Country data BEL Rik van Steenbergen 1947 Template:Country data BEL Emiel Faignaert 1948 Template:Country data BEL Briek Schotte 1949 Template:Country data ITA Fiorenzo Magni 1950 Template:Country data ITA Fiorenzo Magni 1951 Template:Country data ITA Fiorenzo Magni 1952 Template:Country data BEL Roger Decock 1953 Template:Country data NED Wim van Est 1954 Template:Country data BEL Raymond Impanis 1955 Template:Country data FRA Louison Bobet 1956 Template:Country data FRA Jean Forestier 1957 Template:Country data BEL Fred De Bruyne 1958 Template:Country data BEL Germain Derijcke 1959 Template:Country data BEL Rik van Looy 1960 Template:Country data BEL Arthur De Cabooter

Rider Team 1961 Template:Country data GBR Tom Simpson 1962 Template:Country data BEL Rik van Looy 1963 Template:Country data FRA Noel Foré 1964 Template:Country data GER Rudi Altig 1965 Template:Country data NED Jo De Roo Template:Country data NED Televizier 1966 Template:Country data BEL Edward Sels Template:Country data BEL Solo Superia 1967 Template:Country data ITA Dino Zandegu Template:Country data ITA Salvarani 1968 Template:Country data BEL Walter Godefroot Template:Country data BEL Flandria 1969 Template:Country data BEL Eddy Merckx Template:Country data BEL Faema 1970 Template:Country data BEL Eric Leman Template:Country data BEL Flandria-Mars 1971 Template:Country data NED Evert Dolman Template:Country data BEL Flandria 1972 Template:Country data BEL Eric Leman Template:Country data FRA Bic 1973 Template:Country data BEL Eric Leman Template:Country data FRA Peugeot (cycling team) 1974 Template:Country data NED Kees Bal Template:Country data FRA Gan Mercier 1975 Template:Country data BEL Eddy Merckx Template:Country data ITA Molteni 1976 Template:Country data BEL Walter Planckaert Template:Country data BEL Mars Pils 1977 Template:Country data BEL Roger De Vlaeminck Template:Country data BEL Brooklyn 1978 Template:Country data BEL Walter Godefroot Template:Country data BEL Ijsboerke 1979 Template:Country data NED Jan Raas Template:Country data NED TI Raleigh 1980 Template:Country data BEL Michel Pollentier Template:Country data BEL Splendor Admiral 1981 Template:Country data NED Hennie Kuiper Template:Country data BEL DAF Trucks 1982 Template:Country data BEL René Martens Template:Country data BEL DAF Trucks 1983 Template:Country data NED Jan Raas Template:Country data NED TI Raleigh 1984 Template:Country data NED Johan Lammerts Template:Country data NED Panasonic Raleigh 1985 Template:Country data BEL Eric Vanderaerden Template:Country data NED Panasonic-Raleigh 1986 Template:Country data NED Adri van der Poel Template:Country data NED Kwantum 1987 Template:Country data BEL Claude Criquielion Template:Country data BEL Hitachi Marc Rossin 1988 Template:Country data BEL Eddy Planckaert Template:Country data BEL AD Renting 1989 Template:Country data BEL Edwig van Hooydonck Template:Country data NED Superconflex 1990 Template:Country data ITA Moreno Argentin Template:Country data ITA Ariostea 1991 Template:Country data BEL Edwig van Hooydonck Template:Country data NED Buckler Colnago 1992 Template:Country data FRA Jacky Durand Template:Country data FRA Castorama 1993 Template:Country data BEL Johan Museeuw Template:Country data ITA GB-MG 1994 Template:Country data ITA Gianni Bugno Template:Country data ITA Team Polti 1995 Template:Country data BEL Johan Museeuw Template:Country data ITA Mapei (cycling team) 1996 Template:Country data ITA Michele Bartoli Template:Country data ITA MG Maglifico 1997 Template:Country data DEN Rolf Sørensen Template:Country data NED Rabobank 1998 Template:Country data BEL Johan Museeuw Template:Country data ITA Mapei (cycling team) 1999 Template:Country data BEL Peter van Petegem Template:Country data NED TVM Farm Frites 2000 Template:Country data BEL Andrei Tchmil Template:Country data BEL Lotto-Adecco 2001 Template:Country data ITA Gianluca Bortolami Template:Country data ITA Vini Caldirola 2002 Template:Country data ITA Andrea Tafi Template:Country data ITA Mapei (cycling team) 2003 Template:Country data BEL Peter van Petegem Template:Country data BEL Lotto-Domo 2004 Template:Country data GER Steffen Wesemann Template:Country data GER T-Mobile Team 2005 Template:Country data BEL Tom Boonen Template:Country data BEL Quick Step 2006 Template:Country data BEL Tom Boonen Template:Country data BEL Quick Step-Innergetic 2007 Template:Country data ITA Alessandro Ballan Template:Country data ITA Lampre-Fondital

External links

• The official Ronde van Vlaanderen website
• Cyclosportive - ride the course the day before
• The Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen website - available in English

Ronde van Vlaanderen