Tour of Flanders

Tour of Flanders
Local name:Ronde van Vlaanderen
Region:Flanders, Belgium
Date:Early April
Type:One-day race
History
First Edition:1913
Number of Editions:89
First Winner:Paul Deman, (Belgium)
Most Wins:Achiel Buysse, (Belgium), Fiorenzo Magni (Italy), Eric Leman, (Belgium) and Johan Museeuw (Belgium), 3 times

The Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen) 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 Road Cycling World Cup. It is now part of the UCI ProTour and is regarded as one of the 'Monuments' of the European professional cycling calendar.

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 to be the most important race in Flanders, where road cycling is very popular. The nickname of the race is Vlaanderens mooiste, or "Flanders's most beautiful".

The course of the race 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, de Ronde's inclusion of many steep, and often cobbled, short hills make racing very different compared to the flat Paris-Roubaix.

The most famous climb is arguably the Koppenberg climb, where the steep grade, narrow pass and (previously) poor cobblestone conditions have forced many racers to climb it on foot instead of on their bikes. An incident in 1987 where Jesper Skibby -- who was leading the race at this point and was followed by the race official's car -- fell over due to loss of momentum and was almost crushed by official's car, put a stop to the inclusion of this climb until 2003 when it was extensively repaired. It should be noted that while Skibby's foot wasn't crushed by the car, his bicycle was.

The day before the actual race sees the cyclosportif (open) race version of de Ronde where amateur cyclists regularly participate in large numbers.

Tour of Flanders Winners (since 1950)
Year Winner Nationality
1950Fiorenzi MagniItaly
1951Fiorenzi MagniItaly
1952Roger DecockBelgium
1953Wim van EstNetherlands
1954Raymond ImpanisBelgium
1955Louison BobetFrance
1956Jean ForestierFrance
1957Fred De BruyneBelgium
1958Germain DeryckeBelgium
1959Rik Van LooyBelgium
1960Arthur DecabooterBelgium
1961Tom SimpsonUnited Kingdom
1962Rik Van LooyBelgium
1963Noël ForéBelgium
1964Rudi AltigWest Germany
1965Jo de RooNetherlands
1966Edward SelsBelgium
1967Dino ZandeguItaly
1968Walter GodefrootBelgium
1969Eddy MerckxBelgium
1970Eric LemanBelgium
1971Evert DolmanNetherlands
1972Eric LemanBelgium
1973Eric LemanBelgium
1974Cees BalNetherlands
1975Eddy MerckxBelgium
1976Walter PlanckaertBelgium
1977Roger De VlaeminckBelgium
1978Walter GodefrootBelgium
1979Jan RaasNetherlands
1980Michel PollentierBelgium
1981Hennie KuiperNetherlands
1982René MartensBelgium
1983Jan RaasNetherlands
1984Johan LammertsNetherlands
1985Eric VanderaerdenBelgium
1986Adrie van der PoelNetherlands
1987Claude CriquelionBelgium
1988Eddy PlanckaertBelgium
1989Edwig Van HooydonckBelgium
1990Moreno ArgentinItaly
1991Edwig Van HooydonckBelgium
1992Jacky DurandFrance
1993Johan MuseeuwBelgium
1994Gianni BugnoItaly
1995Johan MuseeuwBelgium
1996Michele BartoliItaly
1997Rolf SørensenDenmark
1998Johan MuseeuwBelgium
1999Peter Van PetegemBelgium
2000Andrei TchmilBelgium
2001Gianluca BortolamiItaly
2002Andrea TafiItaly
2003Peter Van PetegemBelgium
2004Steffen WesemanGermany
2005Tom BoonenBelgium

External link

de:Flandern-Rundfahrt es:Tour_de_Flandes it:Giro delle Fiandre nl:Ronde van Vlaanderen fr:Tour des Flandres

Navigation

  • Art and Cultures
    • Art (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Art)
    • Architecture (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Architecture)
    • Cultures (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Cultures)
    • Music (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Music)
    • Musical Instruments (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/List_of_musical_instruments)
  • Biographies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Biographies)
  • Clipart (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Clipart)
  • Geography (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Geography)
    • Countries of the World (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Countries)
    • Maps (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Maps)
    • Flags (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Flags)
    • Continents (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Continents)
  • History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History)
    • Ancient Civilizations (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Ancient_Civilizations)
    • Industrial Revolution (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Industrial_Revolution)
    • Middle Ages (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Middle_Ages)
    • Prehistory (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Prehistory)
    • Renaissance (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Renaissance)
    • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
    • United States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/United_States)
    • Wars (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Wars)
    • World History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History_of_the_world)
  • Human Body (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Human_Body)
  • Mathematics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Mathematics)
  • Reference (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Reference)
  • Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Science)
    • Animals (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Animals)
    • Aviation (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Aviation)
    • Dinosaurs (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dinosaurs)
    • Earth (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Earth)
    • Inventions (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Inventions)
    • Physical Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Physical_Science)
    • Plants (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Plants)
    • Scientists (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Scientists)
  • Social Studies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Social_Studies)
    • Anthropology (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Anthropology)
    • Economics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Economics)
    • Government (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Government)
    • Religion (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Religion)
    • Holidays (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Holidays)
  • Space and Astronomy
    • Solar System (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Solar_System)
    • Planets (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Planets)
  • Sports (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Sports)
  • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
  • Weather (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Weather)
  • US States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/US_States)

Information

  • Home Page (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php)
  • Contact Us (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Contactus)

  • Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com)
Toolbox
Personal tools