Ronde van Vlaanderen

Infobox cycling race
name = Ronde van Vlaanderen
current_event =


date = Early April
region = Flanders, Belgium
english = Tour of Flanders
localnames = Ronde van Vlaanderen nl icon
nickname = De Ronde
discipline = Road
competition = UCI ProTour
type = Monument one-day race
organiser =
director =
first = 1913
number = 92 (as of 2008)
last =
firstwinner = flagicon|BEL Paul Deman
mostwins = "3 times:"
flagicon|BEL Achiel Buysse
flagicon|ITA Fiorenzo Magni
flagicon|BEL Eric Leman
flagicon|BEL Johan Museeuw
mostrecent = flagicon|BEL Stijn DevolderThe 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. It is currently considered the most important cycling race in Flanders. The nickname of the race is "Vlaanderens mooiste" (Dutch for "Flanders's finest").

History

The race was initiated in 1913 by Karel van Wijnendaele, a former cyclist. He cooperated on the creation of the Sportwereld newspaper and wanted a Flemish race to rival Liège-Bastogne-Liège of the Wallonia region of Belgium. [ [http://cyclingnews.co.nz/features/?id=2006/woodland_flanders The essence of 'de Ronde'] ] Initially not a big success, the race had a length of 330 kilometres and only 37 race cyclists participated and the following year there were only 10 left. The race was interrupted by World War I, but continued in 1919. In the 1920s and 1930s, the race became more popular as hills like Oude Kwaremont were included in the course. In 1923, Heiri Suter was the first foreign winner of the tour. [ [http://www.rvv.be/2008/eng/historiek/ontstaan.html The start - The Tour of Flanders (De Ronde Van Vlaanderen) 2008] ]

The race was originally held 14 days before Easter but this was often the same day as Milan-Sanremo. Later on it was organized one week later, just before Paris-Roubaix. In 1947 the season-long Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was created as a road bicycle racing competition including the most important cycling races. Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen became the cobbled classic of the North. [ [http://www.rvv.be/2008/eng/historiek/groei.html The start - The Tour of Flanders (De Ronde Van Vlaanderen) 2008] ]

The town of Oudenaarde, through which the Ronde habitually passes, has a museum - the "Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen" - dedicated to the race.

Course

Comments

*"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 [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2003/apr03/apr02news2 Tafi still not right - Latest News for April 2, 2003] ]

Winners

Victories per country

References

External links

*Official|http://www.rvv.be
* [http://www.sport.be/cyclingtour/rondevanvlaanderen/2008/eng/ Cyclosportive - ride the course the day before]
* [http://www.rvv.be/en/museum The Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen website en icon]