Tour of Flanders

This is the page about the Tour of Flanders. Known as "Flanders' Finest," it has been a part of the cycling calendar for over a century and is considered the most important bike race of the year in Belgium.

History of the Tour of Flanders

The Tour of Flanders has existed for more than a hundred years, having been first held in 1913. Initially, it was just a promotional event to sell newspapers, but after the war, the image of the Belgian classic quickly expanded beyond its original scope. Many international riders were drawn to the Flemish cobbles, and the Tour detached itself from being held on the same day as Milan-San Remo. Previously, many classics specialists had opted for the Italian one-day race, but they no longer had to choose. The Tour of Flanders swiftly became part of the important cycling rankings and, as of 2020, is recognized as a monument on the WorldTour calendar, alongside Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Tour of Lombardy.

Most victories in the Tour of Flanders

The Tour of Flanders is a challenging race of over 200 kilometers, featuring Flemish climbs, cobbles, sometimes incredibly bad weather, and thus many great riders on its honor roll. The names range from real cobblestone enthusiasts to the lighter climbers, who have been gaining more traction in the Flemish landscape in recent years. This has led to the climbs in the final increasingly becoming decisive for the race outcome.

3 victories: Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw, Tom Boonen, and Fabian Cancellara. 2 victories: Mathieu van der Poel, Gerard Debaets, Romain Gijssels, Briek Schotte, Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik Van Looy, Walter Godefroot, Eddy Merckx, Jan Raas, Edwig Van Hooydonck, Peter Van Petegem, and Stijn Devolder.

Recent winners of the Tour of Flanders

2023 Tadej Pogacar
2022 Mathieu van der Poel
2021 Kasper Asgreen
2020 Mathieu van der Poel
2019 Alberto Bettiol
2018 Niki Terpstra
2017 Philippe Gilbert
2016 Peter Sagan
2015 Alexander Kristoff