Tour of Belgium

Tour of Belgium
Race details
DateLate-May
RegionBelgium
English nameTour of Belgium
Local name(s)Ronde van België (in Dutch)
Tour de Belgique (in French) Baloise Belgium Tour
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI ProSeries
TypeStage race
Race directorJan Nys (Golazo Sports)
Web sitewww.sport.be/baloisebelgiumtour/ Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1908 (1908)
Editions93 (as of 2024)
First winner Lucien Petit-Breton (FRA)
Most wins Tony Martin (GER) (3 wins)
Most recent Søren Wærenskjold (NOR)
Philippe Gilbert as leader in Mechelen, 2010

The Tour of Belgium (Dutch: Ronde van België; French: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries.[1]

It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not organised and none at all from 1991 to 2001. From 2002 onwards the race has again become an annual fixture on the cycling calendar.[2]

Following the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 it looked like the race would merge with the Eneco Tour; however this did not happen and it became part of the UCI Europe Tour competition.

Winners

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Twelve riders have managed to win the Tour of Belgium more than once. The most successful rider is German rider Tony Martin, who won three consecutive editions between 2012 and 2014.

By year

[edit]
Year Country Rider Team
1908  France Lucien Petit-Breton Peugeot–Wolber
1909  France Paul Duboc Alcyon–Dunlop
1910  Belgium Jules Masselis Alcyon–Dunlop
1911  Belgium René Vandenberghe Alcyon–Dunlop
1912  Belgium Odile Defraye Alcyon–Dunlop
1913  Belgium Dieudonné Gauthy Alcyon–Soly
1914  Belgium Louis Mottiat Alcyon–Soly
1915–
1918
No race due to World War I
1919  Belgium Émile Masson Alcyon
1920  Belgium Louis Mottiat Alcyon
1921  Belgium René Vermandel individual
1922  Belgium René Vermandel Alcyon–Dunlop
1923  Belgium Émile Masson Alcyon–Dunlop
1924  Belgium Félix Sellier Alcyon–Dunlop
1925  Belgium Denis Verschueren Wonder
1926  Belgium Jean De Busschere Alcyon–Dunlop
1927  Belgium Paul Matton Armor–Dunlop
1928  Belgium Jules Vanhevel individual
1929  Belgium Armand Van Bruane La Nordiste
1930  Belgium Émile Joly Génial Lucifer
1931  Belgium Maurice De Waele M. Dewaele
1932  Belgium Léon Louyet Génial Lucifer–Hutchinson
1933  Belgium Jean Aerts Alcyon–Dunlop
1934  Belgium François Gardier Depas Cycles
1935  Belgium Joseph Moerenhout Dilecta–Wolber
1936  Belgium Emile Decroix Wolber
1937  Belgium Adolph Braeckeveldt Helyett–Splendor–Hutchinson
1938  Belgium François Neuville Helyett–Hutchinson
1939  Belgium Joseph Somers Helyett–Hutchinson
1940–
1944
No race due to World War II
1945  Belgium Norbert Callens Mercier–Hutchinson
1946  Belgium Albert Ramon Cilo
1947  Belgium Maurice Van Herzele Groene Leeuw
1948  Belgium Stan Ockers Garin–Wolber
1949  Belgium Ernest Sterckx L'Avenir
1950  Belgium Albert Dubuisson Groene Leeuw
1951  Belgium Lucien Mathys Groene Leeuw
1952  Belgium Henri Van Kerckhove individual
1953  Belgium Florent Rondelé Bertin–D'Alessandro
1954  Belgium Henri Van Kerckhove Groene Leeuw–Huret
1955  Belgium Alex Close Elvé–Peugeot
1956  Belgium André Vlayen Elvé–Peugeot
1957  Belgium Pino Cerami Peugeot–BP–Dunlop
1958  Belgium Noël Foré Groene Leeuw–Leopold
1959  Belgium Armand Desmet Groene Leeuw–Sinalco–SAS
1960  Belgium Alfons Sweeck Groene Leeuw–Sinalco–SAS
1961  Belgium Rik Van Looy Faema
1962  Belgium Noël Foré Flandria–Faema–Clément
1963  Netherlands Peter Post Dr. Mann–Labo
1964  Belgium Benoni Beheyt Wiel's–Groene Leeuw
1965  France Jean Stablinski Ford France–Gitane
1966  Italy Vittorio Adorni Salvarani
1967  Italy Carmine Preziosi Molteni
1968  Belgium Wilfried David Flandria–De Clerck
1969  Belgium Erik De Vlaeminck Flandria–De Clerck–Krüger
1970  Belgium Eddy Merckx Faemino–Faema
1971  Belgium Eddy Merckx Molteni
1972  Belgium Roger Swerts Molteni
1973  Denmark Leif Mortensen Bic
1974  Belgium Roger Swerts IJsboerke–Colner
1975  Belgium Freddy Maertens Carpenter–Confortluxe–Flandria
1976  Belgium Michel Pollentier Flandria–Velda–West Vlaams Vleesbedrijf
1977  Belgium Walter Planckaert Maes Pils–Mini-Flat
1978  Belgium André Dierickx IJsboerke–Gios
1979  Belgium Daniel Willems IJsboerke–Warncke Eis
1980  Netherlands Gerrie Knetemann TI–Raleigh–Creda
1981  Netherlands Ad Wijnands TI–Raleigh–Creda
1982–
1983
No race
1984  Belgium Eddy Planckaert Panasonic–Raleigh
1985  Belgium Ludo Peeters Kwantum–Decosol–Yoko
1986  Belgium Nico Emonds Kwantum–Decosol–Yoko
1987 No race
1988  Netherlands Frans Maassen Superconfex–Yoko–Opel–Colnago
1989  Great Britain Sean Yates 7-Eleven
1990  Netherlands Frans Maassen Buckler–Colnago–Decca
1991–
2001
No race
2002  Netherlands Bart Voskamp BankGiroLoterij–Batavus
2003  Australia Michael Rogers Quick-Step–Davitamon
2004  France Sylvain Chavanel Brioches La Boulangère
2005  Belgium Tom Boonen Quick-Step–Innergetic
2006  Netherlands Maarten Tjallingii Skil–Shimano
2007  Russia Vladimir Gusev Discovery Channel
2008  Belgium Stijn Devolder Quick-Step
2009  Netherlands Lars Boom Rabobank
2010  Belgium Stijn Devolder Quick-Step
2011  Belgium Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma–Lotto
2012  Germany Tony Martin Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2013  Germany Tony Martin Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2014  Germany Tony Martin Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2015  Belgium Greg Van Avermaet BMC Racing Team
2016  Belgium Dries Devenyns IAM Cycling
2017  Belgium Jens Keukeleire Belgium (national team)
2018  Belgium Jens Keukeleire Lotto–Soudal
2019  Belgium Remco Evenepoel Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2020 No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium[3]
2021  Belgium Remco Evenepoel Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2022   Switzerland Mauro Schmid Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
2023  Netherlands Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin–Deceuninck
2024  Norway Søren Wærenskjold Uno-X Mobility

Multiple winners

[edit]
Name Country Wins Years
Tony Martin  Germany 3 2012, 2013, 2014
Louis Mottiat  Belgium 2 1914, 1920
Émile Masson  Belgium 2 1919, 1923
René Vermandel  Belgium 2 1921, 1922
Henri Van Kerckhove  Belgium 2 1952, 1954
Noël Foré  Belgium 2 1958, 1962
Eddy Merckx  Belgium 2 1970, 1971
Roger Swerts  Belgium 2 1972, 1974
Frans Maassen  Netherlands 2 1988, 1990
Stijn Devolder  Belgium 2 2008, 2010
Jens Keukeleire  Belgium 2 2017, 2018
Remco Evenepoel  Belgium 2 2019, 2021

By nation

[edit]
Rank Country Wins Most times winner Most Recent Winner
1  Belgium 69 2 wins Remco Evenepoel (2021)
2  Netherlands 9 Frans Maassen (2) Mathieu van der Poel (2023)
3  France 4 1 win Sylvain Chavanel (2004)
4  Germany 3 Tony Martin (3) Tony Martin (2014)
5  Italy 2 1 win Carmine Preziosi (1967)
6  Australia 1 Michael Rogers (1) Michael Rogers (2003)
 Denmark 1 Leif Mortensen (1) Leif Mortensen (1973)
 Great Britain 1 Sean Yates (1) Sean Yates (1989)
 Norway 1 Søren Wærenskjold (1) Søren Wærenskjold (2024)
 Russia 1 Vladimir Gusev (1) Vladimir Gusev (2007)
 Switzerland 1 Mauro Schmid (1) Mauro Schmid (2022)

Classifications

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As of the 2023 edition, the jerseys worn by the leaders of the individual classifications are:

  • Purple jersey Purple Jersey – Worn by the leader of the general classification.
  • Red Jersey Red Jersey – Worn by the leader of the points classification.
  • Yellow jersey Yellow Jersey – Worn by the leader of the youth classification.
  • White jersey White Jersey – Worn by the leader of the combativity classification.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Belgium Tour". FirstCycling.com. 2023.
  2. ^ "Tour de Belgique (Bel) - Cat.2.ProS". Memoire-du-cyclisme.eu (in French).
  3. ^ "Geen Baloise Belgium Tour en Elfstedenronde meer in 2020" [No Baloise Belgium Tour and Elfstedenronde in 2020] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
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