2012 Tour of Flanders: Tom Boonen Wins

Belgian Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) won the 2012 Tour of Flanders ahead of Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and Alessandro Ballan (BMC), the trio had escaped from the remains of the peloton with 18 km to go. In the final 2 kms the Italian riders tried unsuccessfully to put a plan in place to defeat Boonen. First Ballan, the weakest sprinter among them, tried several attacks to escape but Boonen covered every attack. Pozzato waited for the sprint hoping to come around a tired Boonen, who was also almost dropped by Pozzato on the final climb of the Paterberg, but Boonen was not be denied his third Tour of Flanders victory.

Fabian Cancellara was involved in a feed zone crash with 68 km to go that resulted in a quadruple break of his collarbone.

The race with 2 km to go:


"I was worried about heading to the finish with those Italians. They know each other well and I feared that they would kill me, but the strong headwind was my ally," said Boonen. "I had to count on my sprint. I started too early and didn't have much left but it was enough."

Pozzato said, "I had the impression that Boonen was tired and that I could beat him but in the last five kilometers he proved just the opposite. In the sprint he can build on his explosive skills. I'm sorry we did not win, because I know that only victories count, the rest are just words. But I'm happy to be going strong and feeling good. Many did not believe in me, they said that I would not succeed. I am happy to have shown them where I am now and where I can get to."

"On the final ascent of the Paterberg we had a gap on Boonen, and I thought we would head to Oudenaarde with the two of us but he held on. Among the three I was definitely the slowest in the sprint," said Ballan. "I tried to anticipate the sprint, but Boonen always got on my wheel. He had a great race but we Italians made a good impression I think. If Cancellara were still in the race and we were the four in front perhaps the results would have been different. I'm enjoying this beautiful podium result and looking forward to the next important rendezvous (Paris-Roubaix next Sunday)."


By winning his third Tour of Flanders, Tom Boonen joins Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman and Johan Museeuw as triple winners.

George Hincapie broke the record for most finishes in the Tour of Flanders: now 17, surpassing the record of 16 by Briek Schotte.

Top 10:
1. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep km. 255 in 6h04'33"
2. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia s.t.
3. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team, at 1"
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team, at 38"
5. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
6. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
7. Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team
8. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
9. Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
10.Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep

Judith Arndt won, for the second time, the Women's Tour of Flanders.

Photo: Bettini

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page

2012 Tour of Flanders, Route Controversy

Yesterday we mentioned that the Tour of Flanders route for tomorrow has been substantially changed, leading to much controversy. The finish was changed from Meerbeke to Oudenaarde; famous hills like the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg that have been the final two hills in almost every edition since 1975 have been removed from the course. The new final features the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, both will be climbed three times. Also included in the final are the infamous Koppenberg (climbed after the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg), the Steenbeekdries and the Kluisberg.

Some rider comments and observations:

Michele Bartoli, 1996 winner: "It’s worse than taking the Poggio from Milan-San Remo. For me, the Muur is a piece of the history of the Tour of Flanders, it’s a huge loss. I mean, if I had attacked at another place [in 1996], it wouldn’t be remembered so readily now. The Oude Kwaremont isn’t very hard, but it’s long and disjointed. It’s also a bit anomalous in that there’s a stretch of flat pavé afterwards that can hurt. The Paterberg is short but it goes up at 20%, a real wall. I couldn’t say if Flanders will be harder because it depends on the riders, but at its key points, the roads are very narrow, and technical ability will be fundamental."

Fabian Cancellara, 2010 winner: "People are scared. There’s a lot of ‘why?’ also. Why have they changed the history of this race? I guess cycling is becoming worldwide now. I mean, California is growing huge and so is the Tour Down Under, China is getting bigger. And on the other side, some of the big Italian races that I knew when I was younger are now being overshadowed. The traditions of the sport are counting for less and now on they have changed something crucial. So there is a big why. Is it just to make it harder? Is it just to make money? Is it because of politics and business? Or is it just to see more spectacular things in the race? These are the questions but I am not the organisers so I don’t know the answers."

Tom Boonen, 2005 and 2006 winner: "To me it makes little difference where I win."

The Belgian newspaper Het Niewsblad reported that Belgians are 3-1 against the changes. Fans have started a "we hate wouter vandenhaute" facebook page. There is a also the "Keep The Muur And Bosberg" blog.

WouterVandenhaute, the race director, has said that in order for the sport to progress, changes need to be made. He's made it clear that he wants to make cycling more attractive to sponsors — primarily to sponsors that will populate the expansive VIP tents he’s erected along the Ronde course. Vandenhaute believes it’s important to give sponsors something back, not just in terms of exposure, but also in terms of service, in terms of a “special experience.”"

Tomorrow: 257 km of pain and suffering on a new course should make for exciting watching .

Photo: the iconic Muur, for now relegated to the pages of history

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page

2012 Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen)

The 2012 Tour of Flanders will be held on Sunday. One of the five "monuments" of cycling, and the first of the Spring classics, it has been held since 1913.

Belgian riders have had the most victories, 67, with Italians following with 10 victories (Netherlands 9, France 3, Germany 2, Switzerland 2, United Kingdom 1, Denmark 1).

The first Italian victory came in 1949 with Fiorenzo Magni. Before WWII the race was usually held on the same day as Milan-Sanremo which kept Italians at home and the French riders preferred Milan-Sanremo as well. In fact, the there was only one non-Belgian victory before WWII (in 1923 by Heiri Suter of Switzerland).

Fiorenzo Magni went on to win the next two editions, 1950 and 1951. The other Italian winners have been:
1967 Dino Zandegù
1990 Moreno Argentin
1994 Gianno Bugno
1996 Michele Bartoli
2001 Gianluca Bortolami
2002 Andrea Tafi
2007 Alessandro Ballan

Gianluca Bortolami's victory in 2001 set the record for the fastest Tour of Flanders at an average speed of 43.6 km/h.

Italian favorites for Sunday's race: Alessandro Ballan (winner in 2007) and Filippo Pozzato (6th in last month's Milan-Sanremo).

From a team perspective Liquigas has Peter Sagan who finished 4th in Milan-Sanremo. The captain for Lampre will be Danilo Hondo who finished 16th in 2011 and 9th in 2010 in the Tour of Flanders.

Of course, other favorites include Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, and Sylvain Chavanel. Boonen and Chavanel, both of Omega Pharma-QuickStep, were on a short (!) 165 km recon of the new course during the week:



The course has been changed drastically for this year's race. The finish was changed from Meerbeke to Oudenaarde; famous hills like the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg that have been the final two hills in almost every edition since 1975 have been removed from the course. The new final features the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, both will be climbed three times. Also included in the final are the infamous Koppenberg (climbed after the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg), the Steenbeekdries and the Kluisberg.

Danilo Hondo, after an 80 km recon yesterday said, "This year Ronde van Vlaanderen will be even more demanding than usual since the opponents are very strong and the new course is really tough."

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page