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2002 Tour Of Flanders
The 86th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 7 April 2002. It was the second leg of the 2002 UCI Road World Cup. Italian Andrea Tafi won the monument classic ahead of Johan Museeuw and Peter Van Petegem. The race started in Bruges and finished in Meerbeke (Ninove). Race summary Erwin Thijs was in the front for almost 200 km. After the Koppenberg, 55 km from the finish, eight riders broke away. Five of them, Johan Museeuw, George Hincapie, Peter Van Petegem, Andrea Tafi and Daniele Nardello, stayed ahead after Museeuw attacked on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Museeuw and Van Petegem tried to break clear, but they thwarted each other's attempts. When Andrea Tafi attacked, 4 km before the finish, the rest hesitated and the Italian pushed on until the finish. Museeuw beat Van Petegem in the sprint for second place. Mario Cipollini won the sprint for ninth ahead of Erik Zabel at 2' 27". French newspaper L'Équipe called the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrea Tafi (cyclist)
Andrea Tafi (born 7 May 1966, in Fucecchio) is an Italian former road bicycle racer who retired from his professional career in 2005. Tafi's propensity to perform best in the harder races earned him the nickname "Il Gladiatore" (English: "The Gladiator"). Tafi specialized in the cobbled Spring Classics such as Paris–Roubaix which he won in 1999, and Tour of Flanders which he won in 2002. He won the Giro di Lombardia in 1996 and the Italian National Championship in 1998. Career The most successful part of Tafi's career was spent with the Italian super-squad . In the 1996 edition of Paris–Roubaix the team put four of their riders in a breakaway at the front of the race: Johan Museeuw, Gianluca Bortolami, previous year's winner Franco Ballerini, and Tafi. Ballerini had a flat and was out of the lead group, but the other three powered their way to the finish. In 1996 Tafi won the "race of the falling leaves" Giro di Lombardia, using his strength to overcome the climbs of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koppenberg
Koppenberg (literally "Heads Mountain") is a high hill in Oudenaarde, the Flemish Ardennes, Belgium. "Koppen" is an abbreviation for cobblestones which in Dutch slang language are called ''kinderkoppen'', or "children's heads". This climb is part of the route of the Tour of Flanders professional cycling race and feared by many because of its steepness (22% on the trickiest parts) and because of its cobblestones. This makes the Koppenberg difficult even for top professionals. Quite often, riders slow to the point of losing their balance, especially those at the back of the peloton who have to dismount and scramble to the top on foot. In the 2006 Tour of Flanders, it was on km 185 of 259. Even if a breakaway forms on the Koppenberg it is difficult for riders to hold off the peloton in the finishing stages. In the 2012 Tour of Flanders the Koppenberg was moved to 60 km from the finish line and raising its importance. Koppenberg history Koppenberg was first climbed by the To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paterberg
The Paterberg is a hill in the municipality of Kluisbergen, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With its top at 80 m, it is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, close to Wallonia. The slopes of the hill were unpaved until 1986, when a local farmer paved the road in cobbles because he wanted the Tour of Flanders cycling race to pass by his house. The cobbled climb became one of the iconic sites of Belgian cycling, and in 1993 the road of the Paterberg was classified as a protected monument. Cycling The hill is best known from road bicycle racing, where it is a regular climb in the Flemish races in spring, most notably the Tour of Flanders. Together with the Koppenberg and Oude Kwaremont it is one of the most arduous climbs in the region, because of its steep slopes and narrow cobbled road. Its average gradient is 12,5% with its steepest point, 20%, stretching for more than 100 m. The Paterberg was included in the Tour of Flanders every time since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oude Kwaremont
The Oude Kwaremont (English: ''Old Kwaremont'') is a road in Kluisbergen, a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The Oude Kwaremont, contrary to popular belief, is not the name of a hill, but the name of one of the cobbled roads leading up the Kluisberg hill. The Kluisberg is one of several hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes in the south of East-Flanders, close to the border with Wallonia. The climbing road is best known for its presence in many Flemish professional cycling races, such as the Tour of Flanders, E3 Harelbeke and Dwars door Vlaanderen. Characteristics The lower 600 m of the climb consist of a narrow asphalt road, the upper 1600 m are paved with cobblestones. The first 500 m of cobbled section are particularly difficult, it is the steepest and narrowest part of the climb with a bad, very uneven cobbled surface. Halfway up the climb, near the church of Kwaremont village, the gradient gradually levels out from 11% to just 2%, but with still a cobb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molenberg (Zwalm)
The Molenberg (Mill Hill) is a hill in the municipality of Zwalm, in the Belgian province of East Flanders, with its top at 56 m. It is the one of the many hills in the Zwalm region, just north of the Flemish Ardennes. The road of the Molenberg has a roughly-paved cobbled surface, which is classified and protected as a landscape monument. At the foot of the hill there is a 13th-century water mill, the ''Moldergemmolen'', from which the hill takes its name. Cycling The hill is best known from road bicycle racing, where it is a regular climb in the Flemish races in spring, most notably the Tour of Flanders. It is one of the most iconic climbs in the region, because of its steep slopes and narrow badly-surfaced cobbled road. Its average gradient is 7% with its steepest point, 14.2%, in the middle of the climb in a right-hand bend. The climb is also regularly included in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 Tour Of Flanders
The 71st running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race was held on 5 April 1987. It was won by Claude Criquielion after a 10 km solo breakaway. 88 of 233 starters finished the race.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, , p206 Race report Danish rider Jesper Skibby was in the early breakaway, before going solo. On the slippery cobbles of the Koppenberg, he fell onto the road banking and was subsequently run over by an official's car. After the Koppenberg, a group of ten riders, containing most favourites, broke clear. Claude Criquielion broke away from the elite group just after the Bosberg, the last climb of the day, and powered on to the finish. Sean Kelly won the sprint for second place before Eric Vanderaerden. Criquielion was the first French-speaking Belgian rider to win the Tour of Flanders and the only one until Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
