The 53rd running of the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and orga ...

cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

in Belgium was held on Sunday 30 March 1969. Belgian cycling legend

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

won ahead of Italians

Felice Gimondi Felice Gimondi (; 29 September 1942 – 16 August 2019) was an Italian professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the ...

and

Marino Basso Marino Basso (born 1 June 1945) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, considered one of the best sprinters of his generation. He won the World Cycling Championship in 1972. Basso was born at Rettorgole di Caldogno, in the Vene ...

, winning his first of two in the Flemish

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, , p150 The race started in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

and finished in

Gentbrugge Gentbrugge is one of 25 districts ("wijken") of the city of Ghent, Belgium in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Gentbrugge together with Oud Gentbrugge had been a separate municipality before 1 January 1977, when it fused with Ghent. Neighborhoods ...

Course

Eddy Merckx won practically every major cycling event in 1969, including the Tour of Flanders. The race was run in abysmal weather conditions. Before the first climb of the day a group of 22 riders containing all the favourites was in the front. In

Vollezele Galmaarden (; french: Gammerages, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Galmaarden proper, Tollembeek and Vollezele. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, ...

, not far after

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; french: Grammont, ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen prop ...

and despite strong headwind, Merckx attacked solo with 73 kilometers to go. His team manager Lomme Driessens heavily objected, thinking it was too soon and telling him to stop his effort, but Merckx powered on towards the finish. He arrived in Gentbrugge with a 5' 36" lead over runner-up

, the biggest margin in the history of the Tour of Flanders.

, leading the pack, finished third at eight minutes.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, , p159-161

Course

Climbs

Results

References

Further reading