The third running of the

Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen), is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as t ...

, a women's

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

in Belgium, was held on 2 April 2006. The race started in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...

and finished in

Meerbeke Meerbeke is a village in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Ninove. This rural community is located along the Dender River on the western border of what is known as "Pajo ...

, taking in 12 climbs and covering a total distance of . It was the third round of the 2006 UCI Women's Road World Cup. Dutch rider Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel won her second consecutive Tour of Flanders in a two-up sprint with Austrian

Christiane Soeder Christiane Soeder (born 15 January 1975 in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German-born Austrian road racing cyclist and former duathlete who now lives in Vienna. She won the Austrian National Road Race Championships in 2004, 2006 and 200 ...

Race summary

159 riders started the race in

at 11:30. the peloton was thinned out on the wet and slick cobbled sector of the Paddestraat, after 24 km, after which only 50 riders remained at the front of the race. On the cobbled sector of the Haaghoek, after 69 km,

Mirjam Melchers Maria Wilhelmina Johanna "Mirjam" Melchers-Van Poppel (born 26 September 1975 in Arnhem, Gelderland) is a female former racing cyclist from the Netherlands, married to former sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel. She was one of the leading cyclists in ...

Edwige Pitel Edwige Pitel (born 4 June 1967) is a French racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Continental Team . Pitel was the winner of the 2003 ITU Duathlon World Championships. Pitel earned a PhD from Imperial College London in 1994 u ...

and

Kimberly Anderson Kim Anderson may refer to: *Kim Anderson (American football) (born 1957), American football player *Kim Anderson (basketball) (born 1955), American basketball coach * Kim Anderson (cyclist) (born 1968), American female cyclist * Kim Anderson (singer ...

broke clear. Anderson was dropped 6 km later, on the

Berendries The Berendries is an uphill street in Michelbeke, part of the municipality of Brakel, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. Its top is at 98 m altitude, making it the highest hill of the Zwalm region, just north of the Flemish Ardennes. ...

climb, and the leading trio increased their lead to over a minute on the peloton as they addressed the Valkenberg, at 32 km from the finish. Melchers accelerated on the Valkenberg and dropped the other two, with Tenbosse, the

Muur van Geraardsbergen The Muur van Geraardsbergen (English: ''Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont'', French: ''Mur de Grammont'') is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hil ...

and the

Bosberg The Bosberg (English: ''Forest Hill'') is a hill in the Pajottenland in Belgium with its top located on the border of East Flanders and Flemish Brabant. The road leading to the top is surfaced in concrete in the lower parts and cobbled in the steep ...

still to come. Melchers crested the top of the Muur with a one-minute lead on Soeder, who left Pitel behind, but began to lose speed on the Bosberg. The Austrian set off in pursuit of Melchers and bridged across in

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

, with two kilometres remaining. The race was decided in a two-up sprint in

, with Melchers taking the honours before a worn-out Soeder. Dutchwoman

Loes Gunnewijk Loes Gunnewijk (born 27 November 1980 in Groenlo) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2015. Gunnewijk was a member of the Dutch national team together with Ellen van Dijk, Marianne Vos and Anne ...

broke clear from the chasing group and completed the podium at 53 seconds. Melchers would later say that she "experienced the race like a war".

Result

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of Flanders for Women, 2006

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

2006 UCI Women's Road World Cup