The 2008

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 organi ...

cycle 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 ...

was the 92nd edition of this monumental classic and took place on April 6. The course was 264 km long and went from

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

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 ...

. Pre-race favorites included

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began r ...

(winner of

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...

and

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

Alessandro Ballan Alessandro Ballan (born 6 November 1979 in Castelfranco Veneto, Veneto) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team . He is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in 200 ...

(defending champion),

Tom Boonen Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...

(winner in 2005 and 2006) and

Leif Hoste Leif Hoste (born 17 July 1977) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team team . Born in Kortrijk, Hoste's career highlights included winning two stages and the overall title at the ...

(second-place position in 2004, 2006 and 2007).

General standings

;

, 200 riders had started the race, just 101 riders managed to finish.

Course

The 17 Tour of Flanders hills were: After Bosberg there was still 12 kilometers to go.

Individual 2008 UCI ProTour standings after race

External links

Race website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour of Flanders, 2008 2008 in Belgian sport 2008 UCI ProTour

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

General standings

Course

Individual 2008 UCI ProTour standings after race

See also

External links

References