The 2016 Tour of Belgium was the 86th edition of the

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Betw ...

cycling

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

. It took place from 25 to 29 May 2016 in Belgium as part of the

2016 UCI Europe Tour The 2016 UCI Europe Tour was the twelfth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2016 season began on 28 January 2016 with the Vuelta a Mallorca, Trofeo Santanyí-Ses Salines-Campos and ended on 23 October 2016 with the Chrono des Nations. French rid ...

and was won by

Dries Devenyns Dries Devenyns (born 22 July 1983) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Devenyns left at the end of the 2013 season, after five seasons with the squad, and joined for 2014. Major result ...

. Defending champion

Greg Van Avermaet Greg Van Avermaet (born 17 May 1985) is a Belgian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet is a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also ...

did not take part in the race. On 28 May 2016, during the Stage 3, a crash of two motorcycles into the peloton injured 19 riders. The stage was cancelled that day and several riders abandoned the race and did not start on Stage 4. Stig Broeckx was reported to suffer severe injuries and was in a coma and vegetative (succumbing) state in the hospital in Gent.

Teams

Schedule

Stages

Prologue

;25 May 2016 –

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren, ...

to Beveren,

Stage 1

;26 May 2016 –

Buggenhout Buggenhout () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Buggenhout proper, Briel, Opdorp, and . In 2021, Buggenhout had a total population of 14,689. The total area is ...

Knokke-Heist Knokke-Heist (; french: Knocke-Heist) is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heist-aan-Zee, Knokke, Duinbergen, Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. On January 1, 2006 Knokke-Heist had a total ...

Stage 2

;27 May 2016 –

Herzele Herzele () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of , Herzele proper, , , , , and . In 2021, Herzele had a total population of 18,414. The total area is 47.40 ...

Stage 3

;28 May 2016 –

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the ...

to Verviers, Two motorbikes crashed and fell into the peloton at high speeds about 65 km into the stage. 19 riders were involved into the crash, with Stig Broeckx,

Fredrik Ludvigsson Fredrik Ludvigsson (born 28 April 1994) is a Swedish professional road cyclist who rides for Danish UCI Continental team . He is the younger brother of teammate Tobias Ludvigsson. Biography 2014 season In March Ludvigsson was 10th overall a ...

Jesper Asselman Jesper Asselman (born 12 March 1990) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2020, for the , , , and teams. During the 2015 Eneco Tour, and after spending two consecutive days in the breakaway an ...

Andrea Guardini Andrea Guardini (born 12 June 1989) is an Italian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2021 for the , , , and teams. A sprinter, Guardini currently holds the record for most stage wins at the Tour de Langkawi w ...

, Kristoffer Skjerping and

Pieter Jacobs Pieter Jacobs (born 6 June 1986 in Brasschaat) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2007 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Major results ;2002 : 1st National Under-17 Road Race Championships ...

all transported to the hospital because of injuries. Broeckx, who had just recovered from injury after already being hit by a motorbike during the 2016 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne race two months earlier, was in worst shape as he immediately went

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

and was later diagnosed to have two

intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is bleeding within the skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds ( intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleeds, epidural bleeds, and subdural bleeds. ...

s and a broken

eye socket In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of ...

. Race direction and riders decided not to continue the race. A closed peloton rode to the finish in Verviers as the stage was cancelled.

Stage 4

;29 May 2016 –

Tremelo Tremelo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Baal and Tremelo proper. On January 1, 2006, Tremelo had a total population of 13,725. The total area is 21.57& ...

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

, Several riders did not start the race, most notably the entire team of Stig Broeckx, .

Teams

Schedule

Stages

Prologue

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Classification leadership table

Standings

General classification

Points classification

Combativity classification

Team classification

References

External links