The Vlaamse Druivenveldrit is a cyclo-cross race held in

Overijse Overijse () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. It is a suburb of the wider Brussels metropolitan area. The municipality comprises the town of Overijse, and the communities of Eizer, Maleizen, Jezus-Eik, T ...

, Belgium. The race is organised by the VZW Sportvrienden Overijse and was first held in 1960. The race is regarded as a Cyclo-cross classic and has a difficult and dangerous parcours that often results in crashes.

History

Two members of the Overijse cycling club, Frans Vanhoey and Joris Bergiers, originally organized the event in 1960. Up until 1989 the race was usually held twice a year and was held three times in 1975. In addition the Belgian national cyclo-cross championships have been held on the course on five occasions in 1965, 1976, 1983, 1990 and 1996 and were organized by the same organizations. On two occasions a two-man cyclo-cross race or Koppelveldrit was also run on the same course and disputed by professional or elite cyclo-cross riders. In 1974,

Roger De Vlaeminck Roger De Vlaeminck (; born 24 August 1947) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed “The Gypsy” because he was born ...

and

Frans Verbeeck Frans Verbeeck or Frans Verbeeck the Elder (c. 1510 – 24 July 1570, Mechelen) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and draughtsman to whom have been attributed a number of works depicting fantastical and grotesque scenes carrying a moral ...

won and in 1984

Adri van der Poel Adrie van der Poel (born 17 June 1959 in Bergen op Zoom) is a retired Dutch cyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championsh ...

and

Hennie Kuiper Hendrikus Andreas "Hennie" Kuiper (born 3 February 1949) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic road race at Munich in 1972, becoming world professional road race champion in 1975, a ...

won. The 1984 Koppelveldrit was organised as a retirement race for Roger De Vlaeminck. The event formed part of the Superprestige cyclocross series from the beginning of the Superprestige in 1983 until the 2001–2002 season. After that the Race was not part of a cyclo-cross classification competition. In the 2020–2021 season the race was the last race of the

UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup is a season-long competition in cyclo-cross, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). First held in the 1993–1994 season, there are currently five awards, tailored to the different categories of riders: ...

. The race has been won by many of the top cyclo-cross cyclists with multiple Cyclocross world champion

Roland Liboton Roland Liboton (born 6 March 1957) is a Belgian former cyclo-cross racer. Liboton won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 1980, 1982, 1983, and 1984, was the Belgian national champion for ten successive years from 1980 to 1989. He also ...

being the record holder in the event with 15 wins. Liboton is followed by the De Vlaeminck brothers,

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

and

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

who have nine and six wins each, as well as Sven Nys who also has six. In the 2005 edition,

Bart Wellens Bart Wellens (born 10 August 1978) is a Belgian former professional cyclo-cross and road cyclist. He now works as the team manager of UCI Cyclo-cross Team . Career Wellens was born in Vorselaar. In the Under 23 category, Wellens battled Sven ...

kicked a spectator who was allegedly throwing beer at him. Wellens went on to win the event after

Boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfi ...

slipped in the final lap and initially was awarded the win despite the threat of disqualification. Several days later after a meeting of the three race commissionaires and the UCI, Wellens was disqualified and Boom was awarded the win.

Past winners

Women's winners

Winners when run as Belgian Cyclo Cross Championships

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Cyclo-cross races Cycle races in Belgium Recurring sporting events established in 1960 1960 establishments in Belgium Overijse Sport in Flemish Brabant