Tour of Flanders Stats
Historical stats
– First ever cyclist to take the victory was Paul Deman, back in 1913, when he needed 12 hours, 3 minutes and 10 seconds to complete the 324 km-long course
– Six riders share the record for the most wins (3): Tom Boonen, Achiel Buysse, Fabian Cancellara, Eric Leman, Fiorenzo Magni and Johan Museeuw
– Belgium leads in the nations standings, with no less than 68 victories
– Other countries to have a winner are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland and United Kingdom
– Last victory of a home rider was brought by Tom Boonen, five years ago, this being the longest drought of the host nation since the inception of the race
– Five of the 99 editions didn’t have a Belgian cyclist on the podium: 1951, 1961, 1981, 1997 and 2001
– Briek Schotte and Johan Museeuw share the record for the most podiums (wins included): 8
– The legendary Briek Schotte is also the rider with the most starts (20 in a row) and the most finishes (16), but the latter record is shared with Frederic Guesdon
– Youngest ever winner is Rik Van Steenbergen, 19 years and 206 days (1944); oldest one is Andrei Tchmil, 37 years and 71 days (2000)
– 1920 – when Jules Van Hevel took the win – saw the lowest average speed: 26,105 km/h
– Highest average speed – 43,576 km/h – was recorded in 2001
– The first edition was also the longest one: 324 kilometers
– Only once throughout history De Ronde had less than 200 kilometers, in 1941 (198 de kilometers), when Achiel Buysse won the race for the second time
– Five reigning world champions racked up a victory in De Ronde: Louison Bobet (1955), Rik Van Looy (1962), Eddy Merckx (1975), Tom Boonen (2006) and Peter Sagan (2016)
– 1919 saw the largest winning margin: 14 minutes between Henri Van Lerberghe and Lucien Buysee
– The only cyclist to take three wins in a row is Fiorenzo Magni (1949-1951)
– Five riders have won the amateur, as well as the pro Ronde van Vlaanderen: Roger Decock, Edward Sels, Eric Vanderaerden, Edwig van Hooydonck and Nick Nuyens
– Last Grand Tour champion to take the victory here was Gianni Bugno, in 1994
– Gent is the only city that has hosted both the start and the finish of the race
– Brugge is a start city since 1998, the year of Museeuw’s third and final win
– 1944 was the last year in which the Tour of Flanders ended on the velodrome
– In 1984, only Phil Anderson and Jan Raas made it to the top of the Koppenberg without walking, the main reason for the ordeal the riders had to endure being the deteriorating state of the cobbles
– First cyclist to ride over the Muur-Kapelmuur was Fiorenzo Magni, in 1950
2016 stats
– 25 teams (18 World Tour and 7 Pro Continental) will be at the start of the race
– Of these, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, Giant-Alpecin and Wanty-Groupe Gobert are winless this season
– 34 nations will have at least one cyclist in the peloton, with Belgium providing the most riders, 35
– Youngest rider in the race is Michal Paluta (20 years), while the oldest one is Svein Tuft (38 years)
– Four former winners will line-up at the start: Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Stijn Devolder and Alexander Kristoff
– Søren Kragh Andersen, Jorge Arcas, Romain Cardis, Nico Denz, Matteo Draperi, Michael Gogl, Jack Haig, Gianni Moscon, Nils Politt, Lukas Pöstlberger, Toms Skujiņš and Mirko Trosino are the 12 neo-pros to make their debut in a Monument at De Ronde
– Of the riders at the start, Stijn Devolder has the most participations: 15, including the one of this year
– The peloton of Tour of Flanders has won a combined total of 20 Monuments, 10 world titles (road race+individual time trial) and more than 80 Grand Tour stages
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