1969 Tour of Flanders

1969 Tour of Flanders
Race details
Date		30 March 1969
Distance		259 km (160.9 mi)
Winning time		6h 20'
Results
	Winner	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	(Faema)
	Second	Felice Gimondi (ITA)	(Salvarani)
	Third	Marino Basso (ITA)	(Molteni)

The 53rd running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 30 March 1969. Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx won ahead of Italians Felice Gimondi and Marino Basso, winning his first of two in the Flemish classic.^[1]^[2] The race started in Ghent and finished in Gentbrugge.

Course

Eddy Merckx won practically every major cycling event in 1969, including the Tour of Flanders. The race was run in abysmal weather conditions. Before the first climb of the day a group of 22 riders containing all the favourites was in the front. In Vollezele, not far after Geraardsbergen and despite strong headwind, Merckx attacked solo with 73 kilometers to go. His team manager Lomme Driessens heavily objected, thinking it was too soon and telling him to stop his effort, but Merckx powered on towards the finish. He arrived in Gentbrugge with a 5' 36" lead over runner-up Felice Gimondi, the biggest margin in the history of the Tour of Flanders. Marino Basso, leading the pack, finished third at eight minutes.^[3]

Climbs

There were four categorized climbs:

Kwaremont
Kloosterstraat (Geraardsbergen)
Valkenberg (Brakel)
Kasteeldreef (Brakel)

Results

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Faema	6h 20'
2	Felice Gimondi (ITA)	Salvarani	+ 5'36"
3	Marino Basso (ITA)	Molteni	+ 8'08"
4	Franco Bitossi (ITA)	Filotex	s.t.
5	Bernard Van De Kerckhove (BEL)	Faema	s.t.
6	Michele Dancelli (ITA)	Molteni	s.t.
7	Barry Hoban (GBR)	Mercier-BP-Hutchinson	s.t.
8	Frans Verbeeck (BEL)	Okay-Diamant	s.t.
9	Georges Claes (BEL)	Goldor-Hertekamp	s.t.
10	Jos Spruyt (BEL)	Faema	s.t.

References

↑ Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p150
↑ McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1969 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, AR: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
↑ Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p159-161

Tour of Flanders

Tour of Flanders	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Tour of Flanders for Women	2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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