ANALYSIS | From Merckx to Van der Poel and Pogacar: Exploring the history, legends and importance of the Tour of Flanders

Every spring, the flatlands and cobbled hills of Flanders transform into a grand stage for one of cycling’s most revered spectacles: the Tour of Flanders, or De Ronde.

And this race is more than a sporting event; it’s a fervent celebration of Flemish culture and pride. On race day, church bells yield to roaring crowds and clinking beer glasses, as over a million spectators line the narrow lanes to cheer their heroes. The men’s and women’s editions of the Ronde van Vlaanderen have become twin pillars of Belgian heritage, and this weekend it’s finally time for many fan’s favourite monument of the season.

The Tour of Flanders was born in 1913 as both a bold marketing stunt and a statement of Flemish nationalism. Karel Van Wijnendaele, a young sports journalist, and Léon Van den Haute, a race organizer, conceived a race to promote their sports newspaper Sportwereld and uplift the Flemish people.

At the time, Belgium’s power structures were dominated by French speaking elites, but Van Wijnendaele envisioned a cycling hero for the Flemish, inspired by the Lion of Flanders from medieval lore. That first edition in May 1913 saw racers depart from Ghent and battle across unpaved roads, and it was the start of an event of huge cultural importance.

The early decades of the Tour of Flanders cemented its reputation for toughness, in one of the toughest era’s of humanity.

After a hiatus during World War I, the race returned in 1919 and has been held every year since. Remarkably, it even took place during World War II, continuing on German-occupied territory with the tacit blessing of the authorities. Through hard times, Flanders clung to its race, as subtle act of defiance in an otherwise horrendous period.

The course itself evolved with the landscape. In the mid-20th century, as rural cobbles were gradually paved over, organizers scrambled to preserve the race’s soul. They added new hellingen (hills) to keep it challenging, most famously the Koppenberg in 1976, and this brutally steep, cobbled climb quickly entered cycling folklore.

In its first inclusion, even the great Eddy Merckx had to dismount and walk, later grumbling that asking riders to scale the mossy Koppenberg was simply too challenging. Despite complaints, the Koppenberg became a fixture, and is now an icon of the Ronde’s beautiful brutality.

Today’s route is a tour of Flemish geography. The men’s race runs approximately around270 km of Flanders’ narrow farm roads and bergs, while the women’s course, around 160-170 km, covers many of the same famed climbs.

The two most important climbs are usually the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, leg-breaking ramps that often decide the winner. In years past, the infamous Muur van Geraardsbergen, a winding climb past a chapel, provided decisive drama. Even after the finish moved from Ninove to Oudenaarde in 2012, the DNA of the race remained.

In more than a century of Ronde history, certain names and feats have achieved mythic status. The roll of honour reads like a Hall of Fame, and uniquely, seven men share the record of three Tour of Flanders victories. Among them is Achiel Buysse, a star of the second world war who won three times in the 1940s, and Fiorenzo Magni who is the only man to have won three in a row.

In modern times, Belgium’s Johan Museeuw, or should we say De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Lion of Flanders), defined the 1990s with three wins. Museeuw’s heir apparent, Tom Boonen, then took up the mantle in the 2000s, thrilling home fans with three wins of his own and titanic duels against Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara (another three time winner).

And now it’s Mathieu van der Poel with three wins to his name, can he make it a fourth on Sunday? Or will a certain Tadej Pogacar win for the second time?

The Tour of Flanders has seen editions that border on epic or absurd, which have only reinforced its legend. In 1961, a fierce wind blew down the finish-line banner, as Britain’s Tom Simpson and Italy’s Nino Defilippis were sprinting for victory when Defilippis misjudged where the finish was, allowing Simpson to sneak the win.

The weather often adds its own plot twists. In 1985, a howling storm turned the Ronde into a survival race, with riders lashed by icy rain “as cold as Siberia all day”. Only 24 of the 173 riders finished that day, and Belgium’s Eric Vanderaerden became a legend by clawing back to the front and winning solo in apocalyptic conditions.

Two years later, 1987 brought the infamous Koppenberg incident, where Denmark’s Jesper Skibby slipped and fell on the slick Koppenberg; an official’s car ran over his rear wheel, nearly crushing his leg. Enraged spectators bombarded the car with mud and beer cups. Amid the chaos, a French-speaking Belgian, Claude Criquielion, claimed victory, notable as the Ronde’s first Walloon winner, triumphing in the heartland of Flemish cycling.

Even prizes and antics in Flanders can be colourful. In the lean 1940s, when supplies were thins, riders would receive awards such as cycling gear or even razors. As recently as 2015, Matt Brammeier sprinted mid-race to win his weight in beer from Steene Molen brewery.

For decades, the passion for De Ronde was a mostly for the male race. That changed in 2004, when the first Tour of Flanders for Women was held, signalling a new era of inclusion. The inaugural women’s Ronde on 4 April 2004 covered 94 km, finishing in Ninove with the same decisive climbs (Muur and Bosberg) as the men. Russia’s Zoulfia Zabirova broke away on the Muur to win, etching her name in history as the first women’s champion of Belgium’s most beloved race.

In the following years, the race quickly grew in length and stature. By 2016 it was part of the elite UCI Women’s WorldTour, and in 2018 it became the first women’s event to be televised in full.

The women’s Tour of Flanders has developed its own rich lore. It was not without teething problems: the 2005 edition infamously ended with a disaster when a lead car misdirected a large chase group off course in the final kilometres. As a result, only the two breakaway leaders were classified, and 20 riders were disqualified for effectively riding the wrong way to the finish.

In the years since, women’s Ronde has delivered spectacular racing and deserving winners. Legendary figures of women’s cycling have won on Flanders’ cobbles: Judith Arndt notched two wins (2008, 2012); Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead/Deignan won in 2016; and one of the greatest ever riders, Anna van der Breggen, won spectacularly in 2018.

Dutch superstar Marianne Vos finally added Flanders to her palmarès in 2013, after several podium near-misses. Perhaps the queen of recent years has been Belgium’s own Lotte Kopecky, who thrilled home fans with back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023, and she will be in contention again this weekend.

In 2021, the ageless Annemiek van Vleuten, 38 years old at the time, attacked on the Paterberg to claim her second Ronde title, a full decade after her first. And last year, it was the turn of Elisa Longo Borghini to win the race. So no, Demi Vollering is yet to become the queen of the cobbles…

The inclusion of the Koppenberg in 2022 for the women and a virtually identical finish to the men’s race have elevated the event’s status. Today, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, men’s and women’s, together represent cycling at its most inclusive and inspiring, each race enriching the other’s legacy. Both are now simply referred to as the Tour of Flanders (Elite Men and Elite Women), sharing the name and the spotlight on Flanders’ biggest sporting day.

The Tour of Flanders holds a special place in the broader context of cycling’s spring classics, as it is the heart of the so-called “Holy Week” of cycling. In Belgium, the Ronde is the culmination of a week of local races and festivals celebrating the region’s cycling culture. It traditionally falls on the first Sunday of April, and one week later the warriors of the road face Paris–Roubaix, another cobbled Monument just across the border in France​

Together, Flanders and Roubaix form a brutal one-two punch on the calendar, but many riders will tell you Flanders is the one closest to their hearts. Just last year, Mathieu van der Poel pulled off one of the greatest two punch combinations we’ve seen over the two weekends, and he’ll be looking to do the same again this week.

As the sun sets on Oudenaarde on Sunday after another Tour of Flanders, the winners will join a pantheon of legends. Their exploits will be told and retold in Flemish bars and cycling clubs, becoming part of the lore that young riders dream about. And the people of Flanders, who treat this race as an unofficial national holiday, will already be counting down to next spring, when the Ronde rolls again.

In Flanders, the roads remember, the lions flags will wave, and the story of the Tour of Flanders, brutal and beloved, will carry on.