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The 5 best cobbled classics riders in history: Will you agree with our list?

Cycling
by Kieran Wood
Thursday, 07 November 2024 at 15:00
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The cobbled classics are mainly contested in the spring. The most important are the E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and, of course, the two monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. All of them are contested in Belgium, with the exception of the latter, which takes place on the streets of France.
In this article we want to talk about the specialists in such races. As you can see below, there are several well-placed Belgians, but there is one Swiss who got in the middle. We are of course talking about Fabian Cancellara, one of the best time trialists in history but he was also good on the cobbles.
His great rival for this part of the season has always been Tom Boonen, who has a truly enviable record. For the others, we have to go back years. The oldest of them all is Rik van Looy, perhaps the first great classicist. Then there's the usual, Eddy Merckx. And finally, Patrick Lefevere's first great protégé, the legendary Johan Museeuw. Take a look at the stats down below and see if you agree with our list!

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1. Tom Boonen (15)

  • 5x E3 Saxo Classic (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012)
  • 3x Gent-Wevelgem (2004, 2011, 2012)
  • 3x Tour of Flanders (2005, 2006, 2012)
  • 4x Paris-Roubaix (2005, 2008, 2009, 2012)

2. Rik van Looy (12)

  • 4x E3 Saxo Classic (1964, 1965, 1966, 1969)
  • 3x Gent-Wevelgem (1956, 1957, 1962)
  • 2x Tour of Flanders (1959, 1962)
  • 3x Paris-Roubaix (1961, 1962, 1965)

3. Fabian Cancellara (9)

  • 3x E3 Saxo Classic (2010, 2011, 2013)
  • 3x Tour of Flanders (2010, 2013, 2014).
  • 3x Paris-Roubaix (2006, 2010, 2013)

4. Eddy Merckx (8)

  • 3x Gent-Wevelgem (1967, 1970, 1973)
  • 2x Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975)
  • 3x Paris-Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)

5. Johan Museeuw (8)

  • 2x E3 Saxo Classic (1992, 1998)
  • 3x Tour of Flanders (1993, 1995, 1998)
  • 3x Paris-Roubaix (1996, 2000, 2002)

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