2012 Tour of Flanders

the women's race 2012 Tour of Flanders for Women 2012 Tour of Flanders Boonen & Pozzato.jpg Tom Boonen and Filippo Pozzato on the third climb of Oude Kwaremont 300 2012 UCI World Tour 8 28 1 April 2012 1 256.9 km 6h 04' 33" Tom Boonen BEL OPQ 2012 Filippo Pozzato ITA FAR 2012 Alessandro Ballan ITA BMC 2012 2011 2013 The 2012 Tour of Flanders was the 96th edition of the Tour of Flanders single-day "Monument" cycling race. It was held on 1 April 2012 over a distance of 256.9 km mi off – between Bruges and Oudenaardehttp://rvv.be/nl/elite-men/news/2011-09/64/oudenaarde-nieuwe-aankomstplaats Oudenaarde nieuwe aankomstplaats 31 March 2012 25 April 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120425162819/http://rvv.be/nl/elite-men/news/2011-09/64/oudenaarde-nieuwe-aankomstplaats dead – and was the eighth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season. In a three-man sprint finish, the race was won by OPQ 2012 Belgian Tom Boonen,http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01042012/58/brilliant-boonen-claims-flanders-victory.html Brilliant Boonen claims Flanders victory Yahoo! Eurosport TF1 Group Lee Walker 1 April 2012 2 April 2012 who in the process, became the fifth different rider to win the race three times,https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/apr/01/tom-boonen-tour-of-flanders-cycling Tom Boonen outsprints Italians for third Tour of Flanders win The Guardian Guardian Media Group Reuters 1 April 2012 2 April 2012 and took the lead of the overall World Tour standings.http://www.uci.ch/Modules/ENews/ENewsDetails2011.asp?id=ODA0Mg&MenuId=MTYzMjc&LangId=1&BackLink=%2Ftemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI8%2Flayout%2Easp%3FMenuId%3DMTYzMjc%26LangId%3D1 Boonen makes history (again) with third Tour of Flanders win UCI.ch Union Cycliste Internationale 1 April 2012 2 April 2012 Boonen finished ahead of FAR 2012's Filippo Pozzato and 2007 winner Alessandro Ballan of BMC 2012, who completed the podium.http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-flanders-2012/results 1 April 2012 2 April 2012 Brecht Decaluwé Cycling News Future Publishing Limited Boonen wins 2012 Tour of Flanders Course change upright=1.35|thumb|The Muur van Geraardsbergen was omitted from the race's itinerary in 2012 The course of the classic was changed drastically. The finish was changed from Meerbeke to Oudenaarde due to the result of a changed parcours to the race. Famous hills like the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg were the final two hills in almost every edition from 1975 but were removed from the course. The new final featured the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, both were climbed three times. Also included in the final were the infamous Koppenberg – climbed after the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg – as well as the Steenbeekdries and the Kluisberg. 2010 winner Fabian Cancellara stated in the Belgium TV show De Laatste Show that he liked the new route of the race. He said that he disliked the dead moment from Tenbosse until the Muur in the old route and also the flat kilometres after the Bosberg until the finish.http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1151773 Fabian Cancellara in "De laatste show" 31 March 2012 While Cancellara liked the new route, some riders expressed negative feelings about the new route. Two-time winner Stijn Devolder stated that: "This is no longer the Ronde van Vlaanderen".http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/belgians-mourn-decapitated-tour-of-flanders Belgians mourn "decapitated" Tour of Flanders 31 March 2012 Former Belgian cyclist and three-time winner Johan Museeuw stated that the course was potentially made too hard: "Three times up the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg can blow you away. The course didn't really need to be made harder, I think." Many cycling fans, especially those in Belgium, also expressed against the changes in the route and thinking that the changes were made for commercial reasons. The omission of the Muur was not received well by the fans and was like "removing the Poggio from Milan–San Remo.http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1112246 Belgians "Muur" verdwijnt uit Ronde van Vlaanderen 31 March 2012 The "Muur" was included in the first World Tour E3 Harelbeke in 2012.http://www.nusport.nl/wielrennen/2676264/e3-prijs-voert-in-2012-muur-van-geraardsbergen-.html Belgians E3 Prijs voert in 2012 over Muur van Geraardsbergen 31 March 2012 7 April 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120407012842/http://www.nusport.nl/wielrennen/2676264/e3-prijs-voert-in-2012-muur-van-geraardsbergen-.html dead Hills in the 2012 edition 1Nokereberg7Valkenberg13Oude Kwaremont2Taaienberg8Oude Kwaremont14Paterberg3Eikenberg9Paterberg15Hoogberg-Hotond4Molenberg10Koppenberg16Oude Kwaremont5Rekelberg11Steenbeekdries17Paterberg6Berendries11Nieuwe Kruisberg Participating teams As the Tour of Flanders was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race,http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1197554 Ronde van Vlaanderen deelt zes wildcards uit nl 16 January 2012 and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton. The 25 teams that competed in the race were: 22em ALM 2012 AST 2012 BMC 2012 EUS 2012 FDJ 2012 GRM 2012a GEC 2012a KAT 2012 LAM 2012 LIQ 2012 LTB 2012 MOV 2012 OPQ 2012 RAB 2012 RNT 2012 SAX 2012a SKY 2012 VAC 2012 WGG 2012 FAR 2012 LAN 2012 SUN 2012b TSV 2012 EUC 2012 APP 2012 right|thumb|Alessandro Ballan finished third behind Tom Boonen and Filippo Pozzato. Race summary Two main favourites were named before the race, 2005 and 2006 winner Tom Boonen and 2010 winner Fabian Cancellara, with outsiders including Matti Breschel, Sylvain Chavanel, Peter Sagan, Filippo Pozzato and Sep Vanmarcke.http://www.sportsnews.com.au/cycling/2012-tour-of-flanders-one-day-classic-preview-guide/22512 sportsnews.com.au 2012 Tour of Flanders one-day classic preview guide 28 March 2012 2 April 2012 A group of 15 riders, including amongst others Tyler Farrar, Pablo Lastras and Maarten Tjallingii, formed the early breakaway, but due to the size of the group there were not allowed to gain more than five minutes over the peloton. In the peloton, the first attacks came during the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont after about 180 km 1 on, eliminating some of the lesser riders, but still leaving a big group chasing the leaders. But the first major event happened some 10 km 1 on later, as Cancellara crashed out of the race, fracturing his collar bone in four places. At the start of the second ascent of the Paterberg, several riders crashed in the first part of the peloton, allowing a very select group of riders to take some advantage over the rest of the peloton. This elite group, which amongst others contained Boonen, Niki Terpstra, Chavanel, Sagan, Vanmarcke, Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan, Luca Paolini and Vincent Jérôme, raced past the remainder of the breakaway group and at that point seemed to be battling it out for the win. However, the riders stopped cooperating and in the peloton SKY 2012 chased hard in an attempt to bring Edvald Boasson Hagen back to the lead group, succeeding just before the third ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. During this ascent, Ballan raced away from the pack, only to be caught a few minutes later by Pozzato and Boonen. Ballan, Boonen and Pozzato climbed the final ascent of the Paterberg together and despite numerous attempts by Ballan to get away from the other two, the three riders contested the sprint for the victory. In Oudenaarde, Boonen outsprinted Pozzato by one bike-length at the line, with Ballan taking third place. In a group of 43 riders finishing within one minute of the three leaders, Greg Van Avermaet finished in fourth place, edging out Sagan in fifth. OPQ 2012 were represented three times within the top ten; along with Boonen's win, Terpstra and Chavanel also placed highly.http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1261252 Sporza.be The tour of Flanders in 6 key moments 2 April 2012 1 April 2012 General standings http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/asp/redirect/uci.asp?page=cr_result&SportID=102&CompetitionID=20490&CompetitionCodeInv=1&EditionID=709934&SeasonID=482&EventPhaseID=709935&EventID=10635&ContainerEventID=10635&GenderID=1&ClassID=1&PhaseID=709935&Phase1ID=0&Phase2ID=0&Phase3ID=0&PhaseClassificationID=670269&detail=0&ranking=0&TaalCode=2&Cache=2 https://archive.today/20121216083925/http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/asp/redirect/uci.asp?page=cr_result&SportID=102&CompetitionID=20490&CompetitionCodeInv=1&EditionID=709934&SeasonID=482&EventPhaseID=709935&EventID=10635&ContainerEventID=10635&GenderID=1&ClassID=1&PhaseID=709935&Phase1ID=0&Phase2ID=0&Phase3ID=0&PhaseClassificationID=670269&detail=0&ranking=0&TaalCode=2&Cache=2 dead December 16, 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres Results 1 April 2012 2 April 2012 Union Cycliste Internationale Infostrada Sports CyclistTeamTimeUCI World TourPoints 1Tom Boonen BELOPQ 2012 6h 04' 33"100 2Filippo Pozzato ITAFAR 2012 s.t.– 3Alessandro Ballan ITABMC 2012 + 1"70 4Greg Van Avermaet BELBMC 2012 + 38"60 5Peter Sagan SVKLIQ 2012 + 38"50 6Niki Terpstra NEDOPQ 2012 + 38"40 7Luca Paolini ITAKAT 2012 + 38"30 8Thomas Voeckler FRAEUC 2012 + 38" – 9Matti Breschel DENRAB 2012 + 38"10 10Sylvain Chavanel FRAOPQ 2012 + 38"4 References External links Race website 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012 Tour of Flanders Category:2012 in Belgian sport Tour of Flanders 2012