1974 Tour of Flanders

31 March 1974 1 256 km 6h 10' Cees Bal NED Gan–Mercier Frans Verbeeck BEL Maes–Watneys Walter Godefroot BEL Flandria–Carpenter 1973 1975 The 58th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 31 March 1974. Dutchman Cees Bal won the classic ahead of Frans Verbeeck and Eddy Merckx.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, 90-73322-02-2, p168McGann McGann Bill Carol http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/classics/Tour%20of%20Flanders/1974-tour-of-flanders.html 1974 Ronde van Vlaanderen results BikeRaceInfo McGann Publishing Cherokee Village, Arkansas 1 June 2015 The race started in Ghent and finished in Meerbeke (Ninove). Course A group of 40 was formed after the Oude Kwaremont, further reduced on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. At six kilometers from the finish Cees Bal broke clear from the group, powering on to the victory in Meerbeke. In 1974, Bal was part of the Gan–Mercier cycling team, and was a team mate of Joop Zoetemelk. Shortly before the Ronde, in the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme, Zoetemelk took over the lead from Bal in the final stage, and Bal felt betrayed. In the night before the Tour of Flanders, Bal refused to sleep in the same hotel as Zoetemelk, and preferred to stay in his own house in the Netherlands. In the morning, he rode to the start of the Ronde, and fueled by anger, won the race.https://nos.nl/artikel/2514623-winst-op-woede-geprikkeld-door-zoetemelk-won-bal-vijftig-jaar-terug-de-ronde 'Winst op woede': geprikkeld door Zoetemelk won Bal vijftig jaar terug de Ronde 29 March 2024 NOS wielrennen Dutch 'Winning by anger': inspired by Zoetemelk, Bal won the Ronde fifty years ago Climbs There were seven categorized climbs: Oude Kwaremont Nieuwe Kruisberg Taaienberg Eikenberg Volkegemberg Varent Muur of Geraardsbergen Results CyclistTeamTime1Cees Bal NED Gan–Mercier 6h 10' 00"2Frans Verbeeck BEL Watneys–Maes + 19"3Walter Godefroot BEL Flandria–Carpenter s.t.4Eddy Merckx BEL Molteni s.t.5Eric Leman BEL Mic–Ludo s.t.6Marc Demeyer BEL Flandria–Carpenter + 0'45"7Gerben Karstens NED Bic +0'51"8Rik Van Linden BEL IJsboerke–Colner s.t.9Patrick Sercu BEL Brooklyn (cycling team) s.t.10Wilfried Wesemael BEL Mic–Ludo + 1' 23" Note: third-place finished Walter Godefroot tested positive for doping after the race and was disqualified, moving Merckx up to third. References Category:Tour of Flanders Tour of Flanders Category:1974 Super Prestige Pernod