2016 Tour of Flanders

Cycling race the women's race 2016 Tour of Flanders for Women 2016 Tour of Flanders 2016 Tour of Flanders logo.svg 250 2016 UCI World Tour 8 28 3 April 2016 1 255 km 6h 10' 37" Peter Sagan TNK 2016 SVK Fabian Cancellara TFR 2016 SUI Sep Vanmarcke TLJ 2016 BEL 2015 2017 The 2016 Tour of Flanders was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in Belgium on Sunday 3 April 2016. It was the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders; it was the eighth event of the UCI World Tour and the third of the cobbled one-day classics.Wynn Nigel UCI WorldTour calendar 2016 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/uci-worldtour-calendar-2016-193076 Cycling Weekly 5 December 2015 It was the second Monument race of the 2016 cycling season. The race started in Bruges and finished in Oudenaarde. The total distance was 255 km mi, covering 18 categorized climbs and seven flat cobblestoned sectors. The principal favourites for the overall victory were Fabian Cancellara (TFR 2016), Tom Boonen (EQS 2016) and Peter Sagan (TNK 2016). After several riders had abandoned the race due to crashes and injuries, the decisive break was formed with 30 km to go by Sagan, Michał Kwiatkowski (SKY 2016) and Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ 2016). On the last climb of the Oude Kwaremont, Kwiatkowski was dropped; on the Paterberg, which followed shortly afterwards and was final climb of the race, Sagan dropped Vanmarcke and set off alone towards the finish. Vanmarcke and Cancellara collaborated in an effort to chase him down, but Sagan was able to ride to the finish alone. Cancellara finished second with Vanmarcke third, both more than 20 seconds behind Sagan. Route thumb|left|Market Square in Bruges, scene of the start of the 100th Tour of Flanders. thumb|Route profile thumb|First lap of the circuit (red) and transition to the second lap (green). thumb|Second lap of the circuit (red) and final (green) The route of the 100th edition was presented on 29 November 2015 at Brussels Airport.Parcours 100e Ronde van Vlaanderen voorgesteld: "Het begint herkenbaar te worden" The route of the 100th Tour of Flanders is announced: "It's starting to be accepted" http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cnt/dmf20151129_01995231 Sportwereld Het Mediahuis 4 December 2015 nl It contained small changes from previous editions: the Tiegemberg in West Flanders was omitted, while in the Flemish Ardennes the flat cobbled sector of the Holleweg was cut from the race and replaced with the Jagerij cobbled road.100° Ronde van Vlaanderen. Roadmap http://rvv.pro.p.assets.flandersclassics.be/files/3177/original/rvv2016-elite-men-roadmap-26nov15.pdf?1448970526 rondevanvlaanderen.be Flanders Classics 4 December 2015 The change was needed to keep the iconic Molenberg climb in the route due to roadworks. The recent tradition of announcing a nl Dorp van de Ronde ("Village of the Tour") was also abandoned, although the route passed through Kanegem and Aarsele in tribute to Briek Schotte and Roger Decock (the oldest living winner of the Tour of Flanders) respectively.Route announced for 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/route-announced-for-100th-edition-of-the-tour-of-flanders/ Cycling News 4 December 2015 The race started in the Market Square in Bruges with a neutralised zone, leaving the town to the south. The racing started outside the city and took the riders southwest through Torhout to Roeselare, then east through Ardooie and Tielt, then south-east to Oudenaarde, passing across the first cobbled sector of the day, the flat Huisepontweg. After Oudenaarde, the route continued into a series of circuits through the hilly area to the south and east. After 103 km came the first climb, the Oude Kwaremont, a 2200 m yd -2 on, partially cobbled climb that would feature twice more later in the race. The route turned north and, following the climb of the non-cobbled Kortekeer, the riders entered a 20 km on section with several cobbled roads. These included the cobbled climbs of the Eikenberg and the Wolvenberg, then the flat Ruiterstraat, Kerkgate and Jagerij, the climb of the Molenberg, then finally the 2300 m yd -2 of the flat Paddestraat. The route then turned back to the south-west, across the flat Haaghoek cobbles and then the non-cobbled climbs of the Leberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Kaperij and Kanarieberg. This brought the route back to take on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, followed immediately by the steep cobbled climb of the Paterberg, 360 m yd -1 long with an average gradient of 12.9% and sections at over 20%. At the summit of the Paterberg, there were 51 km left to the finish.Roadbook 2016 15Roadbook 2016 26–31 There were six more climbs in the next 40 km on loop. The first of these was the Koppenberg, which includes the steepest roads of the race, with gradients of 22%. This was followed by the flat cobbles of the Mariaborrestraat and the climbs of the Steenbeekdries and the Taaienberg. The roads took the riders south into Ronse for the climb of the Kruisberg, then north-west to the foot of the Oude Kwaremont. The Oude Kwaremont–Paterberg combination was used for a second time; at the top of the Paterberg there were 11.7 km to the finish. These took place over mainly flat roads, with a long finishing straight on the outskirts of Oudenaarde.Roadbook 2016 15Roadbook 2016 31–32 Climbs and cobbled roads In total, the race included eighteen categorized climbs. + Categorized climbs in the 2016 Tour of Flanders Number Name Distance from finish (km kilometres) Road surface Length (m metres) Average gradient (%) Maximum gradient (%) 1 Oude Kwaremont 152 cobbles 2200 4.2% 11% 2 Kortekeer 141 asphalt 1000 6.4% 17.1% 3 Eikenberg 134 cobbles 1300 6.2% 11% 4 Wolvenberg 130 asphalt 666 6.8% 17.3% 5 Molenberg 118 cobbles 463 7% 14.2% 6 Leberg 97 asphalt 700 6.1% 14% 7 Berendries 93 asphalt 940 7.1% 12.4% 8 Valkenberg 88 asphalt 875 6% 15% 9 Kaperij 77 asphalt 1250 5% 8% 10 Kanarieberg 70 asphalt 1000 7.7% 14% 11 Oude Kwaremont 54 cobbles 2200 4.2% 11% 12 Paterberg 51 cobbles 400 12.5% 20% 13 Koppenberg 44 cobbles 600 11.6% 22% 14 Steenbeekdries 39 cobbles 820 7.6% 12.8% 15 Taaienberg 36 cobbles 800 7.1% 18% 16 Kruisberg–Hotond 26 cobbles–asphalt 2500 5% 9% 17 Oude Kwaremont 16 cobbles 2200 4.2% 12% 18 Paterberg 13 cobbles 400 12.5% 20% Additionally, there were seven sectors of flat cobbled roads: thumb|right|The Haaghoek in Sint-Kornelis-Horebeke is the penultimate flat cobbled sector of the race, at 101 km from the finish. + Flat cobbled roads in the 2016 Tour of Flanders Number Cobbled Sector Distance from finish (km kilometres) Length (m metres) 1 Huisepontweg 173 1600 2 Ruitersstraat 130 800 3 Mater-Kerkgate 127 2650 4 Jagerij 124 800 5 Paddestraat 113 2300 6 Haaghoek 101 2000 7 Mariaborrestraat 40 2000 Participating teams The 18 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and were obliged to participate in the race.http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/16/82/39/2-ROA-20150619-E_English.pdf UCI Cycling Regulations: Part 2: Road Races page 110 article 2.15.127 Union Cycliste Internationale 20 February 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20150702030045/http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/16/82/39/2-ROA-20150619-E_English.pdf 2 July 2015 An additional seven UCI Professional Continental teams were given wildcard entries: two Belgian teams (WGG 2016 and TSV 2016), a Dutch team (ROO 2016), a German team (BOH 2016), a French team (DEN 2016), an Italian team (STH 2016a) and a Polish team (CCC 2016).Direct Energie, Southeast picked as Tour of Flanders wildcards. Six teams in addition to 18 WorldTour squads announced http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/direct-energie-southeast-picked-as-tour-of-flanders-wildcards/ Cycling News 20 February 2016 With eight on each team, the peloton at the start of the race included 200 riders. Of these, 118 reached the finish line.Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Ronde_van_Vlaanderen_2016 ProCyclingStats 9 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20180102125123/https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Ronde_van_Vlaanderen_2016 2 January 2018 dead dmy-all UCI WorldTeams ALM AST BMC CPT 2016a DDD EQS FDJ IAM LAM LTS MOV OBE 2016a TGA KAT TLJ SKY TNK TFR 2016 UCI Professional Continental teams BOH CCC DEN ROO STH 2016a TSV WGG 2016 Pre-race favourites The principal favourites for the race were Tom Boonen (EQS 2016) and Fabian Cancellara (EQS 2016), both of whom had won the race on three previous occasions.Woodpower Zeb Tour of Flanders 2016: Preview http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourofflanders/preview/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 31 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160408001151/http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourofflanders/preview/ 2016-04-08 dead Cancellara was in strong form, having won the Strade Bianche and having come fourth in E3 Harelbeke and Gent–Wevelgem the previous week. Boonen, however, was not in strong form: he had not won a major classic since 2012 and had not performed strongly in the previous week's races. Nevertheless, Cycling Weekly wrote "you can never write the three-time Flanders winner off in a race like this."Clarke Stuart Nine riders to watch at the Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/nine-riders-watch-tour-flanders-218816 9 April 2016 Cycling Weekly 3 April 2016 The other former winners present at the start were Alexander Kristoff (KAT 2016), the defending champion, and Cancellara's teammate Stijn Devolder. Kristoff's strong sprint gave him an advantage if he was in a group that finished together; he had, however, been ill in the previous week. Devolder, meanwhile, was expected to work for Cancellara. The other major favourite for the race was Peter Sagan (TNK 2016), the reigning world road race champion. Sagan had come second in E3 Harelbeke and first in Gent–Wevelgem. He had the advantage of being able to follow attacks and also to wait to use his strong sprint if he came to the finish with other riders.Fretz Caley Preview: Flanders is bike racing at its finest http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/03/news/preview-flanders-bike-racing-finest_400515 9 April 2016 VeloNews Competitor Group, Inc. 31 March 2016 5 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160405151712/http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/03/news/preview-flanders-bike-racing-finest_400515 dead Other riders with a chance of victory included Michał Kwiatkowski (SKY 2016), who had won E3 Harelbeke ahead of Sagan and who had a strong team with Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe; Greg Van Avermaet (BMC 2016); Boonen's teammates Niki Terpstra and Zdeněk Štybar; Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ 2016); and Tiesj Benoot (LTS 2016). Race summary thumb|upright|Imanol Erviti, who rode for 180 km in the breakaway and finished seventh (pictured at the 2015 Tour de France) Before the race began, there was a minute's silence in memory of Antoine Demoitié, a WGG 2016 y rider who had been killed in a crash with a motorbike during Gent–Wevelgem. After 25 km, the riders arrived in Hooglede, the birthplace of Daan Myngheer, a rider for RLM 2016 who had died following a heart attack in the Critérium International; the peloton rode slowly through the town in memory of him.Peter Sagan storms to Tour of Flanders win http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourofflanders/results/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160408163706/http://www.cyclingnews.com/tourofflanders/results/ 2016-04-08 dead The day's breakaway took a long time to form: over an hour into the day's racing, with more than 70 km covered, a six-man move broke free. The riders were Hugo Houle (ALM 2016), Federico Zurlo (LAM 2016), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora–Argon 18), Gijs Van Hoecke (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise) and Wesley Kreder (Roompot–Oranje Peloton).Wynn Nigel Peter Sagan wins Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/peter-sagan-wins-tour-of-flanders-219413 9 April 2016 Cycling Weekly 3 April 2016 They earned a lead of over four minutes, but broke apart as the day's climbs began. During the middle part of the race several riders were forced to withdraw after crashes. Arnaud Démare (FDJ 2016), the winner of Milan–San Remo, crashed after 100 km, while Marcus Burghardt (BMC) and Tiesj Benoot crashed on the Wolvenberg shortly afterwards. Less than 30 km later, several BMC riders crashed together and four were forced to withdraw. These included Greg Van Avermaet, who broke his collarbone.Hood Andrew Van Avermaet, Demare, Benoot crash out of De Ronde http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/04/news/van-avermaet-demare-benoot-crash-out_400814 9 April 2016 VeloNews Competitor Group, Inc. 3 April 2016 7 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160407234557/http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/04/news/van-avermaet-demare-benoot-crash-out_400814 dead thumb|upright|Peter Sagan, wearing the rainbow-striped jersey of the reigning world champion (pictured at the 2016 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad) On the Molenberg, with more than 110 km remaining, a hard effort by Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step) caused a split in the main peloton, with 25 riders in the front group, but the groups came back together shortly afterwards. André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal) and Nils Politt (Katusha) then attacked on the Leberg and were allowed to go; they were followed by Dmitriy Gruzdev (AST 2016) and Dimitri Claeys (WGG 2016 Y). These four riders joined up with Houle, Erviti and Van Hoecke from the original break; Houle was dropped soon afterwards to form a six-man leading group, which had a two-minute lead at the foot of the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. On the climb, Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx–Quick-Step) and Dylan van Baarle (CPT 2016a) attacked from the peloton. Another group, including Sep Vanmarcke and Ian Stannard, attacked before the Koppenberg. Stannard then went solo over the top of the climb. Meanwhile, Vandenbergh and Van Baarle caught up with the group of leaders. There were several more attacks before the climb of the Taaienberg, where a small group of favourites formed and quickly caught Stannard. Shortly afterwards, with 30 km remaining, Michał Kwiatkowski and Peter Sagan attacked together and were joined by Sep Vanmarcke. They crossed the Kruisberg together and caught the remainder of the breakaway with 23.5 km remaining, 40 seconds ahead of the peloton. On the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont, Kwiatkowski was unable to follow Sagan and Vanmarcke, while Cancellara rode clear of the peloton. Sagan was first to the summit with Vanmarcke; Cancellara was twelve seconds behind. Cancellara was then caught by Niki Terpstra, Erviti and Claeys. On the final climb, the Paterberg, Sagan rode away from Vanmarcke, who was caught by Cancellara at the top of the climb. They rode in pursuit of Sagan, who had a 15-second lead at the summit. The chasing pair were unable to bring Sagan back and he rode to the finish to win his first Monument. Cancellara finished second, 25 seconds back, with Vanmarcke allowing him to take second place. Kristoff won the sprint for fourth place, ahead of Luke Rowe (Sky), 49 seconds behind Sagan. Result Top 10 (of 100 finishers) 1 Peter Sagan SVK TNK 2016 6hr 10' 37" 2 Fabian Cancellara SUI TFR 2016 + 25" 3 Sep Vanmarcke BEL TLJ 2016 + 28" 4 Alexander Kristoff NOR KAT 2016 + 49" 5 Luke Rowe GBR SKY 2016 + 49" 6 Dylan van Baarle NED CPT 2016a + 49" 7 Imanol Erviti ESP MOV 2016 + 49" 8 Zdeněk Štybar CZE EQS 2016 + 49" 9 Dimitri Claeys BEL WGG 2016 + 49" 10 Niki Terpstra NED EQS 2016 + 49" Post-race analysis Rider reactions Sagan celebrated his victory by doing a wheelie after the finishing line. He said afterwards that it was the hardest Tour of Flanders he had ever raced, having been "full gas" throughout and suggested that Cancellara had made a mistake by not following the attack he had made with Kwiatkowski and Vanmarcke.Ryan Barry Sagan: Tour of Flanders was full gas from start to finish http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sagan-tour-of-flanders-was-full-gas-from-start-to-finish/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Cancellara was emotional after finishing his final Tour of Flanders. He said that he had "missed this one second", referring to the attack by Sagan. He said that he and Vanmarcke had done all they could in the chase, but that Sagan was too strong.O'Shea Sadhbh Cancellara misses out on swansong victory at Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-misses-out-on-swansong-victory-at-tour-of-flanders/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Vanmarcke, meanwhile, said that he had struggled due to crashes in the middle part of the race and then had suffered cramp when Sagan attacked on the Paterberg. He described the move by Sagan and Kwiatkowski as the "decisive moment in the race".Decaulwé Brecht Vanmarcke back on the podium at Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vanmarcke-back-on-the-podium-at-tour-of-flanders/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Boonen, who finished fifteenth, described Sagan as "really strong" and as the "deserved winner"; he said "The way [Sagan] rode up the Paterberg was a good showcase on how to ride a bike". Boonen, meanwhile, turned his attention to Paris–Roubaix the following week.Decaluwé Brecht Confident Boonen no factor in Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/confident-boonen-no-factor-in-tour-of-flanders/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Van Avermaet described himself as "really disappointed" following his crash, which ruled him out of Paris–Roubaix.Ryan Barry Van Avermaet ruled out of Paris–Roubaix after Tour of Flanders crash http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-ruled-out-of-paris-roubaix-after-tour-of-flanders-crash/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Luke Rowe's fifth place was Team Sky's best ever performance in the Tour of Flanders; he praised Kwiatkowski's move, but said "there's not much you can do when someone has better legs"; he described Sagan, Cancellara and Vanmarcke as "the three strongest guys in the race".Ryan Barry Rowe accepts the law of the strongest at Tour of Flanders http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rowe-accepts-the-law-of-the-strongest-at-tour-of-flanders/ 9 April 2016 Cyclingnews.com 3 April 2016 Imanol Erviti, who had been in the breakaway for 180 km, finished seventh. Cycling Weekly described this as "phenomenal"; it was Movistar's best ever result.Clarke Stuart Imanol Erviti makes history in phenomenal Tour of Flanders ride http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/imanol-erviti-makes-history-phenomenal-tour-flanders-ride-219509 9 April 2016 Cycling Weekly 4 April 2016 World Tour standings Sagan remained at the top of the 2016 UCI World Tour standings following his victory; his total of 329 points was more than 100 ahead of the next rider, his teammate Alberto Contador. Cancellara moved up from thirteenth to fourth and Vanmarcke from sixteenth to sixth.UCI WorldTour Ranking - 2016 http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/cache/2/TheASP.asp@PageID%3D102007&SportID%3D102&CompetitionID%3D24055&SeasonID%3D490&EventID%3D12146&GenderID%3D1&ClassID%3D1&EventPhaseID%3D1444755&Phase1ID%3D1444789&TaalCode%3D2&StyleID%3D0&Cache%3D2.html?579662 uci.ch Union Cycliste Internationale 9 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160409221857/http://www.uci.html.infostradasports.com/cache/2/TheASP.asp%40PageID%3D102007%26SportID%3D102%26CompetitionID%3D24055%26SeasonID%3D490%26EventID%3D12146%26GenderID%3D1%26ClassID%3D1%26EventPhaseID%3D1444755%26Phase1ID%3D1444789%26TaalCode%3D2%26StyleID%3D0%26Cache%3D2.html?579662 9 April 2016 3 April 2016 dead Sagan's total put Slovakia in third place in the nations' rankings, ahead of Great Britain and Spain, even though he was the only Slovakian to have scored World Tour points.Wynn Nigel Peter Sagan now has more WorldTour points than British riders' combined total http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/peter-sagan-now-worldtour-points-great-britain-219560 9 April 2016 Cycling Weekly 4 April 2016 UCI World Tour standings on 3 April 2016 yes 1 Peter Sagan SVK TNK 2016 329 2 Richie Porte AUS BMC 2016 222 3 Alberto Contador ESP TNK 2016 171 4 Fabian Cancellara SUI TFR 2016 166 5 Greg Van Avermaet BEL BMC 2016 162 6 Sep Vanmarcke BEL TLJ 2016 141 7 Arnaud Démare FRA FDJ 2016 137 8 Sergio Henao COL SKY 2016 115 9 Simon Gerrans AUS OBE 2016a 113 10 Alexander Kristoff NOR KAT 2016 106 See also 2016 in men's road cycling References Sources Ronde van Vlaanderen (road book) Tour of Flanders http://rvv.pro.p.assets.flandersclassics.be/files/3333/original/FC16_RVV_TECHNISCGEGIDS_MEN_def.pdf?1458659642 Flanders Classics 2016 Vilvoorde Roadbook 2016 2 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160413083921/http://rvv.pro.p.assets.flandersclassics.be/files/3333/original/FC16_RVV_TECHNISCGEGIDS_MEN_def.pdf?1458659642 13 April 2016 dead Footnotes 30em External links http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/en Category:Tour of Flanders Tour of Flanders Tour of Flanders