1969 Tour of Flanders

30 March 1969 1 259 km 6h 20' Eddy Merckx BEL Faemino 1969 Felice Gimondi ITA Salvarani Marino Basso ITA Molteni 1968 1970 The 53rd running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 30 March 1969. Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx won ahead of Italians Felice Gimondi and Marino Basso, winning his first of two in the Flemish classic.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, 90-73322-02-2, p150McGann McGann Bill Carol http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/classics/Tour%20of%20Flanders/1969-tour-of-flanders.html 1969 Ronde van Vlaanderen results BikeRaceInfo McGann Publishing Cherokee Village, Arkansas 1 June 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150908101319/http://bikeraceinfo.com/classics/Tour%20of%20Flanders/1969-tour-of-flanders.html 8 September 2015 live The race started in Ghent and finished in Gentbrugge. Course Eddy Merckx won practically every major cycling event in 1969, including the Tour of Flanders. The race was run in abysmal weather conditions. Before the first climb of the day a group of 22 riders containing all the favourites was in the front. In Vollezele, not far after Geraardsbergen and despite strong headwind, Merckx attacked solo with 73 kilometers to go. His team manager Lomme Driessens heavily objected, thinking it was too soon and telling him to stop his effort, but Merckx powered on towards the finish. He arrived in Gentbrugge with a 5' 36" lead over runner-up Felice Gimondi, the biggest margin in the history of the Tour of Flanders. Marino Basso, leading the pack, finished third at eight minutes.Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, 90-73322-02-2, p159-161 Climbs There were four categorized climbs: Kwaremont Kloosterstraat (Geraardsbergen) Valkenberg (Brakel) Kasteeldreef (Brakel) Results CyclistTeamTime1Eddy Merckx BEL Faemino 1969 6h 20'2Felice Gimondi ITA Salvarani + 5'36"3Marino Basso ITA Molteni + 8'08"4Franco Bitossi ITA Filotex s.t.5Bernard Van de Kerckhove BEL Faemino 1969 s.t.6Michele Dancelli ITA Molteni s.t.7Barry Hoban GBR Mercier–BP–Hutchinson s.t.8Frans Verbeeck BEL Okay–Diamant s.t.9Georges Claes jr BEL Goldor-Hertekamp s.t.10Jos Spruyt BEL Faemino 1969 s.t. References Further reading Clemitson Suze Remembering how Eddy Merckx won at home in the 1969 Tour of Flanders https://www.theguardian.com/sport/100-tours-100-tales/2014/apr/04/cycling-eddy-merckx-1969-tour-flanders 16 October 2019 TheGuardian.com Guardian Media Group 4 April 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20190705231159/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/100-tours-100-tales/2014/apr/04/cycling-eddy-merckx-1969-tour-flanders 5 July 2019 live Category:Tour of Flanders Tour of Flanders Tour of Flanders Category:1969 Super Prestige Pernod