Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne began as a 3-day stage race. The first stage would take riders away from De Panne on the North Sea coast towards the hills of the Flemish Ardennes. The second stage would usually
see riders head back towards the coast. The third day would be split between a short start in the morning and a small time trial in the afternoon.
Brabantse Pijl had its first edition in 1961, the race started and finished in Brussels. The first winner was Pino Cerami, who now has a race named after him – the GP Cerami. Pijl is the Flemish word for arrow, making it the Brabant version of Flèche Wallonne.
Amstel Gold is a relatively newer classic, its first race only taking place in 1966. After a few organisational mishaps, it raced from Breda…
Liège Bastogne Liège (La Doyenne) is the oldest monument in cycling, with its first running in 1892. Although it was for amateurs at the time and Spa replaced Liège. 1894 saw professionals allowed to race for the first time and then bizarrely it wasn’t held for another 14 years.
The race began in 1936 but moved around a lot until settling on its modern Identity of finishing on the Mur de Huy. At various points the race started in Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, Liège, Verviers, Huy & Spa. For a while the race started from Charleroi (or nearby) and then headed east for a finishing circuit or two around Huy.
La Classicicissima is another old old bike race, starting up in 1907 (and an amateur 2-day version in 1906). The soon to be 2-time Tour de France winner Lucien Petit-Breton won the first race.
The 1920s were dominated by Costante Girardengo who won the race 6 times and had 5 further podium places. The Italian dominance continued into the 1940s with heavyweights like Alfredo Binda, Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi all winning the race.
Despite its lower prestige, Scheldeprijs is in fact older than the Tour of Flanders. The first was in 1907, 6 years before De Ronde. The first editions would start and finish in Antwerp, with the finish being on the now demolished Zurenborg velodrome.
The ‘Hell of the North’ is one of cycling oldest still active race – the first edition taking place in 1896. The owners of Roubaix’s new velodrome were looking for ways to increase business so began the race with Paris newspaper Le Vélo.
Race Information & History Race Type: Hilly classic with cobbles Dwars Door Vlaanderen started life as a two-day stage race called Dwars Door België. The first edition started in Brussels and headed to Sint-Truiden. The next day saw riders return from Sint-Truiden to the finish in Waregem. It’s been a one-day race since 1965 and …
Greatest Spring Classics Races – Dwars Door Vlaanderen Read More »
Compared to all of the other races in this series, Strade Bianche is the new kid. It started life as an amateur Gran Fondo in 1997 with the first pro edition in 2007. The following year it moved from October to March and quickly gained a cult following.