The beginnings
The first race took place on 25 May 1913. Not unusual for the time, the route covered an impressive 324 kilometres and passed through many of the larger cities in Flanders that are still well-known today, including Sint-Niklaas, Oudenaarde, Ostend and Bruges. There were 37 riders at the start in Ghent - a very small field by today's standards, which was not unusual at the time, especially for a race that was taking place for the first time. The Belgian Paul Deman won the premiere after around twelve hours of riding in the sprint of a five-man group. After the second edition in 1914, world politics intervened, Europe was engulfed in the First World War and the Tour of Flanders did not take place from 1915 to 1918.
The founding history
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a close connection between cycling and the newspapers of the time. Cycling thrilled the masses, but apart from the popular track and six-day races, road cycling could only really be experienced and understood by the general public through the reports of newspaper reporters, who followed the racers out onto the country roads in their cars and recounted their competitions in captivating articles. The newspapers in turn benefited from readers' interest in these stories and were thus able to increase their circulation. What could be more obvious than organising cycling races themselves? Similar to the Tour de France, which was founded by the French sports newspaper "L'Auto", the newspaper "Sportwereld" played a key role in the founding of the Tour of Flanders. It was also intended to strengthen Flemish national pride towards the Walloon part of the population in Belgium.
The route
The course of the Tour of Flanders has changed repeatedly over the course of the race's 112-year history, but its character has remained the same: A rather flat first half of the race is followed by an extremely demanding finale. In the Flemish Ardennes, the route repeatedly leads over relatively short but up to 20 per cent steep climbs ("Hellingen"), often with cobblestones ("Kasseien"). Not all of the legendary climbs are always part of the route, the most famous of which include the Geraardsbergen wall, Bosberg, Koppenberg, Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. The latter two play a special role in the current route in deciding the winner. This year, the route leads from Antwerp over 278 kilometres to Oudenaarde.
Stars from the past
Until the 1960s and 1970s, the Tour of Flanders was predominantly a Belgian affair. Not that racers from other nations didn't try to win the race - but the "Ronde van Vlaanderen" developed such an importance over time that victory alone was fiercely contested among the large field of Belgian racers. Stars such as Alberich "Briek" Schotte, Rik van Steenbergen and Rik van Looy, who each won the race twice, stand out from the long list of Belgian victories. The fact that the superstar and über-Belgian Eddy Merckx "only" won twice in Flanders shows how competitive the race was and still is.
Stars of today
Two names currently dominate Belgium's biggest road cycling festival: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) has been on the podium every year since 2020 and has two second and one third place to his name in addition to three victories (2020, 2022, 2024). Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is hot on igm's heels with two victories. Given the success of both drivers in the spring of 2026 so far, they are likely to be among the contenders for victory again this year.
Record winner
Compared to other famous cycling races and the other monuments of cycling (Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour of Lombardy), the Tour of Flanders is the race with the fewest multiple victories. No rider has managed to win the Ronde more than three times. This circle includes Fiorenzo Magni (Italy), Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and the Belgians Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen.
German pros at the Tour of Flanders
In 1964, Mannheim-born Rudi Altig achieved the first victory for a German cyclist. The strong all-rounder was able to break away in strong winds around 60 kilometres before the finish - for the first time in Merelbeke - and won as a soloist with a four-minute lead. His average speed of more than 41 km/h set a new record at the time. He finished second in the 1968 Tour of Flanders. In 2004, former Telekom pro Steffen Wesemann was the last German rider to win the Flemish classic. The best finishes were achieved by Heinrich Haussler, who was still racing for Germany at the time, in second place in 2009 and Nils Politt in third place in 2024.
Race records
The longest edition of the Tour of Flanders was the very first: in 1913, the race covered 324 kilometres and lasted around twelve hours. The shortest race took place in 1941. Due to the circumstances of the Second World War and the German occupation, the finish was moved to Ghent and the route shortened to 198 kilometres. The fastest race of all time was completed by the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar in 2025 with an average speed of 44.998 kilometres per hour.
The biggest scandal
In 1987, the Dane Jesper Skibby led the race as a breakaway when he entered the Koppenberg. The narrow, cobbled cart track had already played a decisive role in the race on several occasions, as it often forced racers to dismount and push. Skibby, who was obviously at the end of his tether, tipped over on the incline and fell onto his side. As he was unable to free himself from the pedals quickly enough, a car following behind ran over his bike. Skibby was uninjured but abandoned the race. The Koppenberg was subsequently taken out of the race and only became part of the route again in 2002 after extensive renovation.
The women's race
Since 2004, the Tour of Flanders has also been organised for women, in principle on a shortened version of the men's route. Over the past 22 years, however, the length of the route has grown from 94 to just under 170 kilometres. The German professional rider Trixi Worrack took second place in the very first edition. Judith Arndt (2008) and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (2009) also brought two victories for German riders. Lisa Brennauer came second in 2021, while Liane Lippert finished third in 2025, the third victory for Belgian world champion Lotte Kopecky after 2022 and 2023.
>> Favourites, route, TV times: All information about the Tour of Flanders 2026
>> Tour of Flanders: Everything you need to know about the women's race
>> Tour of Flanders legend: The report from Tadej Pogačar's first victory
Thomas Musch
Publisher
