The Tour of Flanders, also known as De Ronde, is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organized by Flanders Classics. Its nickname is Vlaanderens Mooiste. First held in 1913, the Tour of Flanders had its 100th edition in 2016.
The Vuelta a España is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the race was first organised in 1935. The race was prevented from being run by the Spanish Civil War and World War II in the early years of its existence; however, the race has been held annually since 1955. As the Vuelta gained prestige and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend all around the globe. Since 1979, the event has been staged and managed by Unipublic, until in 2014, when the Amaury Sport Organisation acquired control. Since then, they have been working together. The peloton expanded from a primarily Spanish participation to include riders from all over the world. The Vuelta is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the wild card teams that the organizers can invite.
Alberic "Briek" Schotte was a Belgian professional road racing cyclist, one of the champions of the 1940s and 1950s. His stamina earned him the nickname "Iron Briek".
Henri "Rik" Van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period. Nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals, he dominated the classic cycle races in the late 1950s and first half of the ‘60s.
The 1974 Tour de France was the 61st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 21 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,098 km (2,546 mi). Eddy Merckx was attempting to win his fifth Tour de France in as many races.
Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society. As of 2010, Belgium counted around 17,000 sport clubs with approximately 1.35 million members, or about 13% of the Belgian population. Popular sports in Belgium are, among others: football, cycling, tennis, table tennis, athletics, swimming, basketball, badminton, judo, hockey, rowing, motocross, auto racing, volleyball, and running. Belgium has organized the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as well as the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the 2000 UEFA European Championship along with the Netherlands. The Belgium national football team's best result was a 3rd place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and a second place of the 1980 UEFA European Championship. Belgian football clubs have won 3 times the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and twice the UEFA Cup, plus 3 times the UEFA Supercup.
The 1951 Giro d'Italia was the 34th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started off in Milan on 19 May with a 202 km (125.5 mi) flat stage and concluded back in Milan with a 172 km (106.9 mi) relatively flat mass-start stage on 10 June. Fourteen teams entered the race, which was won by Italian Fiorenzo Magni of the Ganna team. Second and third respectively were Belgian Rik Van Steenbergen and Swiss rider Ferdinand Kübler.
The Challenge Desgrange-Colombo was a season-long road bicycle racing competition between 1948 and 1958. There were two classifications, one for individual cyclists and another for nations.
Peter Post was a Dutch professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1956 to 1972. Post competed in road and track racing. As a rider he is best remembered for Six-day racing, having competed in 155 races and won 65. Because of this success he was known as “De Keizer van de Zesdaagse” or “The Emperor of the Six Days”. In road racing his main achievements were winning the 1964 Paris–Roubaix and becoming national road race champion in 1963. He was on the podium three times at the La Flèche Wallonne but never won. Post’s other nickname was “de Lange” or “Big Man” because he was tall for a cyclist. After retiring from racing he had success as a Directeur sportif. Peter Post died in Amstelveen on 14 January 2011.
Christopher Clive Froome, is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Israel–Premier Tech. He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France, one Giro d'Italia (2018) and the Vuelta a España twice. He has also won several other stage races, and the Vélo d'Or three times. Froome has also won two Olympic bronze medals in road time trials, in 2012 and 2016, and took bronze in the 2017 World Championships.
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The bicycle race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country. The 33-year absence from the region was due to fear of political protests.
Julien Vermote is a Belgian professional cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.
Cycle racing is a popular sport in Belgium. It is governed by the Royal Belgian Cycling League since 1882, which became a founding member of the International Cycling Association in 1892 and later of the Union Cycliste Internationale in 1900. Since 2002, the Royal Belgian Cycling League is composed of the Wielerbond Vlaanderen (WBV), which governs the cycle racing in Flanders and of the Fédération Cycliste Wallonie-Bruxelles (FCWB), which governs the cycle racing in Wallonia and Brussels. Belgium has been one of the major countries in different categories of cycle racing over the years, including road cycling and cyclo-cross. The best Belgian cyclist of all times, Eddy Merckx, nicknamed the Cannibal, has won all of the three grand tours and all of the five monuments of cycling. He also won the UCI Road World Championships three times and set the hour record, among other achievements.
Mark Thomas McNally is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2018 for four different professional teams. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team Team Coop–Repsol.
Sander Helven is a Belgian former cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2016 for the Donckers Koffie–Jelly Belly and Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise teams.
Jonas Rickaert is a Belgian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck.
The 2017 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain between 19 August and 10 September 2017. The race was the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España and the final Grand Tour of the 2017 cycling season. The race started in Nîmes, France, and finished in Madrid. It was the first time the race has started in France and only the third time it has started outside Spain, after 1997 (Portugal) and 2009 (Netherlands).
The GP Briek Schotte is a criterium road cycling race held annually around the village of Desselgem in West Flanders, Belgium. The race was first organized in 1941. In 1942 and 1947, two editions were organized, one in July and the other in September. The race was named in honor of Belgian cyclist Briek Schotte, the winner of the first three editions of the race.
KOERS. Museum van de wielersport. is a museum in the Belgian city of Roeselare. The museum shows the history of the bicycle and cycling. It was officially opened on 27 March 1998 at the Polenplein.
Jasper Philipsen 
Mathieu van der Poel 
