Eeklo is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the city of Eeklo proper. The name Eeklo comes from the contraction of eke and lo, two Old German words meaning 'oak' and 'sparse woods'.
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.
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 65 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (67), France (66) and the United Kingdom (66). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997, and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
Vlaams Belang is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the political far-right, although it self-describes as right-nationalist and has tried to distance itself from the far-right label in recent years.
The Royal Belgian Football Association is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, the headquarters of the RBFA are located in Tubize, next to its technical centre. Its chairman is Robert Huygens.
Tom Boonen is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the U.S. Postal Service and Quick-Step Floors teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Boonen won the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships, and was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the Overall title of the Tour of Qatar 4 times.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kilometres, mainly in the Flemish Ardennes.
Paul van Hyfte is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. He is a former rider at the Danish professional cycling team, CSC–Tiscali from 2002 to 2003. He left the team after 2003 and joined a Belgian team, Vlaanderen-T Interim for his final season in 2004.
Crelan–Euphony was a UCI Professional Continental cycling team based in Belgium that participated in UCI Continental Circuits races and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events. The team was managed by Gérard Bulens, with assistance from directeur sportifs Jef De Bilde, Claude Criquielion, Marco Saligari and Claude Van Collie.
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 Belgian Sportsman of the Year is elected at the end of each year by professional sportjournalists and former winners, annually since 1967. A Belgian Sportswoman of the Year title has been given out since 1975. Top winners include Ingrid Berghmans, Kim Clijsters (8) and Eddy Merckx (6).
Tom Steels is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, specialising in sprint finishes and one-day races. He was one of the top sprinters in the peloton.
Belgium participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Me and My Guitar" written by Tom Dice, Jeroen Swinnen and Ashley Hicklin. The song was performed by Tom Dice, who was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in November 2009 to represent the nation at the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. The song, "Me and My Guitar", was presented to the public on 7 March 2010 during the television special Eurosong 2010: een song voor Tom Dice!.
The Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee, abbreviated BOIC or COIB, is the National Olympic Committee for Belgium. The administrative seat is located in Brussels.
The 2017–18 season of the Belgian First Division B began in August 2017 and ended in April 2018. It was the second season of the First Division B following a change in league format from the old Belgian Second Division. The fixtures were announced near the end of June 2017. Cercle Brugge won the title and promotion on 10 March 2018. Although Tubize lost the relegation play-offs and therefore would have been relegated, they were saved as Lierse went bankrupt.
The 2018–19 season of the Belgian First Division B began in August 2018 and ended in April 2019. It was the third season of the First Division B following a change in league format from the old Belgian Second Division.
Undercover is a Belgian-Dutch Dutch-language crime drama television series starring Tom Waes, Anna Drijver and Frank Lammers. The plot revolves around a story inspired by real-life events, where undercover agents infiltrate a drug kingpin's operation in Limburg, a Flemish province bordering the Netherlands. The infiltration is executed by two agents, Bob Lemmens and Kim de Rooij, who are posing as a couple at the campground where the drug kingpin spends his weekends.
Events in the year 1983 in Belgium.
Events in the year 1970 in Belgium.
KANAL - Centre Pompidou is a museum for modern and contemporary art located in Brussels, Belgium, near the Brussels–Charleroi Canal, in the former buildings of a Citroën garage. The definitive opening is scheduled for 2025. During the renovations, the museum remains open at its temporary location K1, at 1, avenue du Port/Havenlaan.
