E3 Harelbeke

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E3 Harelbeke
E3 Harelbeke logo.svg
Race details
Date Late March
Region Flanders, Belgium
Local name(s) E3 Harelbeke (Dutch)
Nickname(s) The little Tour of Flanders
Discipline Road
Competition UCI World Tour
Type One-day race
Organiser Hand in Hand VZW
Race director Philippe Vermeeren
History
First edition 1958 (1958)
Editions 58 (as of 2015)
First winner  Armand Desmet (BEL)
Most wins  Tom Boonen (BEL) (5 wins)
Most recent  Geraint Thomas (GBR)

E3 Harelbeke, previously known as Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Harelbeke, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kilometres,[1] mainly in the Flemish Ardennes.

First raced in 1958, it is one of the more recently founded one-day classics, but has developed into a highly prestigious and desirable event.[2] It is on the UCI World Tour calendar, as the competition's first cobbled classic of the season.

Belgian Tom Boonen holds the record of victories with five wins, trailing cycling icon Rik Van Looy who won four times.

Cobbled Classic

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E3 Harelbeke is held on the last Friday of March and marks the start of the Flemish Cycling Week, opening up a fortnight of WorldTour racing on the cobbles and bergs of Flanders.[2] It is the second in the series of cobbled races in Belgium and northern France that take place over a two-week period from the Wednesday after Milan–San Remo until Paris–Roubaix. E3 Harelbeke is the race that resembles the Tour of Flanders the most.[3]

In 2010, UCI made some calendar changes, most notably positioning the Pro Tour race Gent–Wevelgem on the day after E3 Harelbeke, causing a dispute between the two races.[4] In 2012, when the E3 race was upgraded to World Tour status as well, organizers changed the date of their event to Friday to meet the demands of UCI, who requested a day of rest between two arduous World Tour events.[5]

Because of its place on the calendar, the race has built a reputation as the final rehearsal for the more prestigious Tour of Flanders, the Flemish monument race coming nine days after the E3 Harelbeke.[6] With a distance of 200–215 km, the E3 route is shorter than the Tour of Flanders, but addresses many of the same roads and hills of the Flemish Ardennes.[7] With cobbles, steep climbs, winding and narrow roads, and often affected by wind, it offers all race circumstances that characterize Flemish classic races.[3] Favourites for the Tour of Flanders often do well in Harelbeke, eager to win the race and using it as the perfect testing ground. Because of the similarities, Flemish media have dubbed the race The little Tour of Flanders.[8][9][10]

History

The E3 Harelbeke was created in 1958. The first editions were raced from Harelbeke to Antwerp and back, hence the event was named Harelbeke-Antwerp-Harelbeke. Belgian cycling icon Rik Van Looy won the race four times in the 1960s. Contrary to popular belief, E3 is not the race's title sponsor. The race was renamed E3-Prijs Harelbeke in the early 1960s, as a reference to the former European route E03, a series of European highways from Lisbon to Stockholm.[11] The Belgian part of the E3 - now called E17 - connected Antwerp and Kortrijk, close to Harelbeke.

Tom Boonen won a record five times

Although the race is much younger than many other cycling classics in Flanders, it quickly became a desirable entry for specialists of the cobbled races. Many winners on the roll of honour have also won the Tour of Flanders or Paris–Roubaix in their careers. Classics specialist Jan Raas won the race three consecutive times in the early 1980s. In the 1990s Johan Museeuw and Andrei Tchmil won their first important one-day races in Harelbeke, before winning cycling's most prestigious cobbled classics.[3][12]

Since the first edition until 2011, the race was held on a Saturday in the weekend before the Tour of Flanders, forming a tandem with the Brabantse Pijl on Sunday. From 2005 until 2011 the race was part of the continental UCI Europe Tour, where it was classified as a 1.HC race. Belgian Tom Boonen, claiming four consecutive wins, and Swiss Fabian Cancellara were the main protagonists with some spectacular victories, and the event garnered a lot of prestige on the international calendar.[13][14][15][16]

In 2012 the race was upgraded to World Tour level, cycling's highest level of professional races. Tom Boonen won the edition, setting a record of five victories, and the race was officially named E3 Harelbeke.[11] In 2013 Fabian Cancellara claimed his third win after a long-distance attack on the Oude Kwaremont and a 35 km solo raid to the finish.[17] The most recent winners of E3 Harelbeke are Slovak Peter Sagan and Britain's Geraint Thomas, thereby cementing its reputation as a foremost cobbled classic.[18][19]

Route

Usually a little over 200 kilometres long and always starting and finishing in Harelbeke, the E3 Harelbeke contains anything between 12 and 17 short, sharp, cobbled climbs, mainly in the last 90 kilometres. As usual in Flemish one-day racing, local knowledge can be crucial.[2]

Route of the 2012 edition

The race starts from Harelbeke's Grote Markt and travels east, the first 110 km flat with cobbles around Oudenaarde and Zottegem. The riders reach the most easterly point at Ninove after 85 km and after swinging west and going through Geraardsbergen and Brakel, the tough part begins with a succession of short, sharp climbs some of which are cobbled as the race loops between Ronse and Oudenaarde.

The first categorized ascent in E3 Harelbeke is traditionally the Leberg, which comes shortly after a quick spin through the town of Oudenaarde, where Belgium’s top cobbled Classic, the Ronde van Vlaanderen/Tour des Flandres finishes nine days later. After that, round about the halfway point, E3’s main series of climbs begins. The Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont are notoriously difficult bergs where the race tends to split apart for good, whilst the Tiegemberg, the last climb of the day, comes at 16 kilometres from the finish.

Hills

Profile of the 2012 edition

The 12 hills in order of appearance are La Houppe, Berg Stene, Boigneberg, Eikenberg, Stationsberg, Taaienberg, Oude Kruikens, Kapelberg, Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont, Knokteberg and Tiegemberg. The Paterberg is a cobbled 300m climb that averages 12.5%, while the Oude Kwaremont is 2200m, of which 1500m cobbled, with a gradient average of 4.2%.

Winners

Rider Team
1958 Belgium Armand Desmet (BEL) Groene Leeuw-Leopold
1959 Belgium Norbert Kerckhove (BEL) Faema-Guerra
1960 Belgium Daniel Doom (BEL) Wiel's–Flandria
1961 Belgium Arthur De Cabooter (BEL) Groene Leeuw-SAS-Sinalco
1962 Belgium André Messelis (BEL) Wiel's-Groene Leeuw
1963 Belgium Noël Foré (BEL) Faema-Flandria
1964 Belgium Rik Van Looy (BEL) Solo-Superia
1965 Belgium Rik Van Looy (BEL) Solo-Superia
1966 Belgium Rik Van Looy (BEL) Solo-Superia
1967 Belgium Willy Bocklant (BEL) Flandria–De Clerck
1968 Belgium Jaak De Boever (BEL) Smiths
1969 Belgium Rik Van Looy (BEL) Willem II-Gazelle
1970 Belgium Daniel Van Ryckeghem (BEL) Mann-Grundig
1971 Belgium Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL) Flandria–Mars
1972 Belgium Hubert Hutsebaut (BEL) Goldor-IJsboerke
1973 Belgium Willy In 't Ven (BEL) Molteni
1974 Belgium Herman Van Springel (BEL) MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy
1975 Belgium Frans Verbeeck (BEL) Maes-Watney
1976 Belgium Walter Planckaert (BEL) Maes-Rokado
1977 Germany Dietrich Thurau (GER) TI-Raleigh
1978 Belgium Freddy Maertens (BEL) Flandria–Velda–Lano
1979 Netherlands Jan Raas (NED) TI-Raleigh
1980 Netherlands Jan Raas (NED) TI-Raleigh
1981 Netherlands Jan Raas (NED) TI-Raleigh
1982 Belgium Jan Bogaert (BEL) Europ Decor
1983 Belgium William Tackaert (BEL) Splendor-Euroshop
1984 Netherlands Bert Oosterbosch (NED) Panasonic–Raleigh
1985 Australia Phil Anderson (AUS) Panasonic–Raleigh
1986 Belgium Eric Vanderaerden (BEL) Panasonic–Merckx–Agu
1987 Belgium Eddy Planckaert (BEL) Panasonic–Isostar
1988 Italy Guido Bontempi (ITA) Carrera Jeans–Vagabond
1989 Belgium Eddy Planckaert (BEL) ADR-Coors Light
1990 Denmark Soren Lilholt (DNK) Histor-Sigma
1991 Germany Olaf Ludwig (GER) Panasonic–Sportlife
1992 Belgium Johan Museeuw (BEL) Lotto–Mavic–MBK
1993 Italy Mario Cipollini (ITA) GB-MG Maglificio
1994 Moldova Andrei Tchmil (MDA) Lotto
1995 Belgium Bart Leysen (BEL) Mapei–GB–Latexco
1996 Belgium Carlo Bomans (BEL) Mapei–GB
1997 Belgium Hendrik Van Dijck (BEL) TVM-Farm Frites
1998 Belgium Johan Museeuw (BEL) Mapei–Bricobi
1999 Belgium Peter Van Petegem (BEL) TVM-Farm Frites
2000 Russia Sergei Ivanov (RUS) Farm Frites
2001 Belgium Andrei Tchmil (BEL) Lotto–Adecco
2002 Italy Dario Pieri (ITA) Alessio
2003 Netherlands Steven de Jongh (NED) Rabobank
2004 Belgium Tom Boonen (BEL) Quick-Step–Davitamon
2005 Belgium Tom Boonen (BEL) Quick-Step–Innergetic
2006 Belgium Tom Boonen (BEL) Quick-Step–Innergetic
2007 Belgium Tom Boonen (BEL) Quick-Step–Innergetic
2008 Norway Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR) Team CSC
2009 Italy Filippo Pozzato (ITA) Team Katusha
2010 Switzerland Fabian Cancellara (SUI) Team Saxo Bank
2011 Switzerland Fabian Cancellara (SUI) Leopard Trek
2012 Belgium Tom Boonen (BEL) Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2013 Switzerland Fabian Cancellara (SUI) RadioShack–Leopard
2014 Slovakia Peter Sagan (SVK) Cannondale
2015 United Kingdom Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky

Multiple winners

Riders in italics are still active.

Wins Rider Editions
5  Tom Boonen (BEL) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012
4  Rik Van Looy (BEL) 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969
3  Jan Raas (NED) 1979, 1980, 1981
 Fabian Cancellara (SUI) 2010, 2011, 2013
2  Eddy Planckaert (BEL) 1987, 1989
 Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1992, 1998
 Andrei Tchmil (BEL) 1994, 2001

Wins per country

Wins Country
37  Belgium
5  Netherlands
4  Italy
3   Switzerland
2  Germany
1  Australia,  Denmark,  Moldova,  Norway,  Russia,  Slovakia,  United Kingdom

Trivia

  • The fastest edition was in 2003 when Dutchman Steven de Jongh won at an average speed of 45.9 km/h.
  • It is one of the only one-day cycling races in Flanders not organized by Flanders Classics.
  • In 2012 the famed Muur van Geraardsbergen was included in the E3 Harelbeke for the first time. It was organizers' whimsical response to Flanders Classics' decision to exclude the climb from the Tour of Flanders, an action that caused great upheaval among Flanders' tradition-loving cycling aficionado's.[20]
  • In 2015 a publicity poster for the race caused severe controversy. The poster showed a woman's bare legs, with a cyclist's gloved hand apparently going to pinch the woman's bottom. It was a reference to Peter Sagan's actions after the 2013 Tour of Flanders, when he pinched a podium miss' bottom during the after-race ceremony.[21] The poster was considered "demeaning" and "misogynistic" and was criticized by UCI and the Belgian Jury of Advertising Ethics.[21] It had to be withdrawn and replaced.[22]

References

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  14. Recap of the 2007 race (Flemish television)
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External links