1970 Tour of Flanders
Date5 April 1970
Stages1
Distance265
Unitkm
Time6h 24'
FirstEric Leman
First natBEL
First teamFlandria–Mars
SecondWalter Godefroot
Second natBEL
Second teamSalvarani-Chiorda
ThirdEddy Merckx
Third natBEL
Previous1969
Next1971

The 54th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 5 April 1970. Belgian Eric Leman won ahead of Walter Godefroot and Eddy Merckx, winning his first of three in the classic[1][2] The race started in Ghent and finished in Gentbrugge. 37 out of 173 riders arrived.

Course

On the ascent of the Muur van Geraardsbergen Frenchman Roger Pingeon broke clear from the peloton. Eddy Merckx was the favourite to win the race and counter-attacked with Walter Godefroot and Eric Leman. They caught Pingeon on the Bosberg, the climb that made its first appearance in the Tour of Flanders. Pingeon was distanced in the finale and Merckx suffered a puncture in the ultimate kilometer. Leman beat Godefroot in a highly contested two-man sprint and won the race, Merckx finished third.[3]

Climbs

There were eight categorized climbs:

Results

CyclistTeamTime
1Eric Leman (Belgium)Flandria–Mars6h 24'
2Walter Godefroot (Belgium)Salvarani-Chiordas.t.
3Eddy Merckx (Belgium)+ 10"
4Frans Verbeeck (Belgium)Geens–Watneys.t.
5Roger Rosiers (Belgium)Bics.t.
6Jean-Pierre Monseré (Belgium)Flandria–Mars+ 25"
7Patrick Sercu (Belgium)Drehers.t.
8Jan Janssen (Netherlands)Bics.t.
9Daniel Van Ryckeghem (Belgium)Mann–Grundigs.t.
10Evert Dolman (Netherlands)Willem II–Gazelles.t.

References

  1. ^ Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p150
  2. ^ McGann, Bill & McGann, Carol. "1970 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ^ Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p169-170