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Flamme Rouge Flanders Tour
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The Flanders Tour ranks as one of the five cycling classics along with Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Lüttich-Bastogne-Lüttich and the Lombardy Tour as well as part of the UCI-ProTour. The infamous trial first held in 1913 is notorious for its “slipways” – short but at times extremely steep ascents on cobblestones, such as the Koppenberg, for example, (with a 25% gradient!) or the popular Muur von Geraardsbergen which must be tackled only 16 km before the finishing line in Meerbeke. The only German victors yet to emerge from the “Ronde”, Belgium’s most popular one-day race were Rudi Altig in 1964 and, forty years later, Steffen Wesemann. This year, led by duo Petacchi and Zabel, the Team Milram will start the “Vlaanderens Mooiste“ race at the large market in Bruges where on 2 April, as every year, the race day will be hailed as a red-letter day for cycling.
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