1974 Tour of Flanders explained

Date:31 March 1974
Stages:1
Distance:256
Unit:km
Time:6h 10'
Speed:41.514
First:Cees Bal
First Nat:NED
First Team:Gan–Mercier
Second:Frans Verbeeck
Second Nat:BEL
Second Team:Maes–Watneys
Third:Walter Godefroot
Third Nat:BEL
Third Team:Flandria–Carpenter
Previous:1973
Next:1975

The 58th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 31 March 1974. Dutchman Cees Bal won the classic ahead of Frans Verbeeck and Eddy Merckx.[1] [2] The race started in Ghent and finished in Meerbeke (Ninove).

Course

A group of 40 was formed after the Oude Kwaremont, further reduced on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. At six kilometers from the finish Cees Bal broke clear from the group, powering on to the victory in Meerbeke.[1]

Climbs

There were seven categorized climbs:

valign=top align=left width=25% valign=top align=left width=25%

Results

CyclistTeamTime
1Gan–Mercier6h 10' 00"
2Watneys–Maes+ 19"
3Flandria–Carpenters.t.
4Moltenis.t.
5Mic–Ludos.t.
6Flandria–Carpenter+ 0'45"
7Bic+0'51"
8IJsboerke–Colners.t.
9Brooklyn (cycling team)s.t.
10Mic–Ludo+ 1' 23"

Note: third-place finished Walter Godefroot tested positive for doping after the race and was disqualified, moving Merckx up to third.

Notes and References

  1. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium,, p168
  2. Web site: McGann. McGann. Bill. Carol. 1974 Ronde van Vlaanderen results . BikeRaceInfo. McGann Publishing. Cherokee Village, Arkansas. 1 June 2015.