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.

Race details
Dates5 April 1970
Stages1
Distance265 km (164.7 mi)
Winning time6h 24'
Results
  Winner  Eric Leman (BEL) (Flandria–Mars)
  Second  Walter Godefroot (BEL) (Salvarani-Chiorda)
  Third  Eddy Merckx (BEL) (Faemino–Faema)
← 1969
1971 →

Course edit

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 edit

There were eight categorized climbs:

Results edit

Cyclist Team Time
1   Eric Leman (BEL) Flandria–Mars 6h 24'
2   Walter Godefroot (BEL) Salvarani-Chiorda s.t.
3   Eddy Merckx (BEL) Faemino–Faema + 10"
4   Frans Verbeeck (BEL) Geens–Watney s.t.
5   Roger Rosiers (BEL) Bic s.t.
6   Jean-Pierre Monseré (BEL) Flandria–Mars + 25"
7   Patrick Sercu (BEL) Dreher s.t.
8   Jan Janssen (NED) Bic s.t.
9   Daniel Van Ryckeghem (BEL) Mann–Grundig s.t.
10   Evert Dolman (NED) Willem II–Gazelle s.t.

References edit

  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