1974 Tour of Flanders

Race details
Dates31 March 1974
Stages1
Distance256 km (159.1 mi)
Winning time6h 10'
Results
  Winner  Cees Bal (NED) (Gan–Mercier)
  Second  Frans Verbeeck (BEL) (Maes–Watneys)
  Third  Walter Godefroot (BEL) (Flandria–Carpenter)
← 1973
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:

Results

Cyclist Team Time
1  Cees Bal (NED) Gan–Mercier 6h 10' 00"
2  Frans Verbeeck (BEL) Watneys–Maes + 19"
3  Walter Godefroot (BEL) Flandria–Carpenter s.t.
4  Eddy Merckx (BEL) Molteni s.t.
5  Eric Leman (BEL) Mic–Ludo s.t.
6  Marc Demeyer (BEL) Flandria–Carpenter + 0'45"
7  Gerben Karstens (NED) Bic +0'51"
8  Rik Van Linden (BEL) IJsboerke–Colner s.t.
9  Patrick Sercu (BEL) Brooklyn (cycling team) s.t.
10  Wilfried Wesemael (BEL) Mic–Ludo + 1' 23"

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

References

  1. ^ a b Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p168
  2. ^ McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1974 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 1 June 2015.