Tour of Flanders

The 2002, 86th edition of the Tour of Flanders is being run over a distance of 263km starting from the Town Square (de Grote Markt) in the centre of the beautiful city of Brugge. The race then travels west toward Wenduine then south to Oostend. The riders then turn east and pass through Johan Museeuw's home town of Gistel, east to Hertsberge and then south-east towards Oudenaard. The hills begin after Oudenaarde where the race will be won and lost.

The Climbs
There are 16 climbs in this year's race including the famous Muur-Kappelmuur on the edge of Geraadsbergen at km 245 and the Paterberg at km 199. The first of the climbs is the Mollenberg, a cobbled climb starting at km 151 with maximum gradient of 17%. For the first time since 1987, the Koppenberg has been included in the Tour of Flanders.

The Koppenberg
This year the Koppenberg has been reinstated into the race for the first time in 15 years. The notorious cobbled climb was banned after the 1987 race when Jesper Skibby fell off and his bike was run over by a race director's car. The road was deemed too narrow and dangerous for a large group of riders to negotiate especially in the wet due to it's very rough cobbles.

The race organisers and the Oudeaarde council decided to repair the road so it could be included in the 2002 edition of the race. The road was widened and resurfaced with 'smoother' cobbles. The Koppenberg comes 206 km into the race and with a maximum gradient of 22% will provide an extra challenge to the riders.

The complete list of climbs for the 2002 Tour of Flanders (in sequential order) is:

See Also:
The Tour of Flanders 2002 - Home Page
History of The Tour of Flanders
The Tour of Flanders 2002 - Race Photos
Photos from Flanders

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Acknowledgements
Some of the information in this page was derived from the following sources:

1. the Tour of Flanders 2002 official web site
2. Cycling News