Tour of Flanders 2014

The battle of this 98th edition was delivered on Sunday, April 6th.

Results :
1     CH     Fabian Cancellara     TFR     6h15'18"
2     BE     Greg Van Avermaet     BMC     +0"
3     BE     Sep Vanmarcke     BEL     +0"
4     BE     Stijn Vandenbergh     OPQ     +0"
5     NW    Alexander Kristoff     KAT     +8"
6     NL     Niki Terpstra     OPQ     +18"
7     BE     Tom Boonen     OPQ     +28"
8     UK     Geraint Thomas     SKY     +37"
9     BE     Björn Leukemans     WGG     +28"
10   NL     Sebastian Langeveld     GRS     +43"

The organisers of the Tour of Flanders have responded to criticism of the Ronde’s parcours by announcing a number of changes to the route of next edition : The Oude Kwaremont still features three times.
The result of this makeover is a much more unrelenting finale in terms of the hills the riders will encounter. The organisation excpects the final to start at the fearsome Koppenberg.
Now the first climb on the race after just 108km, the Oude Kwaremont is tackled again almost 100km later, followed by a first ascent of the Paterberg. From there the riders continue to the Koppenberg, which now sits just 45km from home, the closest it has ever been to the finish.

This notorious ascent is not followed by the final circuit of the past 2 editions, but is the opener for the following series of ascents :

Koppenberg - at about 45 km of the finish
Steenbeekdries
Taaienberg
Kruisberg
Oude Kwaremont
Paterberg

Both the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg remain thus the final ascents of this edition. Compared to last yaer, the Paterberg will be climbed 1 x less , yet, in this edition, the Oude Kwaremont will be climbed 3 times.

Five 'new' ascents :

This year, the Tiegemberg, Rekelberg and the Berendries are skipped from the course.

The following clims are included in the program :
Kortekeer
Wolvenberg
Leberg
Kaperij
Kanarieberg

In this way, the organisation is trying to anticipate the predictable course of the competition with the Paterberg as key point.