Route for 94th Tour of Flanders announced

January 21st, 2010 by Al Fresco View Comments

The route for the 94th edition of the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen) was presented earlier this week. The course has undergone some extensive modifications. Most notably, the Eikenmolen, where Stijn Devolder made an impact the last two years has been dropped from the route.

The Tour takes place on Sunday, April 4 and will start, as usual, on the Grote Markt in Brugge. But ahead of the Flemish Ardennes, the route head to the Northwest and pass along the North Sea before turning back Southeast towards Turnhout.

In 2009, the Molenberg was the first hill of the day. It will come later in the race this year and organizers hope that the peloton will be spread out a little more before hitting the 90 degree approach to the climb en masse.

Another striking finding is that both the Valkenberg in Brakel and Eikenmolen Lierde have been excluded from this round. The Wall of Grammont is expected to be the new pain point for the peloton.

Climbs: