The Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen (in English: 3 Days of West Flanders) is a 3-day Belgian stage race held in early March. It is also now known as the Johan Museeuw Classics. The race dates back to 1945 when it was known as the Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen (Tour of the Flemish Ardennes).
Between 1999 and 2002 it was called Guldensporentweedaagse. Say that really fast 5 times. Riders use it to prepare for the Classics season. With its generous use of cobbled roads and its (usually) brutal Flemish spring weather, its a perfect training course for those with Flanders or ParisRoubaix ambitions. With it prestigious 2.1 ranking, it attacts a fine field.
In earlier incarnations of the race, winners have included Marcel Kint, Raymond Impanis, Eric De Vlaeminck, Patick Sercu, Frans Verbeeck and Johan Museeuw.
Year
|
1st Place
|
2nd Place
|
3rd Place
|
Distance
|
Average Speed
km/hr
|
| 1996 |
Wilfried Peeters
4hr 0min |
Johan Museeuw
@ s.t. |
Hendrik Redant
@ 33sec |
170 km
( 1 stage) |
42.500 |
| 1997 |
Leon Van Bon
3hr 59min |
Erik Dekker
@ 8sec |
Tom Desmet
@ 9sec |
170 km
(1 stage) |
42.678 |
| 1998 |
Jesper Skibby
4hr 31min |
Lars Michaelsen
@ s.t. |
Hans De Meester
@ 30sec |
184 km
(1 stage) |
40.730 |
| 1999 |
Wilfried Peeters
8hr 57min 35sec |
Michael Stein Nielsen
@ 1min 11sec |
Steven De Jongh
@ 1min 13sec |
362 km
(2 stages) |
40.403 |
| 2000 |
Servais Knaven
9hr 2min 40sec |
Lars Michaelsen
@ s.t. |
Jacob Moe Rasmussen
@ 2sec |
360 km
(2 stages) |
39.803 |
| 2001 |
Erik Dekker
8hr 23min 45sec |
Michael Boogerd
@ 11sec |
Steven De Jongh
@ s.t. |
357.2 km |
42.545 |
| 2002 |
Erik Dekker
8hr 41min 39sec |
Steven Van Malderghem
@ 28sec |
Olaf Pollack
@ 29sec |
355 km
(2 stages + prologue) |
40.832 |
| 2003 |
Jaan Kirsipuu
9hr 1min |
Jimmy Casper
@ 4sec |
Lauri Aus
@ 16sec |
378 km
(2 stages + prologue) |
41.922 |
| 2004 |
Robert Bartko
8hr 59min 57sec |
Jaan Kirsipuu
@ 13sec |
Kurt Asle Arvesen
@ 16sec |
382.4 km
(2 stages + prologue) |
42.493 |
| 2005 |
Race cancelled because of bad weather |
| 2006 |
Niko Eeckhout
13hr 3min 33sec |
Robbie McEwen
@ 2sec |
Matti Breschel
@ 3sec |
535.7 km
(3 stages) |
41.020 |
| 2007 |
Jimmy Casper
12hr 58min 36sec |
Wouter Weylandt
@ 5sec |
Stefan Van Dijk
@ 11sec |
536.8 km
(3 stages) |
41.366 |
| 2008 |
Bobbie Traksel
12hr 57min 1sec |
Niko Eeckhout
@ 4sec |
Serguei Ivanov
@ 15sec |
543.5 km
(3 stages) |
41.968 |
| 2009 |
Johnny Hoogerland
13hr 54sec |
Kevin Ista
@ 13sec |
Jens Mouris
@ 23sec |
545 km
(3 stages) |
41.874 |
| 2010 |
Jens Keukeleire
12hr 56min 39sec |
Kris Boeckmans
@ 3sec |
Bobbie Traksel
@ 7sec |
554.6 km
(3 stages) |
42.846 |