History
The race only came into being in 1985, as a preparation race for the World Road Race championships. Hence it is young by European cycling standards. Between 1985 and 2006 the race was known as Veenendaal-Veenendaal. Over the years it has been run at three different times on the international cycling calendar. It was instigated by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) who wanted to create a preparation race in August just before the World Championships. In 1994 the event was moved to mid April and given a date on a Thursday, the day after La Flèche Wallonne and a few days before Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The race organisers were never happy with this because it reduced the quality of the field with the top teams unwilling to race three times in four days, however in 2004 the UCI agreed to a date change to a less intense week on the Friday after Paris–Roubaix and two days before the Amstel Gold Race. However the event was moved to yet another new date in 2006, with the race taking place in June, away from the congested Spring Classics calendar and no longer competing in the same midweek with the Grote Scheldeprijs another 1.HC event. For the 2010 season, another date change is scheduled: the race will move to mid-August.
In 2005 Veenendaal–Veenendaal benefited from the creation of the new UCI ProTour structure when it was elevated to 1.HC standard bringing to the same level as Belgium's Omloop "Het Volk" and Germany's Rund um den Henninger Turm, thus bringing more sponsorship and publicity. In 2001 the race looked like being cancelled as the Foot and Mouth outbreak hit the Netherlands but the race eventually went ahead as the organisers modified the route to avoid sensitive areas.
The race itself takes place on winding roads through the Veluwe National Park over a distance of roughly 209 km which is interspersed with little steep cobbled climbs, the most significant of which are the Grebbeberg at the town of Rhenen and the Posbank. The list of winners includes some top class riders such as Joop Zoetemelk, Jean-Paul van Poppel, Olaf Ludwig, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Andrei Tchmil and Jeroen Blijlevens.
The 2007 race brought on board the Dutch organisation Food Valley as main sponsors and the event had the alternative title of The Dutch Food Valley Classic.
Until 2008, the race always started in Veenendaal, but in 2009 the race started in Barneveld.
Read more about this topic: Dutch Food Valley Classic
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