Dwars door Vlaanderen (English: Across Flanders) is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race, which as from 2013 will count as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem (before 2010 the Brabantse Pijl instead of Gent–Wevelgem), the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The finish is always in Waregem. The race was first run in 1945 and the race has been every year since, with the exception of 1971. The race was previously named Dwars door België (English: Across Belgium). In the years 1945–1946 and 1948–1964, the race was run as a stage-race over two days; in 1947 and since 1965, it has been held as a one-day race.
Famous quotes containing the word door:
“We were young, we were merry, we were very very wise,
And the door stood open at our feast,
When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.”
—Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907)