| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | August |
| Region | Benelux |
| English name | Eneco Tour of Benelux |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Stage-race |
| History | |
| First edition | 2005 |
| Editions | 7 (as of 2011) |
| First winner | Bobby Julich (USA) |
| Most wins | Iván Gutiérrez (ESP) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) (2 each) |
| Most recent | Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) |
The Eneco Tour of Benelux is a road bicycle racing stage-race. Its name refers to its main sponsor, the energy company Eneco Energie. It is part of both the UCI ProTour and the UCI World Ranking calendar.
Contents |
The Tour of the Netherlands began on 6 May 1948, but only became an annual event in 1975. From about 2000 it was known as the Eneco tour. The start of the UCI's ProTour in 2005 saw the faltering tour reorganised and reinvigorated.
The ENECO Tour continues the faltering Tour of the Netherlands, which UCI president Hein Verbruggen deemed necessary for marketing reasons.[1] The Dutch Tour organisation got a better sponsor (ENECO Energie). But because the race was not difficult enough, it could not be accepted into the new ProTour. At that point the organisation sought help from the organisation of the Tour of Belgium and the Tour de Luxembourg. They envisaged a Tour of the Benelux that would replace the three. This led to the Tour of Belgium as a co-organiser. The Tours of Belgium and Luxembourg will continue as such. The co-organisation or incorporation of the Tour de Luxembourg did not materialize, and since its inception the Eneco Tour has not crossed Luxembourgian territory yet. In the future the name ought to officially become the Tour of the Benelux.
The colors of the jerseys for the leaders of a classification have changed over the years.
| Year | General | Points | Mountains | Young |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005[2] | Red | Blue | White-red | Yellow |
| 2006 | Red | White | – | Yellow |
| 2007 | Red | White | No jersey | – |
| 2008 | White | Red | No jersey | – |
| 2009 | White | Red | – | – |
| 2010 | White | Red | – | Green |
| 2011 | White | Red | – | Green |
The winners since 2005 have been:[3][4]
The winners of the points classification were:[4]
There have only been mountains classifications in 2005, 2007 and 2008. The winners were:[4]
The young rider classification is open for cyclists under 25. The winners of the young rider classification were:[4]
| Cyclist | # Stages | Stages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Boonen (BEL) | 6 | 2006: Stages 1 (Hoogeveen, Netherlands), 3 (Westmalle, Belgium) and 5 (Balen, Belgium) 2008: Stages 1 (Roermond, Netherlands) and 4 (Ardooie, Belgium) 2009: Stage 3 (Hasselt, Belgium) |
| 2 | André Greipel (GER) | 5 | 2008: Stage 2 (Nieuwegein, Netherlands) 2010: Stages 2 (Ardooie, Belgium) and 6 (Heers, Belgium) 2011: Stages 1 (Sint Willebrord, Netherlands) and 2 (Ardooie, Belgium) |
| 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) | 4 | 2008: Stage 6 (Brussels, Belgium) 2009: Stages 6 (Roermond, Netherlands) and 7 (Amersfoort, Netherlands) (ITT) 2011: Stage 6 (Sittard, Netherlands) |
| 4 | Tyler Farrar (USA) | 3 | 2009: Stages 1 (Ardooie, Belgium), 2 (Brussels, Belgium) and 4 (Libramont, Belgium) |
| 5 | Philippe Gilbert (BEL) | 2 | 2006: Stage 7 (Ans, Belgium) 2011: Stage 3 (Andenne, Belgium) |
| 5 | Robbie McEwen (AUS) | 2 | 2007: Stage 3 (Putte, Belgium) 2010: Stage 1 (Rhenen, Netherlands) |
| 5 | Max van Heeswijk (NED) | 2 | 2005: Stages 1 (Mierlo, Netherlands) and 5 (Hasselt, Belgium) |
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