THE RONDE: A DECADE BETWEEN WINS

Walter Godefroot’s career was bookended by wins in his biggest home race, the Tour of Flanders. He won it in 1968, when he was 24 years old and in his fourth season as a professional. He was a perennial contender for the rest of his career, but had to wait until 1978, his penultimate season as a rider, to score a second win, this time aged 34. In total, on top of his wins, he achieved a second, a third (subsequently stripped from him after a positive doping test), a fourth, three more top-10 inishes and four more in the top 20. His two victories were not just separated by a long period of time, but the race itself changed signi icantly between 1968 and 1978. Before 1973, the race inished in Gent, and though the cobbled climbs of the Flemish Ardennes were still an important challenge, there was a long run-in to the inish which allowed the race to come back together. This suited the fastinishing Godefroot, who won a 15-rider sprint in 1968. However, by the mid1970s the inish moved to Meerbeke, with the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg much closer to the line, making it a much tougher race. Godefroot’s 10-year span of wins is a Tour of Flanders record, but is not a record in major races. Gaetano Belloni’s irst and third Lombardia wins were separated by 13 years, as were Fausto Coppi’s irst and ifth Giro d’Italia wins. Gino Bartali won Milan-San Remo in 1939 and 1950, while Alejandro Valverde’s irst and fourth Liège wins were split by 11 years.