2016 Tour of Flanders

The 2016 Tour of Flanders was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in Belgium on Sunday 3 April 2016. It was the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders; it was the eighth event of the UCI World Tour and the third of the cobbled one-day classics. It was the second Monument race of the 2016 cycling season.

The race started in Bruges and finished in Oudenaarde. The total distance was 255 kilometres (158 mi), covering 18 categorized climbs and seven flat cobblestoned sectors. The principal favourites for the overall victory were Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo), Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).

After several riders had abandoned the race due to crashes and injuries, the decisive break was formed with 30 kilometres (19 mi) to go by Sagan, Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo). On the last climb of the Oude Kwaremont, Kwiatkowski was dropped; on the Paterberg, which followed shortly afterwards and was final climb of the race, Sagan dropped Vanmarcke and set off alone towards the finish. Vanmarcke and Cancellara collaborated in an effort to chase him down, but Sagan was able to ride to the finish alone. Cancellara finished second with Vanmarcke third, both more than 20 seconds behind Sagan.

The route of the 100th edition was presented on 29 November 2015 at Brussels Airport. It contained small changes from previous editions: the Tiegemberg in West Flanders was omitted, while in the Flemish Ardennes the flat cobbled sector of the Holleweg was cut from the race and replaced with the Jagerij cobbled road. The change was needed to keep the iconic Molenberg climb in the route due to roadworks. The recent tradition of announcing a Dorp van de Ronde ("Village of the Tour") was also abandoned, although the route passed through Kanegem and Aarsele in tribute to Briek Schotte and Roger Decock (the oldest living winner of the Tour of Flanders) respectively.

The race started in the Market Square in Bruges with a neutralised zone, leaving the town to the south. The racing started outside the city and took the riders southwest through Torhout to Roeselare, then east through Ardooie and Tielt, then south-east to Oudenaarde, passing across the first cobbled sector of the day, the flat Huisepontweg. After Oudenaarde, the route continued into a series of circuits through the hilly area to the south and east. After 103 kilometres (64 mi) came the first climb, the Oude Kwaremont, a 2,200-metre (2,400 yd), partially cobbled climb that would feature twice more later in the race. The route turned north and, following the climb of the non-cobbled Kortekeer, the riders entered a 20-kilometre (12 mi) section with several cobbled roads. These included the cobbled climbs of the Eikenberg and the Wolvenberg, then the flat Ruiterstraat, Kerkgate and Jagerij, the climb of the Molenberg, then finally the 2,300 metres (2,500 yd) of the flat Paddestraat. The route then turned back to the south-west, across the flat Haaghoek cobbles and then the non-cobbled climbs of the Leberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Kaperij and Kanarieberg. This brought the route back to take on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, followed immediately by the steep cobbled climb of the Paterberg, 360 metres (390 yd) long with an average gradient of 12.9% and sections at over 20%. At the summit of the Paterberg, there were 51 kilometres (32 mi) left to the finish.

There were six more climbs in the next 40-kilometre (25 mi) loop. The first of these was the Koppenberg, which includes the steepest roads of the race, with gradients of 22%. This was followed by the flat cobbles of the Mariaborrestraat and the climbs of the Steenbeekdries and the Taaienberg. The roads took the riders south into Ronse for the climb of the Kruisberg, then north-west to the foot of the Oude Kwaremont. The Oude Kwaremont–Paterberg combination was used for a second time; at the top of the Paterberg there were 11.7 kilometres (7.3 mi) to the finish. These took place over mainly flat roads, with a long finishing straight on the outskirts of Oudenaarde.

In total, the race included eighteen categorized climbs.

Additionally, there were seven sectors of flat cobbled roads: