Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic

The Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic (known as Veenendaal–Veenendaal from 1985 until 2006 and The Dutch Food Valley Classic from 2007 until 2013) is a semi classic professional cycling race in the Netherlands starting and finishing in the town of Veenendaal. The event is part of the UCI Europe Tour calendar of events with a ranking of 1.1.

Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic
Race details
DateAugust
RegionUtrecht, Netherlands
Local name(s)Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Europe Tour
TypeSingle-day
Web siteveenendaal-veenendaal.nl
History
First edition1985 (1985)
Editions34 (as of 2019)
First winner Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
Most wins Dylan Groenewegen (NED)
(3 wins)
Most recent Zak Dempster (AUS)

Route

The race has a course on winding roads through the two Veluwe national parks, Hoge Veluwe National Park and Veluwezoom National Park, and the Nederrijn river valley in the south east corner of Utrecht province over a distance of roughly 209 km, interspersed with little steep cobbled climbs, the most significant of which are the Grebbeberg and the Posbank in Rhenen, and the Emma Pyramid in Rozendaal. Although the city of Arnhem is featured in the title of the race, it both starts and finishes in the town of Veenendaal, but goes to and from Arnhem during the race. It also passes close to Wageningen, the centre of the Food Valley, which formerly sponsored the name of the race.

History

The race was created in 1985 by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union who wanted to create a preparation race in August just before the World Championships.[1] 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. 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 biggest one-day race in the Netherlands, 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 Scheldeprijs. 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 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.[2] From 2014 onwards, the race became known in Dutch as the Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic, reflecting a new start location in Arnhem.

Women's Race

In 2018, a women's race was added to the programme. The race was classified as a 1.1 UCI race and won by Annemiek van Vleuten.[3] However, in 2019 the women's race was removed from the programme again with the organisers citing a lack of availability of police support for the race.[4]

Results

List of winners:[5][6]

Year Country Rider Team
1985  Netherlands Joop Zoetemelk Kwantum–Decosol–Yoko
1986 No race
1987  Belgium Johan Capiot Roland-Skala
1988  Belgium Ronny Vlassaks Superconfex–Yoko–Opel–Colnago
1989  Netherlands Jean-Paul van Poppel Panasonic–Isostar–Colnago–Agu
1990  Netherlands Wiebren Veenstra Buckler–Colnago–Decca
1991  Netherlands Wiebren Veenstra Buckler–Colnago–Decca
1992  Netherlands Jacques Hanegraaf Panasonic–Sportlife
1993  Netherlands Rob Mulders WordPerfect–Colnago–Decca
1994  Russia Viatcheslav Ekimov WordPerfect–Colnago–Decca
1995  Germany Olaf Ludwig Team Telekom
1996  Ukraine Andrei Tchmil Lotto
1997  Netherlands Jeroen Blijlevens TVM–Farm Frites
1998  Denmark Frank Høj Palmans-Ideal
1999  Netherlands Tristan Hoffman TVM–Farm Frites
2000  Netherlands Steven de Jongh Rabobank
2001  Netherlands Steven de Jongh Rabobank
2002  Netherlands Bobbie Traksel Rabobank
2003  Netherlands Léon van Bon Lotto–Domo
2004  Italy Simone Cadamuro De Nardi–Piemme Telekom
2005  Netherlands Paul van Schalen AXA Pro-Cycling Team
2006  Belgium Tom Boonen Quick-Step–Innergetic
2007  Germany Steffen Radochla Wiesenhof-Felt
2008  Germany Robert Förster Gerolsteiner
2009  Netherlands Kenny van Hummel Skil–Shimano
2010  Norway Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Sky
2011  Netherlands Theo Bos Rabobank
2012  Netherlands Theo Bos Rabobank
2013  Italy Elia Viviani Cannondale
2014  Belgium Yves Lampaert Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise
2015  Netherlands Dylan Groenewegen Team Roompot
2016  Netherlands Dylan Groenewegen LottoNL–Jumbo
2017  Slovenia Luka Mezgec Orica–Scott
2018  Netherlands Dylan Groenewegen LottoNL–Jumbo
2019  Australia Zak Dempster Israel Cycling Academy

References

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