Eneco Tour of Benelux
The Eneco Tour of Benelux is a UCI ProTour bicycle stage race. Its name refers to its main sponsor, the energy company Eneco Energie. The first Eneco Tour of Benelux took place from August 3 to August 10 2005
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | August |
| Region | Benelux |
| English name | Eneco Tour of Benelux |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI ProTour |
| Type | Stage-race |
| History | |
| First edition | 2005 |
| Editions | 3 (as of 2007) |
| First winner |  United States Bobby Julich
|
| Most recent |  Spain Iván Gutiérrez
|
History
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 tour reorganised.
Organization
The then UCI president Hein Verbruggen wanted to keep the Tour of the Netherlands for "marketing reasons"[1]. (Part of the UCI's job is to make cycling more popular). The Dutch Tour organisation got a better sponsor (ENECO Energie). But because the race was not difficult enough for the new ProTourthe race organisers asked the organisers of the Tour of Belgium and the Tour de Luxembourg. The idea was a Tour of the Benelux that would replace the three. The Tours of Belgium and Luxembourg will carry on. The organisers of the Tour of Luxembourg did not want to join the new big race, so the Eneco tour only covers Belgium and the Netherlands.
Winners
General classification
The overall winner of the race by time wears a red jersey (Dutch: Rode trui or French: Maillot rouge).
| Year | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Iván Gutiérrez | Spain
|
| 2006 | Stefan Schumacher |  Germany
|
| 2005 | Bobby Julich | United States
|
Points classification
In 2005, the overall winner of the race by points (Dutch: Puntenklassement) wears a blue jersey (Dutch: Blauwe trui or French: Maillot bleu). This was changed to a white jersey however in 2006.
| Year | Cyclist | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Mark Cavendish |  United Kingdom
|
| 2006 | Simone Cadamuro |  Italy
|
| 2005 | Allan Davis |  Australia
|
Mountains classification
No jersey is awarded for leading this classification.
| Year | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | no jersey awarded | |
| 2006 | no jersey awarded | |
| 2005 | Christian Vandevelde | United States
|
Young rider classification
Before 2007, the best young (under 25) rider of the race got to wear a yellow jersey. (Dutch: Gele trui or French: Maillot jaune).
| Year | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | no jersey awarded | |
| 2006 | Stefan Schumacher | Germany
|
| 2005 | Thomas Dekker |  Netherlands
|
Team classification
| Year | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | ||
| 2006 | Liquigas | Italy
|
| 2005 | Liberty Seguros-Würth Team | Spain
|
Most Stage Wins
References
Other websites
- Official homepage Archived 2010-11-22 at the Wayback Machine