23rd Ronde van Vlaanderen 1939 / Tour of Flanders (Belgium)

6 Day Track Racer Sprints to a Surprise Victory

The 23rd edition of the Tour of Flanders was held April 2, 1939.

April 2 was National Election Day in Belgium. The ‘compulsory voting day’ gave rise to huge crowds along the racecourse.

SPECIAL NOTE: The 1939 Tour of Flanders started later in the morning, and the race route was shortened by 30 km to accommodate the elections. Riders were allowed time to vote.

Over halfway through the race, a 12-rider breakaway group formed. The numbers gradually reduced with crashes and fatigue causing a high attrition rate.

In the final 50 km, only four remained in the lead, Belgian Karel Kaers (Alcyon), Romain Maes (Independent), Edward Vissers (Alcyon), and Roger van den Driesshe (Essor) rode in the final elite group.

Karel Kaers, the youngest world road race champion (WCRR 1934) in history, intended to compete as training ride for Paris-Roubaix one week later. He parked his car, at a convenient place to stop his race, 40 kms from the finish. Unexpectedly, his director sportif moved his car to a different space to force Kaers to continue. With his car gone and still feeling great, Kaers continued in the race.

Belgian Karel Kaers, a 6-day track racer, rode in the 4-rider breakaway with Van den Driessche, Maes, and Vissers.
A fatigued Van den Driessche dropped off the sprint in the last kilometer, leaving Kaers to use his track speed to win the sprint in Wetteren.

A surprised Karel Kaers finished his training effort with a HUGE Tour of Flanders victory!!!

SPECIAL NOTE: Karel Kaers add his Tour of Flanders victory to the 1934 World Road Race Championships as the highlights of his career.

 

RVV 1938 RVV 1940

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