Eneco Tour of Benelux

Eneco Tour of Benelux
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

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

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

		Cyclist	# Stages	Year	Stage	in	Stage	in	Stage	in
1	Belgium	Tom Boonen	3	2006	1 (Hoogeveen	Netherlands)	3 (Westmalle	Belgium)	5 (Balen	Belgium)
2	Netherlands	Max van Heeswijk	2	2005	1 (Mierlo	Netherlands)	5 (Hasselt	Belgium)
3	Italy	Alessandro Ballan	1	2005	4 (Verviers	Belgium)
3	Italy	Simone Cadamuro	1	2005	2 (Sittard	Netherlands)
3	United Kingdom	Mark Cavendish	1	2007	2 (Knokke-Heist	Belgium)
3	Australia	Allan Davis	1	2005	3 (Landgraaf	Netherlands)
3	Netherlands	Michiel Elijzen	1	2007	Prologue (Hasselt	Belgium)
3	Belgium	Philippe Gilbert	1	2006	7 (Ans	Belgium)
3	United States	George Hincapie	1	2006	4 (Landgraaf	Netherlands) (ITT)
3	United States	Bobby Julich	1	2005	7 (Etten-Leur	Netherlands) (ITT)
3	Germany	David Kopp	1	2006	(Sint-Truiden	Belgium)
3	Spain	Pablo Lastras	1	2007	6 (Landgraaf	Netherlands)
3	Australia	Robbie McEwen	1	2007	3 (Putte	Belgium)
3	Belgium	Nick Nuyens	1	2007	1 (Eupen	Belgium)
3	Brazil	Luciano Pagliarini	1	2007	5 (Nieuwegein	Netherlands)
3	Italy	Manuel Quinziato	1	2006	2 (Sittard-Geleen	Netherlands)
3	Belgium	Sébastien Rosseler	1	2007	7 (Geleen	Netherlands) (ITT)
3	Germany	Stefan Schumacher	1	2006	Prologue (Den Helder	Netherlands)
3	Netherlands	Stefan van Dijk	1	2005	6 (Hoogstraten	Belgium)
3	Belgium	Rik Verbrugghe	1	2005	Prologue (Mechelen	Belgium)
3	Belgium	Wouter Weylandt	1	2007	4 (Terneuzen	Netherlands)