2009 Tour of Flanders

The 2009 Tour of Flanders cycle race is the 93rd edition of the monument classic and took place on 5 April. The course is 259.7 km long and goes from Bruges to Meerbeke.{{cite web | access-date = 5 April 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090414090617/http://rvv.be/rvv/elite-men/roadbook/profile.rvv| archive-date= 14 April 2009 | url-status= dead}} The weather during the race was sunny and warm at 12 °C. The race was the fifth event in the inaugural UCI World Ranking series.

Pre-race favorites included Filippo Pozzato (winner of the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and a stage in the Three Days of De Panne), Tom Boonen (winner in 2005 and 2006), Stijn Devolder (winner in 2008), Nick Nuyens (2nd in 2008) and Heinrich Haussler (2nd in Milan–San Remo, 4th in Dwars door Vlaanderen, several other impressive results in 2009).

In a victory highly similar to the 2008 Tour of Flanders, Stijn Devolder powered away late to the win. With what pundits called the strongest team in the race behind him, the QuickStep rider was able to ride away, while other teams marked teammates Tom Boonen and Sylvain Chavanel. With riders such as favorite Pozzato watching Boonen, Devolder found the strength to solo to victory. Haussler, who was riding in support of Thor Hushovd planned not to contest the victory but said he was told by Hushovd to challenge Devolder.

Following the race CNN reported:

General standings

Cyclist	Team	Time	UCI World Ranking
Points
1	Stijn Devolder		6h 01' 04"
2	Heinrich Haussler		+ 59"
3	Philippe Gilbert		s.t.
4	Martijn Maaskant		s.t.
5	Filippo Pozzato		s.t.
6	Matti Breschel		s.t.
7	Marcus Burghardt		s.t.
8	Björn Leukemans	Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
9	Martin Elmiger		s.t.
10	Bert De Waele	Landbouwkrediet–Colnago	s.t.

Almost exactly one minute after Devolder crossed the line 29 other riders arrived, and all were awarded the same time. Beyond the top ten, these included: 11 Alexandre Pichot, 12 Johnny Hoogerland, 13 Roger Hammond, 14 Karsten Kroon, 15 Nick Nuyens, 16 Roy Sentjens, 17 Kevin Van Impe, 18 Frederik Willems, 19 Bert Scheirlinckx, 20 Tom Boonen, 21 Gerben Löwik, 22 Staf Scheirlinckx, 23 Serguei Ivanov, 24 Andreas Klier, 25 Preben Van Hecke, 26 Assan Bazayev, 27 Leif Hoste, 28 Paolo Longo Borghini, 29 Frédéric Guesdon, 30 Juan Antonio Flecha. A crash during the group sprint for second place marred the finish of some riders in this group, including Thor Hushovd, George Hincapie, Bernhard Eisel, and Grégory Rast.

197 riders started the race.

Individual 2009 UCI World Ranking standings after race

Rank	Name	Team	Points	2	167	3	111	4	110	5	107	6	107	7	88	8	87	9	85	10	77
1	Allan Davis		182
Heinrich Haussler
Luis León Sánchez
Mark Cavendish
Michele Scarponi
Stijn Devolder
Fränk Schleck
Stuart O'Grady
Stefano Garzelli
Sylvain Chavanel