In cycling, much importance is attached to the five ‘monuments’. Five cycling classics, such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège this Sunday, which only three riders have won so far. Remarkably, that term was not yet in use at the time. When did ‘monument’ make its debut?
The holy grail: that is what winning in the five monuments of cycling is often compared to. It is considered an exceptional achievement, due to the diversity of the courses of Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy (‘Il Lombardia’). Different types of riders usually excel in this area. A cobblestone specialist of 75 kilos or more is at a strong disadvantage on the long climbs in the Ardennes or Lombardy, while a lightweight of less than 70 kilos will rarely win the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix.
How exceptional the combination is is also evident from the short list of riders who have won the five monuments: Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck. Since the latter completed his series in 1977, only Hennie Kuiper, Sean Kelly (both in the 1980s) and Philippe Gilbert (in 2019) have come close with victories in four different monuments. Kuiper never won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Kelly never won the Tour of Flanders and Gilbert finished third twice in Milan-San Remo. In the 1950s, Fred De Bruyne, Louison Bobet and Germain Derycke also came close with four different victories.
Pogacar next in line?
Tadej Pogacar is now mentioned as the top candidate to one day join Van Looy, Merckx and De Vlaeminck. He has already won Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021), Il Lombardia (2021, 2022 and 2023) and the Tour of Flanders (2023). Still left: Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix.
Perhaps Mathieu van der Poel can also join the illustrious trio. He has already won Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaixand is aiming for a win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday. He can become the first rider since Merckx to win three monuments in one season. But then he has to deal with… Pogacar. Winning Il Lombardia will be even more difficult for Van der Poel, unless the course is adjusted.
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Remarkable: if the Slovenian or the Dutchman supplement their list of achievements with two more monuments, they will become the first riders who can say that they have won the five monuments during their career. After all, there were no ‘monuments’ in the era of Van Looy, Merckx and De Vlaeminck.
That term only came into use from 1986 onwards. Even then, the Association of International Organizers (AIOCC) wanted to reform the international cycling calendar together with UCI (FICP) chairman Hein Verbruggen. From 1989 onwards, a new pillar was to be the World Cup, a regularity criterion of ten to twelve races for which ‘five classics that are considered monuments of cycling’ – as it was then called – were the first to be considered. Hein Verbruggen was a big supporter of the World Cup. He wanted to make cycling more international, including with the new Wincanton Classic in England and the Grand Prix des Amériques in Montréal.
In addition, the World Cup was necessary, Verbruggen said in an interview with Le Monde, safeguarding the ‘monuments’ of cycling. That prestigious title lost its quotation marks in the following years and eventually became an unofficial stamp for the largest five one-day races.
Eight classics
In the decades before 1986 you had the eight great classics. These included, in addition to the five current monuments, the Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Tours. With the exception of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, they were also part of the first Challenge Desgrange-Colombo, the regularity criterion that was founded in 1948.
In the forty years that followed, the Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Tours lost much of their praise. The Flèche Wallonne was moved to a weekday in the early 1970s, while the race before it was still equivalent to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the race with which it formed the ‘Ardennes Weekend’ until 1964. That classification, over two races, was even stopped after 1964 due to the lack of interest from the riders. Only from 1985 onwards did the Flèche Wallonne gain more prestige, with the new arrival on the Wall of Huy.
Paris-Tours also changed courses too much, with finishes in Versailles and Chaville. And Paris-Brussels was not even on the calendar for six years (1967-1972), after which the race moved to the autumn.
Other races were also not eligible: the Amstel Gold Race was still too young to be classified as a monument. Ghent-Wevelgem, the Zurich Championship, the Frankfurt GP and the many Italian races had also never climbed high enough on the prestige ladder.
Long history
For example, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy slowly separated themselves as ‘monuments’ from 1989 onwards. Partly thanks to their long history, because their first editions were organized at the end of the nineteenth or beginning of the twentieth century.
However, these competitions did not always have the same prestige. For example, Liège-Bastogne-Liège was not part of the first editions of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo and initially also had a second-tier role in the Superprestige Pernod, the classification that succeeded the Challenge in 1959. Only from 1973 onwards La Doyenne also always ridden on Sundays. In the 1980s, UCI/FICP chairman Hein Verbruggen even threatened to cancel the race due to ‘disorganization’.
The Tour of Flanders only gained international recognition when the Italian Fiorenzo Magni won in 1949, 1950 and 1951. Paris-Tours and Paris-Brussels were even more renowned at the time Flanders Most Beautiful.
Or how the five current cycling monuments were not always placed on the same pedestal.
STRADE BIANCHE, THE SIXTH MONUMENT?
The Strade Bianche is today mentioned as a new candidate for the stamp of ‘monument’. Because of the unique setting on the gravel roads of Tuscany and the beautiful arrival location on the Piazza del Campo in Siena.
The issue is raised every year in the run-up to that race, but for the time being the traditionalists have the upper hand: according to them, the Strade Bianche is still too young (since 2007) and also has too few kilometers (this year it has been increased from 184 to 215 kilometers). ) compared to the five monuments, which are more than 150 miles long.
However, there is no specific limit in the UCI regulations, for monuments or other races. For one-day races in the WorldTour, this is determined by the Professional Cycling Council. For example, the distance of the latest Ghent-Wevelgem was 253 kilometers, only one kilometer less than Liège-Bastogne-Liège next Sunday.
Since 2023, the monument stamp has yielded more points for the UCI World Ranking: 800 for the winner, 640 for the second, 520 for the third. While winning in other one-day races in the WorldTour can earn 500, 400 or 300 points. The UCI wanted to upgrade the monuments in this way, although there is no trace of that term in the regulations.
