Inside the CONTROVERSIAL 1977 Tour of Flanders
In 1977, a camera crew rode along in the broom wagon during the Tour of Flanders and captured something no one expected. Only 26 of the 167 starters finished. As the race unfolds toward Meerbeke, rider after rider abandons and climbs aboard, including Tour de France winner Bernard Thevenet. The footage from inside the wagon shows the human cost of one of cycling's hardest one-day races. The 1977 edition started for the first time in Sint-Niklaas, covering 260 km to Meerbeke. Eddy Merckx attacked on the Oude Kwaremont and led alone for much of the race, but was eventually caught and passed by Roger De Vlaeminck and Freddy Maertens, the latter riding a bike borrowed from a spectator after a crash. De Vlaeminck won the sprint, but the finish was overshadowed by controversy, and the podium turned tense when a Maertens fan confronted the winner.
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