The CONTROVERSIAL 1977 Tour of Flanders
The 1977 Tour of Flanders is remembered as one of the most turbulent editions in the race's history. Midway through, Eddy Merckx launches the decisive attack, but on the Koppenberg chaos erupts: Roger De Vlaeminck is forced off his bike and is furious, while world champion Freddy Maertens swaps to a new bike. Both riders rejoin Merckx shortly after — until Maertens is disqualified forty kilometers later for an illegal bike change. Despite the disqualification, Maertens keeps riding and pulls De Vlaeminck to the finish, doing nearly all the work himself. Merckx is forced to let his two rivals go. What really happened between them remains hotly disputed to this day: Maertens claims De Vlaeminck offered him money mid-race to keep working, and that he later found an envelope at the hotel with half the agreed sum. De Vlaeminck flatly denies it, calling the accusation an outright lie. In the closing kilometers, race officials abruptly reverse their ruling and reinstate Maertens as a contender. But having spared his legs the entire chase in Maertens' slipstream, De Vlaeminck wins the sprint and the race. The crowd's fury is instant. De Vlaeminck is booed relentlessly for his passive tactics, a moment immortalized by a fan who loses his composure on TV, screaming at him on the podium. It later turned out that the fan himself played a leading role...
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