Benelux Tour
The Eneco Tour or Tour of the Benelux is a multi-stage road cycling race and is part of the UCI ProTour. Its name refers to its main sponsor, the energy company Eneco. The first Eneco Tour took place from August 3 to August 10 2005, but it has intermittently existed since 1948 as the Tour of the Netherlands. The last few years, the Dutch Tour was already called the Eneco Tour, but because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 the tour was reinvigorated.
Organization
The Eneco Tour continues the faltering Tour of the Netherlands, which UCI president Hein Verbruggen deemed necessary for marketing reasons . The Dutch Tour organisation got a better sponsor (Eneco) and a strong vice-president, Henk van Mulukom. But because the race was not not difficult enough, it could not be accepted into the new ProTour. At that point the organisation sought help from the organisation of the Tour of Belgium and the Tour of Luxembourg. They envisaged a Tour of the Benelux that would replace the three. This led to the Tour of Belgium as a co-organiser. The Tours of Belgium and Luxembourg will continue as such. The co-organisation or incorporation of the Tour of Luxembourg did not materialize. In a few years, the name will officially become the Tour of the Benelux.
In August 2005, the vice-president, Henk van Mulukom, admitted that two years prior the organizers of the Tour of the Netherlands were not enthusiastic about the collaboration, but eventually they began to warm to the idea. The number of participants increased from 120 to 184 and as a result of the increased media exposure the budget grew by 150 %.
Editions
- Eneco Tour 2005 Winner: Bobby Julich
References
- Template:Endnote Graat, John (August 3 2005). 'Fantastische' Pro Tour zegen voor profronde. Trouw (Dutch newspaper), p. 13.