Belgian star Remco Evenapoel was unable to take a home win on debut in Flanders, but the TV audience was still huge (Photo: Maximilian Fries)
The Tour of Flanders is an iconic event on the Belgian sporting calendar and the size of the TV audience, for both the men's and woman's race, underlines the enduring appeal of the event.
A total of 1.4 million people tuned in to watch Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) win the men's race, from Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and home challenger Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).
And the women's race, the conclusion of which was on immediately after the men's event, was watched by almost one million piece; 978,472 to be precise, or 78 per cent of the market share.
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) won the race solo from Tour de France champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech).
The size of the TV was slightly down on the record of 2023, when just over one million tuned in to watch Belgian rider Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime) win the race solo. The audience for the men's race that year peaked at 1.6 million.
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The figures all relate to the size of the audience in VRT, Belgian's national broadcaster, which shows its sports events under the 'Sporza' brand.
The men's race compared very favourably with even the national soccer team. When Belgium faced Denmark in a Euros 2020 qualifier game, which it won, 1.8 million people tuned in, or 83 per cent market share of every watching TV in Flanders at the time.
Flanders Classics, which organisers the Tour of Flanders, has said the TV audience for the women's race has increased five-fold since 2019.
The prize for winning the men's and women's races are now equal, though just €20,000 is on offer for both. However, the total prize fund for the women's race has increased from €21.750 in 2020 to just over €200,000 this year.
“Step by step, we have made targeted investments in the sport," said Flanders Classics chief executive, Tomas Van Den Spiegel, of the growing popularity of the women's race and the growth in prize money.
"And we can now see that sporting quality, media coverage and commercial development are leading to tangible growth in visibility, value and international appeal."
