The

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

took place from August 3 to August 10. The Eneco tour is the continuation of the Tour of the Netherlands. This first edition covered parts of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 184

cyclists Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for pur ...

and 23

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

s participated. 20 are UCI ProTour teams, the three remaining are Shimano Memory-Corp and the Belgian teams MrBookmaker and Chocolade Jacques. The winner,

Bobby Julich Robert "Bobby" Julich ( ; born November 18, 1971), popularly called Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he fi ...

(), won the last stage, an individual time trial with a time of 31'14". This launched him from the twelfth place 12 to the first.

Leif Hoste Leif Hoste (born 17 July 1977) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team team . Born in Kortrijk, Hoste's career highlights included winning two stages and the overall title at ...

(), thirteenth, became second.

Max van Heeswijk Max Lambert Peter van Heeswijk (born 2 March 1973 in Hoensbroek, Limburg) is a Dutch retired professional road racing cyclist. He finished 15th road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 17th in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Caree ...

(DSC) wore the red jersey two days (the 2nd and the 3rd) and

Rik Verbrugghe Rik Verbrugghe (born 23 July 1974) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist. Verbrugghe was born in Tienen, Flemish Brabant. In 1996, he turned professional, and he has since become a Belgian time trial champion, competed in the 2 ...

five days. This edition was somewhat tainted by an incident during stage 4. Near

Stavelot Stavelot (; ; ) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Spa-Francorchamps Circuit a ...

, the peloton were sent in the wrong direction, while the handful of men ahead were on the correct course. As a result, their lead grew to about 15 minutes, which would have made it nearly impossible for anyone else to attain the overall victory, destroying the appeal of the race. The jury decided that the leaders would have to halt until the peloton's lag was reduced to what it was before, but they initially refused. Eventually, they had to be halted by the police, causing leader

Bart Dockx Bart Dockx (born 2 September 1981 in Turnhout, Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Provinc ...

to sit on the ground by way of protest. In the final time trial,

climbed from 12th to 1st overall.

Stages

03-08-2005: Mechelen, 5.7 km. (ITT)

04-08-2005: Geel-Mierlo, 189 km.

05-08-2005: Geldrop-Sittard, 178 km.

06-08-2005: Beek-Landgraaf, 205 km.

07-08-2005: Landgraaf-Verviers, 232 km.

08-08-2005: Verviers-Hasselt, 194 km.

09-08-2005: Sint Truiden-Hoogstraten, 195 km.

10-08-2005: Etten-Leur, 26 km. (ITT)

General Standings

KOM Classification

Points Classification

Best Young Rider

Best Team

External links

Race website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eneco Tour of Benelux, 2005 2005 UCI ProTour

Eneco Eneco, the trading name of Eneco Groep N.V., is a producer and supplier of natural gas, electricity and heat in the Netherlands, serving more than 2 million business and residential customers. The company's headquarters are located in Rotter ...

August 2005 sports events in Europe