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Aartselaar (Municipality, Province of Antwerp, Belgium)

by Ivan Sache

Presentation of Aartselaar
Description of the flag of Aartselaar

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Presentation of Aartselaar

The municipality of Aartselaar (14,438 inhabitants, 10.78 sq. km) is located in the southern outskirts of Antwerp. Aartselaar is known for its wind mill (Heimolen) built in 1801 and the cyclist race Grand Prix ofAartselaar - Memorial Rik van Steenbergen.

The Grand Prix of Aartselaar is a one-day race (200 km) run since 1991 in summertime and also known as Antwerp-Brussels-Antwerp. It seems to be a sprinter's paradise since the winners' list includes Jan Zvorada,Andrei Tchmil, Tom Steels, Djamolidin Abduzahaparov and Mario Cippolini. The last winner of the race was Nico Eeckhout, winner in 2001 and 2003.

The nickname of the race is a tribute to Rik van Steenbergen (Rik I), one of the best Belgian cyclists ever, surpassed only by Rik van Looy (Rik II) and Eddy Merckx. Rik I was three times champion of Belgium (1943, 1945 and 1954) and champion of the world (1949 - Copenhagen, 1956 - Waregem, 1957 - Ballerup). He won 322 races, including 270 during his long professional carreer, including Paris-Roubaix (1948 & 1952), the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1944 & 1946), Milan-San Remo (1954), the Flèche Wallonne (1949 & 1958), Paris-Brussels (1950), 15 stages in the Giro d'Italia (with a final second rank in 1951) and four stages in the Tour de France (with the maillot jaune for two days in 1952). Rik I won also 715 races on