Our Product Manager Si tells us more

This November, as a guest of Cycling Flanders, I travelled to Belgium to experience some highlights of what the region has to offer. Due to Belgium’s geography, it was possible to get a taste of most of the region in just a few days, from the World Championship course in Leuven in the East to the sand dunes of the Koksijde cyclocross course in the West, via the kuipke velodrome in Ghent.

The highlight of my time in Flanders was getting to ride some of the iconic cobbled bergs made famous by the Tour of Flanders. Channelling my inner Tom Boonen or Johan Museeuw I struggled my way up bucket-list climbs including the Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, and Koppenberg. These last two combined are only 1 kilometre long, but were undoubtedly the toughest kilometre I’ve ever ridden on a road bike! 

We of course toasted our achievements with a Belgian beer in Oudenaarde, before a quick tour of the ‘Tour of Flanders Museum’.

Cycling Flanders have been working with Strava to create a novel way to explore the region’s famous bergs known as The Flandrien Challenge. They have selected the 59 most iconic sectors, and the challenge is to ride all 59 within 72 hours! Upon successful completion riders will have their names etched into the museum’s Wall of Fame. 

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