TRIP DETAILS:
Duration: 10 days
Dates: 3rd to 13th April
Start-Finish: Zaventem Airport
Accommodation: 3 Star Apartments in the centre of Gent
Group Size: Maximum 12 people (3 Staff)
Cost: USD* $4303
Deposit: USD* $938 - Secure your spot now.
Friday, 3 April: Arrival at Bikestyle Tours Spring Classics Trip
Today we collect you from Zaventem airport in Brussels and go to our accommodation in the centre of Gent where we will spend the next 10 nights. There will be someone to meet you at the Airport and assist you to our vehicle and then to the hotel where we will spend the next four nights. After we collect everyone we will be on our way to Gent and our self contained apartments in the centre of town.
Unlike the typical hotel it offers comfortable, furnished apartments with full hotel service. These apartments consist of a living-room with sitting-area, dining table and office-desk, a kitchenette with a refrigerator, two hot plates and all the necessary kitchen utensils, a separate bedroom and a bathroom. Wireless broadband internet is available in all apartments. There is also a bar and restaurant downstairs for people looking for the better traditional Belgian cuisine: healthy, delicious and good value.
The first job will be to assemble your bike and Bikestyle staff will be on hand if you have mechanical problems or need any other assistance. The rest of the day is yours.
Depending on your arrival time there should be time for a shakedown ride. It will be possible to do a number of different rides and the possibility also exists for a visit to a team hotel.
Tonight a Welcome Dinner is provided at the Hotel Restaurant and there will be plenty of time to ask questions and meet the staff and of course the people who you will be spending your holiday with and maybe a Belgian beer or two!
The trip will be escorted by Eric Van Lancker, a famous Classics rider from the ‘90’s.
Born 30/04/1961 at Oudenaarde, Belgium.
Pro from 1984 to 1995
Teams : FANGIO 1984-1985 / PANASONIC 1986-1992 / LOTUS-FESTINA 1993 / WORDPERFECT 1994 / COLLSTROP 1995
His Palmares are below: 20 victories, several participations in the Tour de France.
1984: 3rd, Paris-Brussels
1985 (4): Milk Race, 2 stages Milk Race, stage of Tour of Denmark, 2nd Oostrozebeke, 3rd Zele
1986 (3): A stage of the Giro d’Italia, stage Paris-Niice, stage Tour of Switzerland, 4th Tour of Belgium
1987 (1): A stage of the GP G.Tell, 2nd Tour of Lombardy
1988 (2): A stage of the Tour of Cantabrie, stage of the Tour of Belgium
1989 (2): Winner, Amstel Gold Race, stage of Tour of the Basque Country
1990 (1): Winner, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 2nd, l’Escalade de Montjuich
1991 (3): Wincanton Classic, GP de Montreal, Bellegem, 5th Liège-Bastogne-Liège
1992 (2): 2 stages of the Tour of Vaucluse
1994 (1): Bruxelles-Ingooigem
1995 (1): La Calamine, 2nd la Côte Picarde
Saturday, 4 April: Tour of Flanders Cycle Sport
Each year there is a special event for cycle tourists on the day before the real boys come out to play. There are 3 rides, one covering the whole course, one covering the last 140km and finally a shorter 60km ride. About 15,000 riders do this great event and you will have the opportunity to do either the 140km or the 60km event.
The 140km is the pick of the events as it gives you a true feel of the race as it traditionally goes over all the final (15 or so) climbs including the famous Molenberg, Oude Kwaremont, Koppenberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Tenbosse, Muur – Kapelmuur (Gerardsbergen), Bosberg.
The Tour of Flanders for cyclists is the second trial on the Golden Bike calendar, an initiative of the “Union Cycliste Internationale” (UCI) (International Cyclist Union) to promote bike races worldwide.
The Tour of Flanders is without a doubt one of the biggest sporting events in Belgium. On the day before, we will have the chance to get a sneak preview of the atmosphere at this biking event. Hopefully it’s a nice day! Fingers crossed…
Don’t forget to pack all the appropriate gear as it will be cold and could be wet.
Participation package for each participant
• free insurance
• an exclusive certificate
• plenty of provisions at every checkpoint, including Isostar, fruit and snacks
• A Win for Life ticket and an Isostar energy bar for each participant who registered before the 14th of March 2008.
• technical service
• an itinerary
• bike wash
• medical service, at every checkpoint and at the finish
After the event we will gather everyone and head back to Gent for a well deserved shower and maybe some frites and mayo with a Belgian beer to wash it down along the way!
Sunday, 5 April: Tour of Flanders
I don’t think there is anything quite like seeing a big Classic race live.
It’s a busy day as our expert local guide takes us from spot to spot to see the riders smashing over cobbles and up steep climbs in the cool spring air. A lasting memory for me is seeing US Postal and Lance charging across the cobbles of the Mater to try and set up George for a win. The chaos they left in their wake was incredible.
The race starts in the beautiful city of Brugge at 9.40am so we will leave the hotel and go to the start of the Tour of Flanders where we have passes into the rider’s area. Using our local guide we shall see the race in numerous locations, including many of the famous cobbled climbs we rode yesterday. What we don’t see live we will see on television from the luxury of our heated van as we criss-cross the course viewing the race at several locations and later at our own VIP tent with food and drinks.
Brief History of the Ronde Van Vlaanderen
The Ronde is one of the most prestigious of the Spring Classics, or of any cycle race. It’s an endurance race in the true sense. 270 kms with more than a dozen climbs it varies year to year. There are no Alpine or Pyrenéean mountains, but most of the climbs are narrow and steep, and several are cobbled. Although they are tough in their own right, they also raise the tempo in between since everybody wants to be in a good position when they start.
Monday, 6 April
This morning we’ll go for a ride with Eric. As you would expect Eric has a vast knowledge of the roads around Belgium and he can take for a ride of our choice. Maybe we can go and do a few more cobbled climbs or take in a few Team Hotels.
One possibility for our ride is a visit to the Tour of Flanders Centre, maybe stopping for lunch and then return back to the hotel afterwards. This would be a ride of around 80km.
The Tour of Flanders Centre is located in the historical heart of Oudenaarde at Markt 43, Oudenaarde near the Market Square and the Saint Walburga Church. Oudenaarde is the gateway to the Flemish Ardennes, with the slopes and cobbled roads of the Tour of Flanders.
It is much more than an interactive museum. It also consists of an auditorium, an exhibition hall, a conference room, a lobby, a theme café and a great shop where they sell good quality clothing including original wool jerseys. The Tour plays an important role in the Flemish social life. That is why associations, companies, authorities, federations and other groups can organize press conferences, training days, seminars, meetings, exhibitions or festivities in the Centre. Discover the glorious moments of your heroes and feel the emotions of the most beautiful classic in Flanders.
The interactive museum looks for the spirit and the heroes of the Tour. The museum has a multi-media approach with magnificent audiovisuals, projections and computer simulations. Every visitor gets the chance to experience the Tour himself. You can feel the excitement, the suffering and the happiness. You can cycle next to Schotte, Merckx or Museeuw and you can feel the cobbled stones and hills.
A visit in the interactive museum consists of ten themes:
• The Start
• The Track
• The Hills
• The Cobbled Roads
• Heroes and Heroism
• Joy and Misery
• Nutrition and Cycling Techniques
• The Tour Weather
• The Press and the Media
• The Finish
Every theme has an installation with text, photographs, films, graphic creations, sounds and objects. Once again, you feel the atmosphere of Flanders’ finest classic. You learn everything about the evolution and the history. The computers show you additional and statistic information.
Tuesday, 7 April
Today we will head out and ride some of the interesting parts of the course for tomorrow’s race including the famous Kemmelberg which is about 12km from Ieper.
We will drive to Ieper, stopping at the local pool and then ride from there to the Kemmelberg, do the loop of the race and then go back into Ieper for the afternoon. On our return we can shower at the pool. It’s also possible for us to stay for dinner and hear the last post and Eric suggests a visit to the War Museum.
Every evening (at 8 pm) since 1928, the Last Post has been sounded under the imposing memorial arches of the Menin Gate. The Last Post is the traditional salute to the fallen and is played in honour of the memory of the soldiers of the then British Empire, who fought and died in the ‘Immortal Ypres Salient’ between 1914 and 1918.
If we choose not to ride from Gent then we can drive to Ieper and do a ride they have devised that covers significant points of interest from WW1.
Wednesday, 8 April
Gent- Wevelgem
This morning we will see the second of the great races in our week at the Classics, Gent Wevelgem. It is now part of the UCI Protour and as a result will see all the top names and teams lining up.
This race has thrown up some great winners over the years and in the past years the podium has had its fair share of English speaking riders including Henk Vogels (Aus) 2nd in 2004, while in 2002 Fred Rodriguez (USA) was 2nd and George Hincapie (USA) 3rd, while George was the deserving winner in 2001. His one piece of luck in an unlucky run at the Classics.
The race will start in Deinze’s Grote Markt, with an expected finish at 16.50 in Wevelgem on the Vanackerestraat. The race traditionally makes a visit to the coastal towns of Oostende and De Panne before returning for 2 ascents of the Kemmelberg en route to Wevelgem.
After our ride on the course yesterday we will know much of what the riders are in for and that the Kemmelberg will be the big decider today. After the race we will make the short trip back to our hotel.
Today again we have entry to the start area in Deinze. From the start we drive with the publicity caravan for about 10 km where we will see the cyclists passing Pittem and then we immediately go to the top of the Kemmelberg where we have permission to get to the top with the cars. At the top there’s a restaurant where we will have lunch and watch TV while they pass the Kemmelberg twice. After they’ve passed the second time we continue following the race on the parcours and also on TV in the car. We will arrive in Wevelgem just behind the first group and after we see the rest of the riders come in we are invited to the post race reception.
Last year with our vehicle accreditation we were able to follow the break containing Roger Hammond. We drove up alongside them and took photos and were able to witness the action first hand. It was a great experience.
Brief History of Gent-Wevelgem
The 214 kilometre Gent-Wevelgem comes in the midst of the northern spring classics, traditionally being a mid-week race between the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. It follows many of the roads that the “Ronde” uses, being shorter by 53 kilometres. The parcours is considerably flatter than the Ronde, containing only 4 climbs - the Monteberg and Kemmelberg, each being done twice. They come in the last 75 kilometres, and are not usually enough to enforce a selection. Thus the race is more likely to end in a bunch sprint, as a glance through the past winners list will show. In 2001 it was none other than George Hincapie (US Postal).
Thursday, 9 April
Today we have a choice to make. We can go for a ride in the morning followed by a free day looking around Gent with a visit to a nice bike shop in Aalst or we can go to see another of the Semi Classics being help this week. This one is less well known maybe because it’s held in the French speaking or Wallonne part of Belgium at St Ghislain. Still it is a great race with a bit of pave and has many great riders on its honour roll.
1966 MERCKX Eddy, 1974 DEMEYER Marc, 1978 KNETEMANN Gerrie, 1980 ZOETEMELK Joop, 1983 HINAULT Bernard, 1986 FREULER Urs, 1987 SORENSEN ROLF, 1990 SCIANDRI Maximillian, 1991 TCHMILE Andreï, 1992 DUFAUX Laurent, 1994 BARTOLI Michele, 2001 SUNDERLAND Scott, 2002 O’BEE Kirk.
Giuseppe ‘Pino’ Cerami (born 28 April 1922 in Misterbianco, Sicily, Italy) is a former Belgian road bicycle racer. He joined the professional peleton in 1946 as an independent. He was naturalised as a Belgian on 16 March 1956.
Since 1964 the GP Pino Cerami professional cycling race has taken place every year in Belgium.
Cerami won the 1960 Paris-Roubaix Classic with Tino Sabbadini of France second and Miguel Poblet of Spain in third place. Cerami also won La Flèche Wallonne Classic in 1960. Cerami was 3rd in the 1960 World Championship Road Race behind Rik Van Looy of Belgium and Frenchman André Darrigade.
Friday, 10 April
Today we will ride a number of the cobbled sections of the race including the famed Arenberg Forest. This is the toughest bit of pave known to man! We will do a loop in order to do it in the correct direction and return to our vehicles before returning home.
Friday is the traditional day for the teams to do a last reconnaissance of the important parts of the course. Last year we saw most of the teams out on the pave. Tom Boonen and Quickstep rode past us and said hello, we waved to the Discovery boys going the other way, Liquigas were doing their PR on the Arenberg forest. It was great!
All the action today will centre round the Arenberg forest, The Wallers Forest and the section near Orchies. We’ll head down after breakfast and stop at Arenberg which is where the Arenberg Forest section starts and ride part of the course from there. Believe me, after an hour or so of pave you’ll be waving the white flag!
Saturday, 11 April
Today we will do a ride in the morning followed by a visit to the cycling museum in Roeselare where Freddy Maertens is the guide.
In the beautiful arsenal building the national bicycle museum is housed. It shows the earliest bicycles and the racing bicycles of today. Working at the information desk is Freddy Maertens, once a famous Belgian bicyclist. Roeselare and cycling have a strong bond together. They once had a world champion, who was tragically killed during a race at the age of 22. His name was Jean-Pierre Monseré. Roeselare also produced the first Belgian cyclist that won the Tour de France: Odiel Defraeye (1912).
Sunday, 12 April
This morning we will head off to Paris Roubaix, the Hell of the North or l’enfer du nord as the French say.
We start at about 09.30am from our hotel and go to the first cobbled section where we will have a sit down lunch in a huge marquis set up for our group and a others. Once the cyclists have past we will go and see them another 4 or 5 occasions and finally at the Carrefour the l’Arbre where we have another VIP tent with big TV-screens to watch the last 16 km. The race is usually decided here so we will be in prime position.
The atmosphere on the Carrefour the l’Arbre is unbelievable. Thousands of people screaming and waving flags, it’s something you’ll never forget.
After the race we will go to our hotel in preparation for our departure tomorrow.
Tonight we will have a farewell dinner together and pack our bikes.
Monday, 13 April:
Trip ends and we head our separate ways but we hope to see you again soon.
We will have a bus available to shuttle people to the airport during the day.
