Discover Everything About Cycling in Flanders
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Discover everything about cycling in Flanders 10 REASONS TO CHOOSE FLANDERS FOR YOUR NEXT CYCLING HOLIDAY. Reasons10 to choose Flanders for your next cycling holiday. Flanders - the northern part of Belgium - is an international cycling region par excellence. Given Flanders’ compact cities – filled with castles, churches and other historic sites – and its green meadows and meandering tree-lined canals, bikers can experience the best of Europe in a short time while sharing the Flemish passion for their national sport. 03 01Watch the spring classics. Spring in Flanders brings with it a frenetic opening of the cycling season. In the space of a few weeks, all the classics take place: the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Prijs, Gent-Wevelgem – the list goes on. These races make for an exciting run-up to the Holy Sunday of biking - the Ronde van Vlaanderen, a 260-kilometre (162 mile) apotheosis. This is when the Flemish passion for cycling is on view for the whole world – the Flemish do not just like racing it; they breathe it. They are the race. More on races in Flanders: www.flandersclassics.be Visit04 a cycling museum. 1. CENTRUM RONDE VAN VLAANDEREN (OUDENAARDE) The Tour of Flanders Centre is a unique visitor center and museum in Oudenaarde that immerses visitors in the typical atmosphere of the Ronde van Vlaanderen. You can follow in the tracks of the heroes of the Tour of Flanders and even climb the slopes and conquer the merciless cobblestones of the Ronde on one of the bikes. www.crvv.be 2. WIEMU/WIELERMUSEUM (ROESELARE) The WieMU (or Wielermuseum) is a museum and information center, highlighting the history of the bicycle and of bicycle racing, and presenting stories of heroism, determination and suffering. Cycling culture is represented here in the broad sense: village racers and supporter pubs, sponsors and soigneurs, constructors and commentators, peloton jargon and cycling poetry, a jukebox with old cycling records, an old-fashioned bicycle workshop. Special attention is given to Jean-Pierre ‘Jempy’ Monseré (who died as world champion in an accident in 1971). http://www.wielermuseum.be 3. THE SPORTIMONIUM (HOFSTADE, NEAR MECHELEN) The Sportimonium is the Olympic Museum in Belgium. Though it covers numerous sports, it focuses on cycling heritage and, more specifically, on cycling legend Eddy Merckx. A digital guide presents the highlights of cycling history and memorable moments from Merckx’s career. www.sportimonium.be 07 05Have a cycling beer. Cycling is in our blood, but so is taking a rated with jerseys, pictures, cycling newspaper moment to relax after that last steep climb or articles … Make sure you stop by these bars long cobble section. Some pubs and restaurants to experience what cycling is really all about in Flanders are made for cyclists. They’re deco- here in Flanders. EAST-FLANDERS DE NIEUWE KEIZER (FLEMISH ARDENNES, CAFÉ IN DEN TRAP OP BETWEEN OUDENAARDE AND BRAKEL) (FLEMISH ARDENNES, HOREBEKE) A pub with large photos of old Belgian cycling A popular café at which to watch races live legends on the façade. Inside are the signed on TV. Several of the spring classics pass by jerseys of both of today’s greatest Belgian cy- this café. clocross champions: Sven Nijs and Niels Albert. Heerweg 45, 9667 Horebeke, T 055-45 54 39 Hauwaart 22, 9700 Oudenaarde, T 0472-42.95.87 or 0479-40 12 70 GHENT DE KARPER (GHENT) This is a supporters’ café of Iljo Keisse, with his dad, Ronnie, behind the bar. This is where the afterparties of the z6sdaagse take place. Tip: drink an Orvélo beer. Kortrijksesteenweg 2, 9000 Gent, T 0495/280.707 BRASSERIE DE FLANDRIEN (CENTRE OF OUDENAARDE) WEST-FLANDERS This is the brasserie of the Centre Ronde van CAFÉ DE BUUZESTOVE (EERNEGEM-ICHTEGEM, Vlaanderen. As such, it has unusual opening A VILLAGE IN WESTERN FLANDERS) hours for a pub (10AM-6PM). Here you will Eernegem has a reputation as the village of enter a world of cycling shirts, cycling pictures, “kasseileggers” (men who construct cobble- water bottles, and other memorabilia. “De stone roads). Multiple members of the same Flandrien” is also the home of the fan club family often shared this profession. Café De of Fabian Cancellara. Buuzestove is a rustic pub where time seems More info at www.crvv.be/en/310- to have stood still. It is also a restaurant with brasserie (Dutch, French, English). its own house beer (“Kasseileggersbier”). There Markt 43, 9700 Oudenaarde are still a few active “kasseileggers” and they’re willing to talk about their job. For pictures, see CASA GRINTA (TERHAGEN, BETWEEN ANTWERP www.debuuzestove.be (under ‘foto’s’). AND BRUSSELS) Stationsstraat 174, 8480 Eernegem, A restaurant with a unique interior and numer- [email protected], ous references to cycling. You will find more [email protected], T 059/29.03.42 than 300 signed jerseys here from famous cyclists such as Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, CAFÉ, BRASSERIE CARLITO Lars Boom, Jan Ullrich, and Christophe Moreau. (TIELT, WEST-FLANDERS) More info and pictures can be found at A brasserie filled with cycling memorabilia. http://casagrinta.wordpress.com (Dutch only). Kortrijkstraat 80, 8700 TIELT, T 0495 / 40 30 42 (Kardinaal Cardijnstraat 46, Terhagen, T 03 888 33 11) Cycling beers. Cycling and beer drinking: a difficult combina- RODENBACH (ROESELARE) tion? Maybe, but somehow they go together The city of the WieMu is also home to a brewery very well in Flanders. Sportive cyclists often known to beer lovers all over the world. Roden- finish their cycling tour with a (couple of) bach is the classic example of an ‘old Flemish beer(s) – if they haven’t already stopped for red ale,’ an internationally unique beer style. this mid-tour as well – preferably on a sunny Lactic acid and bacteria play a vital role in terrace. The Flemish love stories about cyclists the brewing process. The brewery’s malt kiln in the good old days and mixing a raw egg in and 294 oak vats in which the beer matures their Rodenbach (a traditional sour red ale) as are impressive sights. an ideal breakfast before a race. The names of several Flemish beers are related to cycling ORVÉLO or a famous cycling slope. When you’re in a The name “Orvelo” refers to “Le Vélo d’Or.” pub ask for one of these beers: Cycling is a sport the brewers love as much as they love beer. KWAREMONT BLOND Top-fermented blond beer, brewed in reference MALTENI to the ‘Oude Kwaremont’, brewed by Bavik in Malteni is an organic and gluten free amber ale, West-Vlaanderen (Bavikhove). Soft, sweetish brewed at the Brunehaut brewery. The name and spicy. comes from the legendary Italian cycling team, Molteni (Molt becomes Malt: an ingredient in GIESBAARGS MUURKEN beer), with which Eddy Merckx raced. Their Giesbaargs Muurken is a top-fermented ale, iconic orange jersey was the inspiration for named in reference to the ‘Muur van Geraards- the bottle’s label. Or try any other of the 1,100 bergen,’ at De Proefbrouwerij in Lochristi. beers brewed in Belgium. 09 06Ride one of the signposted routes. 1. TOUR OF FLANDERS ROUTES (BLUE LOOP 78KM, YELLOW LOOP 103KM, RED LOOP 114KM). The brand new ‘Tour of Flanders Route’ consists of three cycling paths on the renovated cycling network of the Flemish Ardennes – including hills and cobblestoned sections from the Tour of Flanders. These routes include a timing system. Using a timing chip, you can record a personal time on de Paddestraat, de Kruisberg, de Koppenberg and de Muur van Geraardsbergen – you can even compare your time to Fabian Cancellara. www.liveyourowntourofflanders.com 08Ride on a track. Everyone is welcome on the hardwood, 250-metre long cycling track in Ghent. The track is open to amateur cyclists and starters for a couple of hours every weekday. In addition to the indoor track in Ghent, there are eight outdoor cycling tracks in Flanders –worthy alternatives for riding your cycle during dry, winter days. You can find these tracks in Ostend, Bruges, Roeselare-Rumbeke, Beveren-Waas, Wilrijk, Elewijt, Hulshout and Peer. 10Experience the unique cyclocross atmosphere! The Flemish cycling fan has a valuable replacement to help him or her get through the chill winter period: cyclocross. Starting in October, thousands of fans, wrapped up tight and wearing a pair of robust rubber boots, will gather every weekend around a course, in fields or forests, on dunes and heathland. Cyclocross is enormously popular here and it isn’t uncommon for the competitions to spontaneously turn into big parties. In Flanders you can watch Sven Nys & Co. pretty much every weekend somewhere in one of the five provinces. Guaranteed fun! Getting to Flanders is easy. Brussels is at the heart of Europe. London, TRAVELING BY PLANE Paris, Cologne and Amsterdam are all less Brussels Zaventem Airport: the main interna- than two hours away. tional airport, 20 minutes from Brussels city center. TRAVELING BY TRAIN Brussels-South Airport Charleroi: Coming from Paris, Amsterdam or Cologne? 45 minutes from Brussels city center. www.thalys.com Coming from London? www.eurostar.com Traveling within Flanders? www.belgianrail.be. You don’t speak Flemish/Dutch? This is not The Belgian Rail system offers specials and a problem. As Flanders is located at the heart passes. of Europe, nestled amongst the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and so forth, most people are willing to help out in English, French, German or even Spanish. AMSTERDAM Brussels > Amsterdam = 0,5h LONDON Brussels > London = 0,6h Flanders BRUSSELS BERLIN Brussels > Berlin = 1h Belgium PARIS Brussels > Paris = 0,5h Europe 17 MORE INSPIRATION NEEDED? Visit http://www.cycling-in-flanders.com/ COLOPHON Visit Flanders Publisher: Peter De Wilde Visit Flanders Grasmarkt 61 1000 Brussels Belgium Depotnumber: D/2014/5635/25/4.