The first stage of this unique three-day gravel ride is 126 kilometres (78 miles) long and counts over 400 altimeters (1.312 ft) past iconic places that breathe (cycling) history. Passages right through the Gasthuisbossen, Palingbeek and Polygon Wood are nicely interspersed with deserted country roads and unpaved railway beds.
Naturally, war history is never far away in this region: Tyne Cot Cemetery, Black Watch Corner, Passendaele. Today, these landmarks remain silent witnesses of a cruel time with the landscape still bearing the traces to this day.
And the link with cycling history is also nearby: the cyclocross track in Zonnebeke, cycling museum KOERS! in Roeselare...
In short, history was and is being written on these roads, a first ride that can count!
The second stage of the inaugural Flanders Fields Gravel Tour does not shy away from the hills in West Flanders and Northern France! The 132-kilometers (82 miles) course flirts with the French border and serves those who take up the challenge with up to 1.260 altimeters (4.133ft).
Items on the menu include: a double ascent of Kemmelberg (both the off-road variant and the legendary cobbled climb), Mont Noir, Mont des Cats, Rodeberg...
An undulating landscape with panoramic views à volonté.
The ascents follow eachother in rapid succession. Hopefully they still leave enough time to enjoy these mighty surroundings while the legs are struggling?
The third stage can rightly be considered the icing on the cake of the multi-day event. A Paris-Roubaix Experience starting from Ypres including the Plougstreets!
A real challenge, no less than 168 kilometres (104 miles) long. However, the 600 altitude metres (1.968ft) involved pale in comparison to the more than 20 cobbled kilometres (13 miles) that have to be conquered.
French gravel and cobbled sectors are ubiquitous and downright ruthless, each one more legendary than the next... Auchy-les-Orchies, Mons-en-Pévèle, Camphin-en-Pévèle, Carrefour de l'arbre... Names like clocks that make even the greatest cycling heroes shake and tremble.
The Roubaix cycling track is not the end point of this ride but only a stop on the way back to Ypres. It's time to get that tyre pressure just about right.
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