“Mad Flanders: A War Story Disguised as a Bike Race” – News List

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The race De Ronde (The Road) was run for the first time already in 1913 and had a break only during the First World War. It is a symbol of sport, cycling, but also of Flemish nationalism. What to compare it to? On the day of the event, Belgians act like Americans do on Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl.

Whole families get together. Either everyone goes out to watch, preferably on one of the nearest hills – the Hellingen, or they sit at home and watch TV for hours. They cheer, cheer and admire. They admire the heroes who fight over a distance of around 270 km with short but brutal hills, slippery cubes, winding roads, sometimes crazy weather, but always with opponents and with themselves.

The Ronde van Vlaanderen is one of the five monumental cycling classics, races almost as famous as the Tour de France. It is also the longest continuous streak of any classic race.

Since 2004, the women’s race has been included alongside the men’s race. The bravest female cyclists in the peloton are racing on the dice on the same day as the men, only over shorter distances.

So far, six men hold the record for the number of victories. After three triumphs, the Belgians have Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen, the Italian Fiorenzo Magni and the Swiss Fabian Cancellara.

The race was conceived and founded by Léon van den Haute, co-founder of the sports newspaper Sportwereld.

At the time, it was common for newspaper and magazine publishers to hold bicycle races as a sales promotion tool. It was very nationalistically “Flemish” oriented from the beginning. At the beginning of the 20th century, cycling in Belgium found itself in crisis. Velodromes closed and national road or track championships ceased to be held. Until then, the main Belgian race Liège–Bastogne–Liège took place in Wallonia in the French-speaking south.

The Flemish also needed a similar action. And so another co-founder, the sports journalist Karel Van Wijnendaele, devised a route exclusively on Flemish soil, in order to pass through as many towns and villages as possible.

The Tour of Flanders is the only classic that took place during the Second World War. In the territory occupied by the Germans and in full agreement with the German command. At that time, the Nazis not only allowed the race, but also helped to guard and secure the route. This later led to many accusations of collaboration. Van Wijnendaele himself was banned from the journalistic profession for life. This was fortunately overturned when he produced a letter from General Montgomery himself confirming that he had sheltered downed British pilots during the war and protected them in his home.

The first race in 1913, with 37 riders, was 330 kilometers long and finished on a wooden velodrome. After more than 12 hours in the saddle, 25-year-old Paul Deman won. It was not an easy time. French teams banned their riders from participating in Flemish events. But soon after the war, Flanders gained popularity and became the peak of the cycling season in the late 1920s.

At first, the competitors were not allowed to be helped in any way, so they rode with spare souls wrapped around their shoulders. Only the coats weighed twice as much as today. It wasn’t until the late 1950s that the rules began to resemble those of today.

Prizes for the first race in 1913 came to 1100 Belgian francs. By 1935 the premiums had risen to 12,500 francs. During the war years, almost anything the organizers could find was given away as prizes – razors, cookers, bottles of wine or cycling equipment. Today, the prize money for the men’s (and women’s) race is 50,000 euros (1.2 million crowns), and the winner takes 20,000 euros (almost half a million crowns).

273 km with 19 hills – hellingen – and 15 paved sections will be a real test of the peloton on Sunday. The start is in Bruges, the nearest route to the destination Oudenaarde is only 50 km. So you can probably imagine how the route is nicely wound through the countryside. If you don’t know them yet, learn the names of at least the most famous “hellingen” (Kortekeer, Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Koppenberg… The last two, the most famous, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, are tackled twice in the finish circuit. First Oude Kwaremont 16 km from the finish line and then Paterberg 13 km This is where the race is often decided.

It is incredible how the locals take care of the paved sections. Under other circumstances, they would have been asphalted a long time ago, but because of the races, the municipalities maintain and reconstruct them in such a way that they retain their proper character. For example, in 2007, the Oudenaarde town hall had a section of the Koppenberg climb reconstructed.

Sometimes it goes almost beyond belief. For example, the famous 400m climb to Paterberg was unpaved until 1986. So the owner of the place, a cycling enthusiast, had the road paved because he wanted the race to take place around his house. He did well, the place was immediately included in the race and became an integral part of the route.

Unlike the terrifying ‘pavé’ sections of the Paris-Roubaix race, these roads are in excellent condition as they are part of a busy transport network. Although they are not absolutely decisive places of the race, many local “purists” want to preserve them, as they are a symbol of the Flemish landscape.

De Ronde is a very strategic race where teams have to think about how they will bring their leaders to the front of the peloton on the narrow roads, corners, climbs and cobbled sections. Here, it is necessary to constantly react to unpredictable developments. Those who believe in an aggressive, attacking driving style with hard climbs up steep hills win here. Here at a crucial moment, falling asleep or suffering a defect can be deadly.

That’s why De Ronde records for a specific type of cyclist. It favors explosive riders, but the length of the race also demands the highest level of fitness and endurance. That’s why quite big and muscular guys like Tom Boonen, Alexander Kristoff, Fabian Cancellara, Kasper Asgreen or the two-time and last winner Mathieu van der Poel have won here in the recent past.

A giant battle is expected on Sunday this year as well.

Briton Tom Pidcock, Slovenian Matej Mohorič, Frenchmen Julian Alaphilippe, Valentin Madouas and others will chase the “holy” trinity like hungry wolves.

From the Czech Republic, only two men will appear in Sunday’s super race – Zdeněk Štybar, who should be at the hand of Australian Michael Matthews in the Team Jayco Alula stable, and also the young and talented Mathias Vacek, who should support the Danish leader Mads Pedersen in the Trek-Segafredo stable

American George Hincapie once described well what awaits the favorites: “Flanders is unlike any other cycling race in the world. It is without a doubt the toughest one-day cycling race ever created. A million turns combined with twenty to thirty steep hills and narrow roads, none of which go in the same direction for more than a mile… It all mixes to make it a bike war.”