The Tour of Flanders - Belgium
(Profile of Tacx route data file)
The route 85km 1143m total climbing
Start in Oudenaard - Kluisbergen - Avelgem - Ronse - Maarkedal - Brakel - Gerrardsbergen - Galmaarden - finish in Ninove
The Climbs
Kruisberg - Foreest - Steenberg - Leberg - Berendries - Tenbosse - Muur van Gerrardsbergen (tarmac route) - Bosberg
Route info
The first ever tour of Flanders for women was held on a fresh, windy day with threatening dark rain clouds on the 4th of April 2004.This real life video was filmed just ahead of the lead group as they tackled the the tough cross winds of the early flat kilometres & then on to the 9 classic tour of Flanders climbs & long stretches of Cobbles that make the racing in this area so interesting to watch. The last 55km are identical to the Mens race which follows the womens race a few hours later, apart from the final steep 300m cobbled section of the Muur van Gerrardsbergen & the last kilometre which were closed to press.
The start of this race is very flat & the first real climb is not encountered until you get the French speaking town of Ronse. This first climb is well known as the finishing climb for the 1988 world championships. After this your into the famous hill zone of the tour of Flanders & a very nice interval session is to be had by competitive type riders looking for something to really hammer on as these hills are short, steep & the descents fast. A ideal finish to the ride is the two kilometre to go banner as shortly there after the ride ends. This ride stands out from the other rides so far filmed as this video really brings home the hard brutal nature of racing in Flanders & you get to see it from the eyes of a cyclist in a world class cycle race!
Data
The DV footage in this ride was filmed in early April 2004 , has some primitive rider perspective on the hills but the camera is on a static mount which means that the camera does not lean into the corners
