Belgium Calls
We were the very first company from North America to create a tour to the Spring Classics. It’s still something that I reflect upon with a great deal of gratitude. Belgium is where we started and, coincidentally, it’s where we were headed when the pandemic hit. Back in 1996, after three years of persistent hard work while trying to break through, Bicycling Magazine ran a half-page article about our one-of-a-kind trip to the Spring Classics. That first trip featured the Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, and Paris-Roubaix! I remember sitting there in my apartment, reading it over and over again with a huge smile on my face, thinking that the reservations were going to just pour in fast and furious and my company would be on its merry way. Well, THAT didn’t happen and I was left asking myself, “What is it going to take to make this trip happen?” The answer came later that summer when, while working as a video editor for ESPN at the Tour DuPont, I met recently-retired cycling “legend” Phil Anderson over lunch. But that’s the topic for another post.
There is nothing like making the pilgrimage to Belgium in the spring. The atmosphere, the beauty of the countryside (straight out of a Breughel painting!), the history, and the anticipation surrounding the Classics, particularly the Tour of Flanders, are felt everywhere. On the front pages of every newspaper and in every cafe, brasserie, and store, everyone is discussing the chances of so-and-so and who they think has “form” and who has lost it. The Belgians call it “Holy Week” and with good reason since the races carry a religious fervor for many. All along the undulating course, you’ll see Belgian spectators in their Sunday’s best, heartily cheering on their favorite cyclists, hoping for a native Flandrien to win their biggest race of the year. It’s the stuff of legends that plays out every spring. All cyclists should do it at least once in their life. You will never regret it and the feelings will stay with you forever.
The Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, and the Kemmelberg.
These are some of the most iconic and celebrated climbs in the entire world, the cobbled roads where champions and dreamers have made history for generations at the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem.
