Tour of Flanders Ronde Van Vlaanderen cycling sportive

The Tour of Flanders is one of cycling's spring classics; the series of brutally tough one day races dotted across northern Europe that act as the starting pistol for the year's racing.

Conceived in 1913 the first ever race proved somewhat of a dissapointment with just 37 riders showing up. Things are a little different these days with over 16,000 participants and up to two million spectators lining Belgium's now legendary cobbled streets during the two day event.

We made the pilgrimage to Oudenaarde, Belgium to get under the skin of one of the world's truly classic bicycle races.