Clash Titans

In cycling's version of King Kong us Godzilla, the bergs of Flanders come face-to-face with the cobbles of Roubaix in one epic ride

- PHILIP MALCOLM

Whenever anyone returns from their first trip to ride the short, steep, cobbled hills made famous by the Tour of Flanders, it’s obligatory for them to point out how close together everything is. In the space of about 40 square kilometres it is possible to tick off dozens of classic bergs and still miss out on enough that you have to start planning for a return trip.

What also comes as a bit of surprise is how many of Belgium’s one-day races take place in this confined corner of the country. From Oudenaarde, a pretty market town that serves as the finish of the Tour of Flanders, it’s possible to criss-cross the courses of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Bank Classic (previously known as E3 Harelbeke), Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Ronde van Vlaanderen itself, among others. Plus, just 35km southwest of Oudenaarde lies that other icon of the spring Classics: the city of Roubaix.

This gave us an idea. It must be possible to stitch together a route that takes in the best bits of those two great Monuments – the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – in a single ride. So, with a little help from our friends at Cycling in Flanders, we plotted a wiggly course that would take us from the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen, a museum-cum-cafecum-experience centre in Oudenaarde, to the hallowed velodrome in Roubaix, with lots and lots of cobbles along the way.

Ice and bergs 

A ride of 98km with 905m of climbing may not sound like much of a challenge. However, once you factor in temperatures hovering around freezing, a dump of rain the night before and a weak February sun that never seems to get up above the horizon, you’ve got the makings of a memorable day on the bike.