{"id":2489,"date":"2019-05-30T04:03:10","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T18:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyclingclassics.com.au\/bowral\/2019\/05\/30\/experience-the-heartland-of-cycling-in-flanders\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T14:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T03:46:22","slug":"experience-the-heartland-of-cycling-in-flanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyclingclassics.com.au\/bowral\/2019\/05\/30\/experience-the-heartland-of-cycling-in-flanders\/","title":{"rendered":"Experience the heartland of cycling in Flanders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Ask any Australian to name a country famous for cycling and they will probably say France or Italy.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">But for true cycling purists the most famous country is undoubtedly Belgium and more specifically, the region of <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Flanders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Flanders is a Dutch-speaking region located in the north of Belgium and is known for its notoriously tough roads for cyclists. At the heart of the challenge are cobblestones, the uneven, oddly shaped rocks that line many roads in towns and villages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6885 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bowralclassic.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cycling-in-Flanders-Cobbles-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"401\" height=\"268\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">For this reason cyclists from Flanders are renowned as hardcore, tenacious riders. They are powered by sheer determination as well as the always exceptional Belgian beer!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">To &#8216;ride like a Flandrien&#8217; is to cycle with sheer grit and test your mettle like nowhere else n the world. It&#8217;s no wonder that Flanders is home to arguably the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Commencing in the European springtime, Flanders has an extensive calendar of events to immerse yourself in the region&#8217;s cycling culture. From the ultimate Ronde van Vlaanderen to the Tour of Ghent-Wevelgem to the Great War Remembrance Sportive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Cycling in Flanders is not just about tough conditions, it&#8217;s also an opportunity to experience a unique and special part of Europe. From charming medieval cities such as Ghent, Bruges and Ypres to beautiful rural landscapes with dairy cattle and crops of maize and hops. There is also an opportunity to ride through Flanders Fields, an area with a deep connection to Australia forged in the fires of the First World War.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Of course, not to be missed are the famous \u2018Four Ks\u2019 climbs of Flanders; the fabled Koppenberg, the everlasting Kwaremont, the mythical Kapelmuur (The Muur) and the ferocious Kemmelberg.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">Conquering a cobbled climb in Flanders is the ultimate pilgrimage for cycling fanatics. For more information on travelling and cycling in Flanders see: <\/span><span style=\"color: #0563c1\"><span lang=\"zxx\"><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclinginflanders.cc\/\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\">www.cyclinginflanders.cc<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, sans-serif\"> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitflanders.com\/en\/?country=en_AU\">visitflanders.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6886 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bowralclassic.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cycling-in-Flanders-De-Kemmelberg-300x100.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"921\" height=\"307\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask any Australian to name a country famous for cycling and they will probably say France or Italy.\u00a0But for true cycling purists the most famous country is undoubtedly Belgium and more specifically, the region of Flanders. Flanders is a Dutch-speaking region located in the north of Belgium and is known for its notoriously tough roads [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sponsors-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Experience the heartland of cycling in Flanders - Bowral Classic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyclingclassics.com.au\/bowral\/2019\/05\/30\/experience-the-heartland-of-cycling-in-flanders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Experience the heartland of cycling in Flanders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ask any Australian to name a country famous for cycling and they will probably say France or Italy.\u00a0But for true cycling purists the most famous country is undoubtedly Belgium and more specifically, the region of Flanders. 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