Entries for the 2025 Tour of Flanders sportive open at 11:00am this morning.
Officially known as We Ride Flanders, this mega-sportive allows cycling fans to ride the route of the Tour of Flanders - or Ronde van Vlaanderen as it's called in Belgium - in one of the highlights of the early cycling season.
Next year's sportive will take place on Saturday 5 April 2025, one day before the pros take to the cobbles in the famous Spring Classic.
Riders can once again choose from four distances ranging from 80km to 242km. The longest route starts in Bruges next year, with the other distances starting and finishing in Oudenaarde.
Whichever course you choose, you'll experience at first hand the notorious cobbled bergs before the chance to settle back with a beer or two to enjoy the race the next day.
Enter now at www.werideflanders.com.
The Flanders cyclosportive, also known as the Ronde van Vlaanderen Cyclo, is one of the most popular in Europe. Each year 16,000 cyclists take to the cobbles to ride the route a day ahead of the Tour of Flanders pro race.
The start point of the Ronde rotates every four years. For the past few editions it's been Antwerp, but for 2025 the start returns to Bruges.
However, for sportive riders only the longest 242km route starts from Bruges. Riders who choose the 177km, 144km and 80km options will start and finish in Oudenaarde, where the main action takes place on the cobbled bergs and rural roads around the town.
Prices are set in four tiers with early entries getting the best rates. Sign up early and you'll pay €85 - the price is the same for each route this year.
The entry fee will rise to €95 and then €105 as more riders enter, so it's worth booking as soon as possible to get the best rate.
This year sees a few extras included in the entry price: entrants will receive a We Ride Flanders windstopper by Gobik (retail value €75) and a We Ride Flanders medal, along with supplies at every checkpoint (biscuits, bananas, waffles and 226ERS sports nutrition).
Accident insurance is included (riders must wear a helmet), and all riders will receive a frame plate including chip for timing and tracking during the event and a frame sticker indicating hills, cobbled sections and locations of feed stops.
For riders taking on the 242km long distance, a shuttle bus service is available from Oudenaarde to the start in Bruges. You can book this at the same time as registering your entry; the price is €TBC and you can travel the evening before at 7pm or 8pm, or at 5:15am on the morning of the ride.
If you go to ride this event make sure you stay for the full weekend to experience the pro riders in the actual Tour of Flanders the next day. This is the race that stops Belgium: when Fabian Cancellara won in 2014, over eighty percent of the population watched his victory either live or on television!
For more details and to book your place, visit the event website at www.werideflanders.com.
Read our reports from past editions of the Tour of Flanders:
- Louise Bell rides the 2023 edition of the Ronde
- Keith Gilks' 2016 Tour of Flanders ride report
- Oisin Sands' 2014 Tour of Flanders ride report
- Tips for riding the Tour of Flanders for the first time
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