News: Tour of Flanders Sunday

The real Tour of Flanders has been postponed but the organisers have found an alternative for the Tour of Flanders this Sunday – with the first virtual edition ever, as well a radio play featuring 104 years of Flanders Finest

News: Tour of Flanders Sunday

The event that all of Flanders is more passionate about than any other will not take place on Sunday 5 April. This prompted Flanders Classics and Belgian national sports broadcaster Sporza to go in search of an innovative alternative that is equally thrilling for both fans and cyclists. Although it is currently forbidden to cycle in groups and has been for a little while now, they will be announcing the very first virtual edition of Flanders’ Finest for professional cyclists today: DeRonde2020, the lockdown edition. Because you can still cycle on your home trainer.

Flanders Classics developed a unique concept in collaboration with technology partners Bkool and Kiswe. Not only that, the participating teams also contributed their part to this wonderful initiative. The teams were not only more than willing to join in, they are what’s more doing so entirely free of charge. After a 1 hour race, the 2020 winner will be crowned. In a closed tour reserved exclusively for professional cyclists, 13 pros will be competing during the last 32 km of the Tour of Flanders – on their home trainers. Thanks to Kiswe we will be able to watch the riders tackle a virtual Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg in real time on the Bkool platform. The parcours has already been uploaded onto Bkool’s digital platform.

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Follow the Tour of Flanders social media channels and find out where to watch this unique event.

The 13 riders includes Remco Evenepoel, Yves Lampaert and Zdenek Stybar who will tackle the final 32 kilometers, and with them, the famous Kruisberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg climbs, online and from the comfort of their homes.

“I never thought I would make my Monument debut this way, but it’s still better than nothing. I guess I’m the first rider in history to race a Monument for the first time on a smart trainer, and as strange as it may sound, I am looking forward to it. From what I understand, it will replicate the conditions of Flanders, so it should be quite a tough test”, 20-year-old Evenepoel said of the race which will be livestreamed on our website this Sunday.

“It’s a difficult time for everyone, but we really hope this project will bring some happiness and a glimmer of hope to all the fans in Belgium and around the world, who will have the possibility to watch us live as we race the final part of Flanders”, added Yves Lampaert.