De Ronde - it’s the pinnacle of the Belgian Classics season, holy Sunday in Flanders. With up to 750,000 spectators along the race course, it’s also the biggest sporting event in Belgium.
The 270km long Monument from Antwerp to Oudenaarde - covering 17 climbs and 16 cobblestone sectors - lived up to its expectations and delivered a thrilling day of racing.
Rain, slippery cobbles, crashes, mud covered faces - as expected, it was a very rough day on the bike for the riders and a beautiful, very entertaining spectacle for the fans.
After more than 6 hours of battling for positions, fighting the elements and slipping and sliding on greasy cobbles, Marco Haller was our best placed rider in Oudenaarde, crossing the line in 33rd.
At only 19 years of age, our neo-pro Emil Herzog was the youngest rider to finish the race and apparently really liked it: “A beautiful but brutally hard race, I’ll definitely come back!“
Scroll through our gallery and relive a monumental day in Flanders ⤵️
© Sprintcycling / Anderl Hartmann