From 28 March to 6 April, the Province of West Flanders, the KOERS Museum and the City of Bruges are organising ‘Op Koers’. This ten-day cycling festival will take place at the Provincial Court in the city and counts down to the Tour of Flanders.
The Tour of Flanders, one of the most legendary races in cycling, starts in Bruges this year. To mark the occasion, the city is organising a ten-day cycling festival leading up to the start on Sunday 6 April.
The festival will celebrate both the history of cycling and the contemporary world of cycling with an expo, panel discussions and numerous activities. There will also be cycle rides, a pump track – a track specially built for cycling – and musical performances.
Op Koers will also host several famous cycling personalities who will share their insights. These include physiotherapist Lieven Maesschalk, former Quick-Step team manager Patrick Lefevere and former national team manager Sven Vanthourenhout, who led Belgium to several world championship titles.
Amateur race
On the day before the race, cycling fans will be able to discover the route of the Tour of Flanders for themselves, a 242-kilometre route from Bruges in West Flanders to the finish in Oudenaarde in East Flanders. The actual route is slightly longer at 268.9 kilometres.
While Belgium will be rooting for Wout Van Aert to win his first Tour of Flanders, he will have some serious competition. Tadej Pogacar will be looking for his second Tour of Flanders win after a spectacular solo finish in 2023.
Mathieu van der Poel is the other obvious candidate for victory on 6 April. The Dutchman has won three of the five previous editions and could become the first rider to win the race four times in his career.
