2014 tour of Flanders sportive

ian5462

Hi all,

Is there a channel by which I can apply for a place on one of the spring classics sportives in 2014?
A few of us are hoping to do the ronde van Vlaanderen sportive. I know of this website: http://sport.be.msn.com/rondevanvlaanderen/2013/eng/ would this be the one?

Thanks in advance.

Ian

londoncommuter

Entry doesn't open until a lot closer to the time (Jan maybe, I can't remember). There's no massive rush to sign up like the more "glamorous" sportives. I've done it a couple of times and it's a great day. Just go easy on the waffles.

ian5462

Thanks londoncommuter. It's one of our must do sportives next year.

londoncommuter

Sorry, was slightly before January, the e-mail saying entry was open was sent on 16th November last year:

http://sport.be.msn.com/rondevanvlaande ... schrijven/

We had guys entering a few weeks before though so no panic.

SimonA99

2014 event registration is OPEN as of today, 1st Nov 2013 - http://www.sport.be/rondevanvlaanderen/2014/eng/

overlord2

When does this tend to close/fill-up?

wilky27

Has anyone got a route profile or GPX?

Thanks.

Iamnot Wiggins

wilky27 wrote:

Has anyone got a route profile or GPX?

Thanks.

Why not just pay your money & ride?

It's hilly but not in the style of a UK sportive. Think short & sharp on a regular basis.

durhamwasp

or have a look at the proper tour of flanders route, and it will look pretty similar!

IanTrcp

Change of tack if I may...

What tyres would be best for this event? I have a 'cross bike with plenty of clearance so can go quite wide, perhaps as much as 32mm.

An obvious choice is the Open Pave but I can only find these in 25c and have a feeling that more volume would be useful. I have some Schwalbe Sammy Slicks somewhere, but these really are quite draggy on tarmac.

Thoughts, ideas, experiences (particularly) welcomed! Thanks in advance.

rick_chasey

Yeah I have the same question but coming at it from the other side. I'm hoping a road bike with 23s will be sufficient.

Anyone with experience??

greasedscotsman

Ridden the Sportive 3 times and used 23mm Michelin Pro3s each time without any problems (and I would describe myself as a big unit). Just run a little bit less pressure than you usually would.

I would recommend changing water bottles if you use lightweight ones. You usually see loads of jettisoned bottles by the side of the road on the first few sections. Something a bit more robust and secure is a good idea.

rick_chasey

Perfect.

I don't have lightweight bottles and use metal bottle cages.

greasedscotsman

Oops, didn't mean lightweight bottles, I meant lightweight cages!

errorist

I'm doing it this year too and was wondering about the cobbles and what bike to take.

I here there are fewer cobbles than say Paris Roubaix and they are in better condition. Does anyone know if this is true?

Also, would the consensus be to ride a metal or carbon bike?

rick_chasey

Normal road bike should be fine. Is all I am bringing.

Is the consensus that a 39x30 will get me around without too many problems??

greasedscotsman

Errorist wrote:

I here there are fewer cobbles than say Paris Roubaix and they are in better condition. Does anyone know if this is true?

Yes, both are true.

Errorist wrote:

Also, would the consensus be to ride a metal or carbon bike?

Don't think it will make a great deal of difference. What bikes do you have to choose from?

Rick Chasey wrote:

Is the consensus that a 39x30 will get me around without too many problems??

Not a bad idea to fit a bigger cassette. Depends on how strong you are. First year I rode I used a 39x27 and was very glad I had it on the later climbs when I was getting tired. Also if your riding the sportive, you might not be able to ride at your own pace, but get stuck behind other riders.

2nd and 3rd year I used this...



Triple with a 30x23!

rick_chasey

Haha I did the Pyrenees on a 30 x 23.

Fine. I have a 12-30 10 speed cassette on the way.

Good stuff .

greasedscotsman

You know that a 30x23 and a 39x30 are the same size, right?

errorist

Thanks for the replies.

Got BMC Team Machine and a Van Nicholas Euros. Tempted to take the Van Nicholas as it's so comfy!

Whatever I take I'll be fitting a bigger cassette and possibly 25mm tyres.

rick_chasey

greasedscotsman wrote:

You know that a 30x23 and a 39x30 are the same size, right?

Ha! I do now!

greasedscotsman

Errorist wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

Got BMC Team Machine and a Van Nicholas Euros. Tempted to take the Van Nicholas as it's so comfy!

Whatever I take I'll be fitting a bigger cassette and possibly 25mm tyres.

Both great bikes (nice position to be in, to have both to chose from), think you'll be fine with either. But if the Van Nicholas is the one you want to take...

rick_chasey

Any other useful tips Greased??

greasedscotsman

Only other thing I can think of is to have a route card, (Although I do expect your knowledge of the route to be pretty good anyway Rick, you might not need one...) either in your jersey pocket or taped to your stem or top tube. Just with the basic stuff on each climb, distance, gradient and if it's cobbled or not. That sort of thing. Can be useful to know where you are on the course and if your about to ride the Kwaremont or the Paterberg.

Oh and I wouldn't rely too much on the food you get from the feed stations. I wasn't very good last time I did it.

rick_chasey

greasedscotsman wrote:

Only other thing I can think of is to have a route card, (Although I do expect your knowledge of the route to be pretty good anyway Rick, you might not need one...) either in your jersey pocket or taped to your stem or top tube. Just with the basic stuff on each climb, distance, gradient and if it's cobbled or not. That sort of thing. Can be useful to know where you are on the course and if your about to ride the Kwaremont or the Paterberg.

Oh and I wouldn't rely too much on the food you get from the feed stations. I wasn't very good last time I did it.

Ah that is a good one.

And I was going to just take lots of food anyway. And some flat watered down coke.

bigmat

Starting to think about bike set up for this. Will be riding Campag Neutrons with GP4000S 25mm. Need to decide between bikes - either alu frame with 53/39 and 13-26 cassette, or carbon frame with 50/34 and 11-23 or 11-25. Had been thinking alu might be a bit more robust, but if its forecast dry (i.e. less risk of crashing) I might go carbon...

ugo.santalucia

BigMat wrote:

Will be riding Campag Neutrons with GP4000S 25mm.

Have you done Belgian cobbles before?

greasedscotsman

Not too sure about where Neutrons sit in the Campag range, but I've ridden the sportive 3 times, last couple of times on a pair of Mavic Ksyrium ES with 23mm Michelin Pro 2s. The cobbles at Flanders are nothing like as rough as the ones at Roubaix, your not hitting them anywhere near as fast as they are mostly climbs and there isn't anywhere near the same about of kms.

bigmat

Not ridden Belgian cobbles before, no. I believe the Neutrons were ridden by Backstedt when he won Paris Roubaix though so must be reasonably robust? Obviously he will have had a support vehicle and presumably on tubs but it is encouraging!

Have spoken to a few people who have ridden it re tyres and most have said that 25mm ought to be sufficient, Vittoria Paves best but probably not absolutely essential. 4000S seem to be well regarded in terms of grip so I thought I'd give them a go and go 25mm instead of my usual 23mm.

The main reason I'm considering riding my training bike is because the best one is carbon with carbon bars and if I did go down at any point would be more likely to suffer terminal damage which would be a lot more costly. Think the likely weather will play a big part in that decision.

ugo.santalucia

BigMat wrote:

Not ridden Belgian cobbles before, no. I believe the Neutrons were ridden by Backstedt when he won Paris Roubaix though so must be reasonably robust? Obviously he will have had a support vehicle and presumably on tubs but it is encouraging!

Have spoken to a few people who have ridden it re tyres and most have said that 25mm ought to be sufficient, Vittoria Paves best but probably not absolutely essential. 4000S seem to be well regarded in terms of grip so I thought I'd give them a go and go 25mm instead of my usual 23mm.

The main reason I'm considering riding my training bike is because the best one is carbon with carbon bars and if I did go down at any point would be more likely to suffer terminal damage which would be a lot more costly. Think the likely weather will play a big part in that decision.

The tubular version of a rim is always tougher than the clincher version.
What the PROs ride is irrelevant, they have other priorities... they want to win, you need to finish. So you need the most reliable equipment possible. I am not saying the Neutron cannot survive the cobbles, but if only one spoke breaks, your day is over. You can't ride them with a missing spoke as you have no access to the nipples and you can't replace a spoke en route, due to the internal nipples and flange design.
If you have something with more spokes, with nipples that can be tweaked on the road, that would be better

greasedscotsman

Best get one of these then...