2021 UCI Road World Championships

We start today with our staff meeting you at Zaventem airport in Brussels at 11.30 am and transferring you to our first hotel in beautiful Oudenaarde, our base for the next 5 nights where you can unpack and settle in. There will be someone to meet you at the airport and assist you to our vehicle. After we collect everyone we will be on our way to Oudenaarde The first job will be to assemble your bike and Bikestyle staff will be on hand if you have mechanical problems or need any other assistance and head out for a shakedown ride to ensure your bike is working 100% correctly. The rest of the day is yours. Tonight a Welcome Dinner is provided at the Hotel Restaurant and there will be plenty of time to ask questions and meet the staff and of course, the people who you will be spending your holiday with and maybe a Belgian beer or two!

Today we will see the first Rainbow jersey awarded for the 2021 World Championships but not before we head out and experience the race route of the Tour of Flanders, a living monument to cycling. We will do a loop of part of the racecourse including the Oude Kwaremont, Patersberg and Koppenberg. This is our chance to take some pictures on the most famous climbs from the Ronde Van Vlaanderen. After our ride, we will freshen up back at our hotel before travelling to Brugge to see the stage finish of the “race of truth”, the men’s ITT. We will see the presentation of the 1st Rainbow jersey before returning to Oudenaarde. Tonight you are free to enjoy one of the local restaurants.

Today you will experience how a “Pro Cyclists” trains. Eric your guide will take you out for his favourite training ride in the heartland of the Flemish Ardennes, the only thing the ride won’t include is a beer at the finish (a little early in the day for a drink). After returning to Oudenaarde we will change out of our cycling gear and head to Knokke-Heist for the start of the women’s ITT. Time trials are a great way to check out the riders and the latest bikes and gadgets. Bring your camera as you never know who you can get a photo with. Tonight you are free to enjoy one of the local restaurants.

After a few days visiting the WC, we will take a break and head for the cobblestones. Eric will take you to some of the famous cobbled climbs from earlier editions including the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen, the Kapelmuur and the Bosberg. As a side note "Muur" means wall! So you can imagine how the Muur van Geraardsbergen is feared by many Pro riders. This year the Tour de France will use some of those roads. We offer two rides, both of them will climb the Muur van Geraardsbergen. After our ride, we will visit the Tour of Flanders Centre and Museum. It is much more than an interactive museum. It also consists of an auditorium, an exhibition hall, a conference room, a lobby, a theme cafe and a great shop where they sell good quality clothing including original wool jerseys. The Tour plays an important role in the Flemish social life. Discover the glorious moments of your heroes and feel the emotions of the most beautiful classic in Flanders.

We have a short drive from our hotel to Ypres by van. Today we will ride some of the interesting parts of the course from the famous Gent-Wevelgem race, including the famous Kemmelberg. We offer a shorter and a longer ride. The long ride will bring us to the French border, after climbing a few hills in France we continue to the Kemmelberg. From here it’s only 12 km back to Ypres. After our ride, we will return to Ypres for lunch and a shower. After lunch, we will visit the Flanders Fields, which were the scene of some of the fiercest battles of World War 1. Included will be a visit to the Tyne Cot Cemetery where there is an interesting display of the battles fought in this area and the resting place of many Australians and British soldiers. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. The name "Tyne Cot" is said to come from the Northumberland Fusiliers seeing a resemblance between the German concrete pillboxes, which still stand in the middle of the cemetery, and typical Tyneside workers' cottages - Tyne Cots. To complete our day, you can visit the Last Post. Every evening (at 8 pm) since 1928, the Last Post has been sounded under the imposing memorial arches of the Menin Gate. The Last Post is the traditional salute to the fallen and is played in honour of the memory of the soldiers of the then British Empire, who fought and died in the 'Immortal Ypres Salient' between 1914 and 1918.

Today we will leave Oudenaarde by bike and ride to Mechelen and our 4-star hotel for the next 4 nights. Our ride is around 100km (again we offer a shorter option available) through the true Flemish Ardennes and the roads used in the Tour of Flanders. It won’t be all short climbs as the roads become flat closer to Mechelen. After checking into our hotel we will have time to freshen up and have some lunch. After lunch, we have a true Belgium experience, a visit to the Brewery het Anker. The history for the brewery is going back to the 15th century. In 1872, the family Van Breedam bought the brewery. In 1990, Charles Leclef, the fifth generation of the Van Breedam family took over the brewery and modernized the brewing equipment. You may want to take a few “samples” home with you! Tonight you are free to select one of the many restaurants in town for dinner.

Today we have something special planned, a behind the scenes look at the headquarters of one of Belgium’s most famous cycling teams, Lotto-Soudal. It is a chance to see the enormous logistics and support network that goes into running one of the best cycling teams in the world. We will ride from our hotel to Lotto-Soudal HQ which is around a 40km journey. We’ll have a quick look where the mechanics work on the pro’s bikes and around HQ. After our visit, it is back on the bike for our trip back to Mechelen. We will arrive in plenty of time to watch the finish of the Junior Women’s and the Men’s U23 Road Races on TV at a local pub (another Belgium tradition).

We have a big day ahead of us today. This morning we will head out for a short ride and return to our hotel and shower and get ready to watch the Women’s and Junior Men’s Road races. We will drive the short distance to Leuven where we will find a great advantage point to watch the races. The road race course visits Leuven several times throughout the day so we will have plenty of opportunity to see the action before the race finishes on the slightly sloping drag of Geldenaaksevest. We will watch the presentation of the Rainbow Jersey before returning to Mechelen where you are free dine in town.

Sadly, our trip comes to an end today. We hope you have enjoyed the UCI World Road Championships and challenged yourself on some of the toughest roads in Europe. Most of all we hope you’ve created new friendships and great memories. The trip ends and we head our separate ways but we hope to see you again soon. We will have a bus available to shuttle people to the airport during the day.

We have a big day ahead of us today. This morning we will head out for a short ride and return to our hotel and shower and get ready to watch the Women’s and Junior Men’s Road races. We will drive the short distance to Leuven where we will find a great advantage point to watch the races. The road race course visits Leuven several times throughout the day so we will have plenty of opportunity to see the action before the race finishes on the slightly sloping drag of Geldenaaksevest. We will watch the presentation of the Rainbow Jersey before returning to Mechelen where you are free dine in town.