Wondering if anyone has any recommendations for best viewing of the Tour of Flanders here in a couple of months?
General bullets:
were flying into Antwerp 3/31 and staying there through 4/3.
I’d ideally like to see the race on the Kwaremont and have seen tickets for purchase like the link below that seems to cover what I’m after, but are there other/ better options?
It’s just my wife and I, she’s late 30s and I’ll be 41 by that time. Both very fit and both enjoy beer so getting around and having a good time is not going to be a problem.
while we’re fit, we’ll not be doing the sportive or anything like that.
Any comments are welcome, but am especially concerned about best way to view in person
Didn’t look at the prices, but that is likely your best bet. Flanders Classics has privatized a lot of the key viewing areas (or at least the best parts of them), so if your goal is to go, see key areas, drink beer and have a minimum of hassles, that is probably the best option.
We were on the Kwaremont for last year’s races (in a slightly dazed state after riding the sportive the day before).
If you just want to stay in one location for the whole day, you can do what many Belgians do, and pitch up course side with a picnic/beers where if you’re reasonably early you can see both the race and a big screen.
There are shuttle buses from Oudernaade to the main climbs through the day. We watched the women’s roll out before heading to the climb, and whilst we couldn’t get somewhere to see both a screen and the course simultaneously at that time, it was only two mins walk from the screen to find a gap in the crowd.
VIP areas probably make things a little easier, but it’s still not too bad in the open areas with a tiny bit of effort.
It’s great fun though - like most Belgian races, just a big road side party!
Thanks for the detailed response! We’re still weighing sorting the viewing out ourselves (as you described) or doing VIP. We’re leaning heavily towards VIP as I do have significant concerns about being in a country I’m not familiar with, consuming alcohol, and reliably getting ourselves to various places on what I’m sure will be a heavy traffic day with multiple road closures.
You’ll love it. You definitely do not need to buy tickets. In fact, I think you will see more if you don’t.
The bike is the best way to get around on the day if you can bring or rent bikes.
While the men’s race starts in Antwerp the race is really centered around Oudenarde. The Women start & finish there and the men also finish there. Most of the key sectors are within a 30min cycle of Oudenarde. We stayed about 30mins out of Oudenarede.
We rode to Oudenarde for about 11am - got a coffee in the beautiful square & were able to watch the women’s presentation, walk around the team buses & watch them roll out (they are in a car park at the back of the cycling museum).
At 1pm the men came through Oudenarde.
We then rode to Korteker, managed to see the men on the main road on the way and then see them on the cobbles at about 13:35.
We then hoped back on the bikes and got to the Kwaremont where the men passed 3 times including getting to see MVDP & Pogacar wheel to wheel on the final ascent. The Kwaremont is quite long with lots of viewing opportunities and some food & beer vans so you can move around on the climb between acescents. At the very top of the climb there is a fan zone with a large screen where we able to watch the finish.
About 30mns after that the women ride through on their way to the finish. We then watched their finish on a big TV at the bottom of the climb.
In the days before the race I was able to download the schedule to see where/when the riders were expected to be & was able to plan from there. I Made routes on Komoot & uploaded them to my bike computer to take any stress out of navigating. But all in all it was very easy to get around. We had to do some cross country gravel riding to get onto the Kwaremont but that just added to the fun!
Enjoy your trip!
I’m off to Strade Bianca this year - not quite as easy to watch the racing but hopefully equally as exciting!