Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

One of the enjoyable consequences (for the fans, anyway) of the craziness surrounding the 2022 season is watching the Movistar Team race at old, prestigious events, with a taste of cycling from the good old times, they would otherwise never have visited. And it’s no less than the 106th edition of the Koolskamp Koers (race of Koolskamp) or Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (Championship of Flanders) which opens a Flemish tournée for the Blues, with four events in the region in barely six days.

The race comprises 13 laps of a circuit of just over 15km in and around the towns of Koolskamp, Egem and Pittem, located between the coast and the city of Ghent. It hasn’t got big elevations, and other than the urban areas, the usual road furniture, a triple 90º turn right after the finishing straight and (watch out!) the wind, it’s a race suited to a big group’s sprint.