The Classics

Bike-Dreams returns to her roots. We go back to the places where we started cycling as teenagers, where we climbed our first "mountains" and where we crossed our first cobblestone roads. We go to Belgium, France and The Netherlands. We go to the heart of Flanders, the short steep climbs in the Ardennes and to the Hell of Northern France. We don't only return to our own history, but even more to the places where since more than 100 years the major one day cycling races are organised. The Classics. We have combined five of the greatest cycling races into one great journey : Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallone, Amstel Gold Race, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and of course Paris-Roubaix.

The start and finish places of the Classics are linked together with a few stages along charming villages, through historic city centres and over nice, quiet country roads.

The 2nd edition of "The Classics" starts Thursday March 30th, 2023 near Brussels. You return to the Belgium capital after 20 days, 16 stages and 1.800 kilometers through the epic centre of the European spring Classics.

The whole tour follows the course of the Classics for professionals the best as possible. This means cobble stones in Flanders and the north of France, and short, steep climbs in the other Classics.

The weather conditions can be very diverse in this part of Europe during springtime. We hope of course to get bright sunny days with comfortable temperatures, but also a cold eastern wind with rain and even snow is possible. Expect temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius, but bring cycling gear for more heroic circumstances. So, be prepared. Good or bad weather conditions; we make sure that your engines keep on running and that every day a warm shower and a comfortable hotel room are waiting.

The tour gives you also the opportunity to experience the real feeling of the Classics. You join in the third stage the "Tour of Flanders"-cyclo for 140 kilometers with thousands of other cycling tourists. One day later you can support the professionals along the course when they ride their Flanders' Finest. It's not only cycling. A visit to Belgium is not complete without tasting one of the more than 1000 sorts of beer. You certainly deserve a Trappist or Abbey beer after a day out in the wind, bumping over the cobblestones and after numerous challenging climbs.

You don't have to be a famous professional to experience the toughness of the Classics. Climb the cobblestone hills in Flanders, struggle on the steep Ardennes and push your way through the legendary Hell. You can try to imagine that you are Eddy Merckx, Fabian Cancellara or Tom Boonen for a moment. But it's probably more realistic that you suffer, and don't cycle like a Cannibal, a Spartacus or a Tornado Tom.