Ledegem, a quiet West Flanders town near the French border, was both the start and finish of the Omloop van de Grensstreek — the "Circuit of the Border Region" — from its first edition in 1969 until the race's final running in 1983.
Its roll of honour reads like a roster of Belgian cycling's golden era: Rik Van Looy, Patrick Sercu, and Roger De Vlaeminck all won here, a concentration of names that outstrips many races with far longer histories.
The race disappeared from the calendar over four decades ago, but the flat, wind-exposed farmland it was raced across is unchanged — the same open fields and narrow farm roads that shaped generations of West Flemish sprinters and one-day specialists.
Today Ledegem sits within easy reach of Kortrijk, Roeselare, and Menen, in a corner of West Flanders more defined by quiet flat roads than by any single climb — useful, uncrowded terrain for riders happy to build kilometres rather than chase gradient.
