Gent-Wevelgem - In Flanders Fields

Not Gent, not Wevelgem. Despite the name, this signposted route neither starts in Gent nor ends in Wevelgem — it loops instead through Heuvelland, the hilly pocket of West Flanders that supplies the professional race's real drama each spring. A shorter 56-kilometre loop covers the three notorious "plugstreets" and a double climb of the Kemmelberg; an optional 28-kilometre extension adds a run out to Ypres and back for anyone wanting to start the day at the Menin Gate.

Into Ypres and back. The opening kilometres cross typical Flemish farmland, past two large mine craters — a blunt reminder of 1917 — before reaching Ypres, where the daily Last Post ceremony still sounds each evening beneath the Menin Gate. From there the route turns back toward Kemmel for the section riders actually come for.

The West Flemish hills. The climbing starts gently with the Lettenberg, a 2.5-kilometre warm-up, followed by the short, sharp Scherpenberg — steep enough to top 11% along a narrow lane threaded between exposed tree roots. These hills sit oddly isolated in the open, gently rolling countryside around them, appearing almost without warning. The paired Schomminkelstraat and Banenberg climb follows, a combined ascent that touches 14% beneath a disused ski-lift cable and an old windmill.

Ground still marked by war. Commonwealth and French war cemeteries recur throughout the route, some no larger than a backyard plot. The gravel "plugstreets" near Ploegsteert, first added to the professional race in 2017, take their name from British soldiers' attempt at the village's Flemish name; the Christmas Truce memorial along the second strip marks the site where, according to local history, Allied and German troops briefly laid down arms in December 1914.

The Kemmelberg finale. The route's climax comes on the Kemmelberg's north-west side — its cobbles and gradients up to 17% making it the harder of the hill's two approaches. The course doubles back on itself here: up, down, around through open fields, then back up the difficult side a second time, before a final push over the Monteberg closes out the climbing.

The finish. Riders end back at Café Boutique, at the foot of the Kemmelberg — a cycling bar decorated with a jersey from former Belgian champion Herman Van Springel, and the traditional spot for a post-ride Picon, the aniseed-and-orange apéritif that doubles as the region's unofficial cycling drink.