Ronde

As an American who has never traveled to Europe, let alone Belgium, and a cyclist who has never raced but has followed professional cycling for over 40 years this book is great! Similar to the television coverage of the Tour de France in the United States, this book gives tremendous insight into the culture and people of Belgium and a great historical perspective on the Tour of Flanders itself. Insight into the riders, past an present, is something we are not easily exposed to in the USA. Detailed coverage of the 2011 Tour of Flanders, with insight provided by participants themselves, was extraordinary. While I was aware of the Tour of Flanders, it was my own ignorance which deprived me of the excitement and importance of this race. I can't wait until the next Tour of Flanders is run to apply my newfound appreciation of the race, the participants, the countryside, the culture and the people of Belgium / Flanders. Obviously,I would highly recommend this read to anyone interested in cycling, the Classics and Flanders!

Great inside tidbits about the riders

Great ook not only about the race but also cycling in general and Belgian culture and history. I recommend strongly

Excellent read, loved the history of the Flandrien region, and the back story on each of the historical climbs! Highly recommended!

Having read over a dozen rider biographies and accounts of Grand Tours I was looking for a book on the Classics. I'm very glad that I picked this one. It's an excellent read that weaves together a history of the Tour of Flanders with an account of the 2011 edition of the race. This approach works extremely well. The 2011 account creates a strong narrative drive and provides the author with a framework to analyse the course, the riders and the region. This is a highly detailed and thoroughly researched study, but it's never dull and goes straight into my top three cycling books, along with Slaying the Badger and Put Me Back on My Bike.

I have been an avid purchaser and reader of cycling books since the mid 80s, the good, the bad and the indifferent. This is one of the best.I agree with the previous reviewer in that basing it on the 2011 race seems a strange choice, infact having had high hopes for this book I was really disappointed a few pages in, thinking it would be a retelling of the race with interviews from those involved. Not what I hoped for at all.I couldn’t have been more wrong.The meat of the book just uses the 2011 race to give it some structure, more specifically the route and order of the climbs, as they are described in the order ridden. A chapter on each climb, a bit about the 2011 race, but far more on the geography and history of the region, both cycling, political and social history.For anyone who reads this review on the day it is written, this book is the perfect companion for Sunday’s race, it really brings the race route to life and puts it in its sporting, historical and social context. A real feat to be proud of.

Really interesting telling of the history of this classic race and the lands and people it traverses as it winds it’s way through Flanders.