59 Segments, 3 Days, One Magnificent Seven: Westerley take on the Flandrien Challenge

In June 2026, 5 Westerlies (Tim, Rob, Andy, Will and Nic) travelled to Belgium to take on the Flandrien Challenge: riding 59 sections of Flanders' toughest roads in under 72 hours. The sections are either over cobbles or up Bergs (punchy hills), and frequently both at the same time. Add in a bit of rain to make the cobbles slippery, and you'll appreciate why Flanders has produced some tough cyclists.

Day 1 started in Ypres with a fun morning whizzing up and down Bergs in the sunshine, swiftly ticking off the first 9 segments. After lunch and a transfer to Oudenaarde, the team decided to tackle a few more segments, to keep each of the following two days to a manageable 150km. Minutes after setting off, the raincoats went on as the forecast light rain turned into a miserable deluge. The smooth cobbles gave no grip, and an uneven join between two sections of concrete road surface gave Andy impact punctures in both tyres. A wet and cold couple of hours scored just 4 more segments: 13 down, 36 to go.

Day 2 was drizzly and progress was slow. Belgium is brilliant for cyclists, with smooth, pothole free roads crisscrossing fields for no apparent purpose other than making cycling a traffic free pleasure. They also avoid towns and villages, and have a notable absence of cafés. As fatigue struck, the team went off route to find a supermarket and dined on bread, crisps and sugar waffles. Refuelled, they set off again, only for Tim to copy Andy's trick and pick up an impact puncture on a tiny level change between concrete panels of road surface. The next (unofficial) challenge was cycling through a town where all the roads were being dug up, leaving a slippery, muddy track where the high street should have been. Everyone made it through safely, although the bikes now looked like they'd been dipped in chocolate. At the day's halfway point, the town of Ronse provided a welcome coffee stop at the foot of the Kruisberg. The weather improved and the route began to flow better, so plenty more segments were completed without further drama: 38 down, 21 to go.

Day 3 was special, as good friends of Westerley, the Dutch brothers Jörgen and Ingmar Bers, drove over from Holland to turn the Flanders Five into a Magnificent Seven for the final day. Although the team knew them well from online racing together, it was strange meeting people they knew so well for the first time. Fortunately, they were just as friendly, supportive and brilliant riders in real life as in the virtual world. The painful efforts on the afternoon of Day 1 had already covered the first part of the Day 3 route, and Rob towed the group along the canal back to the spot where they'd abandoned two days earlier. The sun came out, and the fatigue of the previous two days was (mostly) forgotten. The morning brought some fast, flat stretches between Challenge segments, while the afternoon packed in more segments in quick succession, including over 2km of cobbled road up a gentle incline, and later a massive cobbled descent. By 6pm it was all over, and time for some Belgian beers with the Bers Boys. 59/59 segments completed!

The following day required a trip to the Centre Ronde van Vlaanderen in Oudenaarde, to officially become Flandriens and have their names inscribed onto "cobbles" on the wall of fame.

In summary: a fantastic trip, experiencing the best (and some of the worst) cycling Flanders has to offer. The challenge was indeed challenging: 59 segments in 3 days, 430km of distance, almost 5.5km of altitude gain, and many, many km of cobbles to shake your multitools into their component parts. If you fancy this challenge, learn the Flemish words for "diversion" and "bridge closed", and check the strength of the delicious local beer before a hard day's cycling.