The time had come once again. Year after year, all cycling fans anticipate that moment of the race calendar when the cobbled classics get into their full swing. One cycling nationality probably more than any other, the Belgians. They call it the Flemish Week, the stretch of five cobbled races held on their home soil, starting with the Classic Brugge–De Panne and ending with their most important race, the Tour of Flanders.
It is indeed a pleasant moment of the season. The Flemish races leading to De Ronde Sunday never fail to entertain, and with a race taking place every three days, it’s packed with lots of action. It opens discussions about who the major contenders for the upcoming Monuments are. Plus, there’s the warm feeling that the climax is yet to come: the Flanders and Roubaix back-to-back weekends, known as the Holy Week for a change.
To experience this festival of cycling firsthand is probably something that no classics fan would turn down. So, we were thrilled when a possibility came from Ridley to spend two days in Maarkedal, West Flanders, right in the heart of the region where the races take place. We stayed in Villa Mareon, rebranded as Villa Ridley, a spacious and luxurious house that can comfortably host a group of cyclists visiting the region to attend the races. In fact, it lies directly on the course of both the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Dwars Door Vlaanderen.
During those two days, we were riding and testing the new aero model from Ridley, the Noah Fast 3.0. We will talk about this new generation of the Noah Fast model soon in our magazine, but we can already tease you that it is a very racy, fast and 100% aero-oriented model worth looking into.
Riding the famous cobbles with Thor Hushovd
An unusually sunny and warm morning for Flemish standards welcomed us last Thursday on a ride led by Thor Hushovd, the general manager of the Uno-X Mobility cycling team (apart from other accolades to his name). The 70 km route covered most of the finale of the Tour of Flanders, tackling 11 of the famous cobbled bergs in total, including all the most famous ones like Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, or Koppenberg, among others.
Having seen those climbs in person at De Ronde a couple of years ago, but never really riding them ourselves before, we were quite curious how difficult it would be to tackle them with a top-tier race bike. Berg Ten Houte, the first of them with the maximum incline of 16%, came just within the first 5 km, and pumped our heart rate into the red numbers very quickly as we tried to give our best effort.
“It’s still a hilly race, isn’t it? So why don’t the Ardennes specialists try their luck in Flanders too?” we used to wonder. Suddenly, it all felt so obviously clear to us – there is no rhythm to climbing those cobbled hills, and so it makes the Flemish classics so different from the ones in Ardennes, each suiting different types of riders. The cobbles simply require a very substantial push and trying to pace yourself with a measured effort just means almost coming to a stop, unless you’re one of the race contenders. An aspect that may seem rather obvious to a seasoned cycling fan, just felt a bit counterintuitive before trying it firsthand.
Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg were, just like during the race weekend, the center of attention of hundreds of cyclists. Apart from the elite race on Sunday, the popular sportive takes place the day before each year, so we could spot many groups of amateurs there, along with a couple of professional men and women teams doing their recons. The race organizers and the police already controlled the traffic at the main hotspots of the racecourse, even though it was only Thursday, proving how popular the whole Flemish week is to the cycling fans and how important the safety and smooth operation are to the race organizers.
The iconic Kwaremont, painful Jagerij, and getting dropped by Hushovd
Riding the Oude Kwaremont, arguably the most iconic of the cobbled sectors of the Flemish monument, etched into our memory the most. Not only is it the longest climb, but with the profile flattening mid-way through, there was a tiny moment to catch a breath and perhaps push even a bit more and pick up the speed on the flat part a little, riding past the white VIP tent to the end of the sector.
“That flat part, that’s where you have to get on the big ring, if you want to make a difference in the race,” says Bert Kenens, Product Manager at Ridley. Certainly not in our case – humbly shifting up one or two gears in the rear, keeping our heart rate above 180 bpm and losing two and a half minutes on Tadej Pogačar and his rivals in the official Strava segment.
Soon after the Paterberg followed. Descending to the bottom of it in the wheel of the world champion Thor Hushovd, both of us riding on the Noah Fast 3.0, for a moment felt like being in the actual race. Taking the right turn that brought us to the start of the climb, we came back into reality as Thor, even though retired ten years ago, distanced us instantly.
The Koppenberg proved its infamously rough and uneven cobbles pose a challenge similarly difficult to Paterberg, and that riding out of the saddle leads to the rear wheel slipping.
Most of the cobbled climbs, not only the mentioned ones, were obviously challenging, but riding fast over the flat cobbled sectors such as the Jagerij personally felt even harder. The sharp, progressive pain building up in the palms and wrists caused by the vibrations felt unbearable for someone not used to riding flat out over the cobbles, even when living in a city full of cobbled streets. So, when Thor challenged us to try to hold his wheel once he put the pedal down through Jagerij, it was eventually the hands screaming in pain that first alarmed us to give up the effort within perhaps 10 or 15 seconds. Rather than gripping the handlebars eagerly to absorb and push through all the vibrations, holding them loosely is the correct technique for riding the cobbles, something we still need to master.
When asking Thor which is his favourite berg, he jokes that it’s the flattenberg, and that he always preferred Paris-Roubaix which suited him better over the Flanders, finishing twice on the podium of the French monument. Perhaps it was also the bad luck of circumstances that affected his performances and results at De Ronde, with 14th place being his best result at the race. Nevertheless, his demonstrated power during our recon was still quite remarkable.
Ridley x Uno-X Mobility: An unprecedented long-term partnership
At Villa Ridley, we had time to learn the details and facts not only about the development of the Noah Fast 3.0, but also about the recently closed partnership between Ridley and the Uno-X Mobility team, which officially started in January this year. The two parties signed a decade-long partnership, an unprecedentedly long collaboration in the professional road cycling industry.
For Ridley, this long-term cooperation promises beneficial feedback to the bike development from the pro riders, including the valuable data collected at their wind tunnel in the Bike Valley. The brand is also very pleased and proud to be present at the biggest races now and for the foreseeable future. Given that Uno-X Mobility is not just a sponsor, but the direct owner of the team, they are committed to further establish themselves in the peloton as one of the major teams in the future.
“Us at Ridley, we position ourselves as challengers in the bike brands market, and similarly, Uno-X Mobility are the challengers in the racing peloton, so these values align fittingly.” – Frank Symons, Marketing Director at Ridley
For Uno-X Mobility, on the other hand, this means that they can rely on continuous support from the major Belgian bike manufacturer, to a certain extent adjusting the future racing models to their needs, plus getting a premium support that Ridley and the overarching firm Belgian Cycling Factory’s facilities and their innovative capacities, including the Bike Valley, can offer. After all, both brands were interested in a long-term partnership, without the uncertainty and hustle of having to re-negotiate the contract in three years, which was along with the BCF’s support capabilities the key reason for Thor Hushovd to decide for partnering with the Belgian brand than with other possible candidates. Apart from Ridley, Hushovd is committed to utilizing the BCF’s capacities together with other partners, such as DT Swiss, Sweet Protection or CeramicSpeed, to keep improving all possible aerodynamic aspects that affect the rider.
Current objectives at Uno-X Mobility
The Nordic team was recently given a wild card to start at the Tour de France, which was a huge success and relief for the team. When asked about the team’s ambitions at this Grand Tour, Thor clearly declared that the goal is to win a stage and that they will try for it every day. Speaking about the roster, it is too early to tell who the fans can expect to see at the Grand Depart, but the team is currently considering around twelve potential riders, out of which their line-up will be drawn, depending on the riders’ form and injuries.
Apart from the Tour de France, the overall team’s goal is clear – becoming a UCI WorldTeam in the men’s division.
We also spoke about the emphasis on equality within the team from the owners. They want to make sure that both the women’s and men’s teams receive the same level of support, and they are working hard to continuously integrate both divisions further. That said, the team has one joint service course, and all the mechanics, physiotherapists, nutritionists and other staff automatically work with both squads.
The team is trying to build together a strong identity as a team, being primarily a Scandinavian team, and both the riders and fans like that.
We asked Thor to reflect on his racing days and compare them to the current reality at Uno-X Mobility. It is basically the whole support package of what the riders get that has improved significantly over the years, having several nutritionists, physiotherapists, masseurs, chefs and other staff members at the riders’ disposal. Nutrition management and optimized training are the two key gamechanger factors that developed rapidly over the last decade, and the team wants to focus and invest in them a lot.
On a personal level, talking about retirement from the professional peloton, Thor is nowadays busier than ever, dealing with challenging but very interesting matters in the team every day. To wrap up our stay in Flanders, we asked him what his favorite location for cycling is. For Thor, it is the French Alps in general, and the Col du Galibier in particular.
