As part of the celebrations to mark 100 years of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, race organiser Flanders Classics is to run an amateur ride of 324km, the same distance of the original 1913 race. The event will begin in Gent, the site of the start and finish of that first race, but will finish in Oudenaarde, where the modern race now ends.
The event will be held on May 25th, which was the date of the first ever edition of Vlaanderens Mooiste, before it switched to its now familiar spring position. The 1913 race was won by West Flandrien Paul Deman, who won Bordeaux-Paris the following year, before working as a Belgian spy during World War I.
The original Ronde van Vlaanderen really was a loop around the northern Belgian province, passing through Sint-Niklaas, Aalst, Oudenaarde, Kortijk, Veurne, Oostende, Torhout and Roeselare on its way back to Gent; the route of the Ronde 100 Classic has not been released, but will likely be very different as it is set to cross the “most legendary climbs and stretches of cobbled road.”
Details are still fairly thin about the exact nature of the Ronde 100 Classic; its web page currently only contains a picture of the event poster. More details will doubtless be released soon; or at least ahead of the opening date for entries, which the poster states will be January 25th.
The Ronde 100 Classic ride will be run as well as - not instead of - the usual Ronde van Vlaanderen Cyclo, which takes place on April 30th - the day before the WorldTour race - over a choice of 80km, 140km and 240km courses.