The Tour of Flanders Centre in Oudenaarde is packed with memorabilia from the 100-year-old cobbled classic - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The cobbled climbs were just as steep back in the ’70s as they are today — and the gearing was even bigger - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Like many races, the Tour of Flanders was conceived as a newspaper promotion, and the event continues to generate media coverage today - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Videos of recent editions of the race run in loops inside the museum - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Think getting up a steep hill in your little ring and big cog is hard? Try climbing on a 13.5kg/30lb singlespeed - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tom Simpson's 1962 Gitane boasted a 52/42 crank with a 13-17 cassette. Weight was 11kg/24.3lb - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
This Freddy Maertens Flandria is a tough-guy bike: one bottle cage (no rivets for a second), and 52/42 x 12-18 gearing - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Shimano Dura-Ace brake calipers have certainly gained in mechanical efficiency over the years, but the barrel adjuster and quick release are nothing new - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
In 2015, Team Sky rode the Tour of Flanders on an elastomer-suspended road bike, the Pinarello Dogma K8-S. But it certainly wasn't the first. This Discovery Channel Trek borrowed the elastomer suspension design from then-sister brand Klein - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Mavic calipers were a bit of a flash in the pan. This set was on Johan Museeuw's 2004 Time bike - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The basic components are the same, but the designs have certainly changed over the years - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Goggles, 'hair net' helmets and toe clips look downright antique by today's standards - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Nasty crashes have always been part of the sport - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Many of the artifacts were provided to the museum in seemingly the same state they were in following the race - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Tour of Flanders Centre has an adult and a kid's bike on ovalized rollers that replicates the rattling feeling of riding on cobbles - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The original Rapha jersey… belonged to the Rapha-Gitan team. The bust is of Tom Simpson, who died of a drug overdose on the bike, but not before winning the 1961 Tour of Flanders - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
After being created in 1913, the race was soon disrupted by World War I - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The museum houses a controversial exhibit comparing a male rider to a female rider. Besides wattage appromxiation comparisons, the exhbiit also makes claims such as 'a woman's wider pelvis catches more wind', and that menstruation can 'reduce oxygen' and 'cause irritability and fatigue'. These are all listed as reasons why men are faster racers than women - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Of course Eddy Merckx won De Ronde (1975) - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tires are a little wider now at the Tour of Flanders - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Having won three times, Fabian Cancellara is an adopted son of Oudenaarde, and gets his own corner of the museum - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Interestingly, two of Cancellara's three display bikes are time-trial machines - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Look's Ergo Stem allowed for aggressive positions on bikes without short head tubes - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
A bucolic rendition of the Tour of Flanders - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Being Belgium, the musem's gift shop offers multiple cycling-themed beers - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
And being Belgium, the museum has an adjoining cycling-themed bar, where patrons watched the 2015 Tour of Flanders on the big screen - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Team Sky and Pinarello made waves at the 2015 Tour of Flanders with an elastomer-suspended road bike, but a little museum just steps from the race finish contains proof that the Dogma K8-S certainly isn't the first of its kind. The Tour of Flanders Centre hosts, among hundreds of other relics, a 2005 Discovery Channel edition Trek Madone equipped with an elastomer rear suspension, a design borrowed from Trek's then-sister brand Klein.
The Tour of Flanders Centre chronicles the race, its gear and its stars from its inception in 1903 on through the 2014 edition. Numerous historic bikes add perspective to the modern day race. (Think climbing a steep, cobbled climb on a double-ring bike is tough? Try it on 13.5kg/30lb singlespeed.) And old newspaper clippings and looped race radio recordings take visitors back in time.
BikeRadar visited the museum during the 2015 Tour of Flanders, and the deep gallery above captures some of the more interesting parts, including a questionable exhibit that argues women are slower than men on bikes because menstruation causes a reduction in oxygen.
Click through the gallery above for a walk through the quirky museum.
The tour of flanders centre has an adult and a kid's bike on ovalized rollers that generates that rattling feeling of riding on cobbles:
Two demo bikes are mounted on ovalized rollers to simulate riding cobbles
Ben Delaney is a journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for and editing some of the biggest publications in cycling. Having studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, Ben has worked for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloNews and BikeRadar. He has also previously worked as Global Brand Communications Manager for Specialized. Ben covers all things road and gravel, and can be found logging big miles in the Rocky Mountains that nestle alongside his home in Boulder, Colorado. He has covered the most important bike races in the sport, from the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, to the Unbound gravel race, and specialises in tech content, showcasing what the pros are riding and putting everyday equipment through its paces.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
