Ronde

“It wasn’t a race but a war game,” said Bernard Hinault. “Without question, the hardest one‑day bike race ever created,” added George Hincapie. The Tour of Flanders — the Ronde — is cycling’s greatest one‑day epic: a ferocious blend of cobbles, steep bergs, narrow roads, national pride, beer, brutal weather and the most passionate fans in the sport.

It’s the Tour de France boiled down to a single day of chaos and glory — Belgium’s equivalent of the Grand National, Wimbledon and the FA Cup final rolled into one. And yet the Ronde is more than a race. It’s a cultural ritual, a landscape, a way of life.

In The Ronde, Edward Pickering tells the story of this legendary event through the lens of the 2011 edition — one of the most gripping races of the past half‑century. He blends a blow‑by‑blow account of that day with a rich exploration of the Ronde’s history, meaning and mythology. Through eyewitness reporting from key locations and dozens of rider interviews, Pickering reveals how the race works from the inside out.

The result is a textured, immersive portrait of a race shaped by the land it crosses and the people who adore it. It’s also one of the most detailed analyses of a single cycling event ever written — a deep dive into the tactics, terrain and traditions that make the Ronde utterly unique.