The spring classic Gent-Wevelgem will take you right through the West Flanders war landscape of World War I on Sunday, 30 March 2025. Discover famous bunkers, trenches, observation towers and monuments along the course.
Not without reason, the cycling classic was renamed 'Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields' in 2015. This is because the race meanders through the remnants of the First World War, which raged in and around Ypres between 1914 and 1918, also the race start location.
The toll of the Battle of Passchendaele
Right from the start, the riders are confronted with the human toll of war as they pedal down Passchendaele Street past Tyne Cot Cemetery, one of the largest British military cemeteries on the European mainland. More than 10,000 soldiers who lost their lives at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 are buried there.
After a diversion via Gullegem, the riders cross the former railway line 63 along the Houthultseweg between Poelkapelle and Houthulst.
Bloody backdrop
For example, the railway between Kortemark and Ypres became the scene of bloody battles during WWI, at Pilkem. Moreover, the line skims past the cradle of chemical warfare. Indeed, the Germans discharged chlorine gas at Langemark on 22 April 1915.
The riders then set course for Diksmuide. At a bend in the river IJzer, the trenches of the Dodengang, Belgium's only preserved World War I trench complex, meander.
The Dodengangstraat brings the riders near the hamlet of Lampernisse by the Frontzate, the railway line that once connected Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide.
Railway embankment
After the Belgian army flooded the valley of the IJzer River, this railway embankment was a water barrier. Bunkers and observation posts sprung up like mushrooms and can still be found today along the railway line, which has been transformed into a cycle path.
Observation tower
The passage in Pervijze takes the platoon past the remains of the presbytery of St Catherine's Chapel. The Belgian army erected an observation post on its ruins, gradually sinking under its weight.
Hilly war landscape
Via Veurne and the Moeren, the riders head towards the West Flanders Hill Country, the scene of heavy fighting during WWI. The Kemmelberg not only houses the Ossuaire, a French military cemetery where more than 5,000 fallen soldiers lie. An offshoot of the Kemmelberg, the Lettenberg, housed British Army military posts overlooking the front line during WWI.
Peace Park
After passing through Heuvelland, Messines is on the menu. It is Belgium's smallest town, with barely a thousand inhabitants. The tower adorning Peace Park is a tribute to the Irish soldiers who gave their lives during the First World War.
Christmas Truce
Ploegsteert is the last stop before the riders head to the finishing line in Wevelgem. The British army was lord and master in the woods around Ploegsteert for almost the entire war, except in 1918. Ploegsteert houses a monument commemorating the Christmas Truce.
During a Christmas truce in late 1914, the guns fell silent, and soldiers crawled out of their trenches and sang Christmas carols together. The Christmas truce lasted barely a week. The surrounding woods are still teeming with cemeteries and bunker tracks.
The Ghent-Wevelgem cycling race in Flanders Fields will occur on Sunday, 30 March 2025. Afterwards, we will know who will follow in the footsteps of the 2024 winner, Dane Mads Pedersen. You can find more information about the course on the Cycling Classics website.
You can also discover many more World War I sites in Flanders. In 2023, some of these landmarks were declared Unesco World Heritage sites.
