Narrow streets, technical cobbles and steep “bergs” that is what GiRonde is. The idea was formed at the TACTIC HQ and started on a piece of paper. A route designed to mimic the prestigious Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) and take in all the mythic climbs around the city.

When David put down the names of the climbs on a piece of paper in our office the idea of GiRonde came alive. A ride in honour of the iconic one-day classic held on the first Sunday of April. The Ronde van Vlaanderen is a ride that many cycling enthusiasts have on their bucket list, so organising an equivalent in our backyard is guaranteed to raise some attention.

Although the Girona area is known for its famous cycling, finding cobbles and bergs is not as easy. Especially not when limiting yourself to Girona city, something which was very important to David. However, with almost our entire team existing from locals, we managed to find a suitable route. We named, rated and explored the climbs and sectors and made a challenging, yet fun route.

We invited a bunch of friends and gave them a quick overview of the event, we didn’t have to do a lot of convincing to get them to join. 9:30 at La Fabrica and on the bike by 10, much more they didn’t know.

There was typical Belgian weather predicted, but the conditions turned out a lot better and we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine on our way to the start. After a quick coffee and a race briefing by David, it was time to get on the road.

A neutralised start up the Kathedraal muur led us out of the city, followed by a steep climb to get the legs warmed up. The first official climb of the day was the Tour de Gironella, providing us with beautiful views over the City. At this point, we were 4 km in and had already accumulated over 150m of climbing, warning us of the hard day that we had ahead.

We kept pedalling and ticking off the hidden “Bergs” of Girona. Some of them we had done before, others were a surprise. After 2:30h of riding, we had gone over all 8 climbs to finish at the Cathedral. Ready for a beer at Hors Categorie and to see if the pros were going to have just as much fun on Sunday.

If you feel like experiencing the “Flanders of Girona” make sure to download the route and give it a go. Just make sure you are ready for 60km of steep climbs and tight turns.

BERGS