Tom Boonen, Nikolas Maes and Stijn Vandenbergh will be the three stars at the inaugural OPQS rider Club ride, which will be held this year on October 6th, 2013 on the roads of the Etape Pennines, one of the most beautiful and hardest Gran Fondo races on the international scene.
The 3 musketeers from team OPQS will be pedaling side by side with everyone participating from the special Rider Club, the Club that provides an exclusive VIP riding experience. With the OPQS rider Club, cyclists can pedal beside the legendary Tom Boonen, winner of 4 Roubaix races and 3 Tour des Flandres. They can also ride with Nikolas Maes, overall winner at World Ports Classic this season, and Stijn Vandenbergh. Maes and Vandenbergh are two Flemish juggernauts who more than once have escorted Boonen during his grand enterprises, from the winds of Qatar to the cobblestones of the Northern classics.
"It's going to be a fantastic event in which I hope many cycling tourists will participate," said Boonen. "The concept of the Rider Club is very interesting and offers everyone participating the possibility for a unique experience thanks to well organized race assistance and qualified staff that can support the participants before and after the race. It will also be very nice to see an "OPQS color burst" within the peloton, it will make for a splashy impact. As far as I'm concerned, I hope that by then I will have recovered from the physical problems I've been having and be able take to my bike with our supporters, even if only for a brief stretch. I will also be present at the Saturday evening's gala event and will provide the participants any possible advice I can. I hope to see a lot of riders there!"
"The route is very interesting and challenging," said Vandenbergh. "It will definitely be fun to pedal with the members of the Rider Club and at the same time support the fund raising for the Marie Curie Cancer Care initiative. This is just one more good reason to be there! "
"I've already raced in events of this kind," said Maes, "But I think that the Pennines, for the type of par-course and the splendid places it passes through, will really be "the place to be" for all two wheel fans, our team and the Rider Club."