Van Avermaet rides a 54cm frame size, which is fitted with 3T bars and stem, Shimano wheels, Vittoria tyres and the Shimano Dura Ace Di2 groupset and Dura Ace pedals. It’s the same bike that he rides all season long, with just a few special tweaks to help cope with the cobbles.
“For the gearing it’s 39 small ring and 53 in the big ring. It’s a 30 in the back just to keep it safer when you’re going up Taaienberg or the Kwaremont, you need a really small gear so you don’t break up the chain or the derailleur.”
BMC Racing studied the new route of the Tour of Flanders earlier this week, taking in some of the most important climbs of the race, including the Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg and the Koppenberg.
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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
