A nice cycling route in West Flanders in the Bruges countryside around the region of Jabbeke is the Romain Maes cycle route. This name will, I suspect, mean little to the cycling enthusiast unless the really fervent one which is very interested in the history of cycling.
Romain Maes was a Flemish cyclist from Zerkegem (1912 - 1983) who grew up in a family of no less than 13 children to which Sylveer Maes did not belong. Despite the same family name, both are not related, which did not prevent them from riding track races together as a duo for a few years. Romain Maes started racing at the age of 17 and became a professional cyclist in 1933 with the Alcyon cycling team.
Winner of the Tour de France 1935
His most important victories are the final classification in the West circuit in 1933, a stage in Paris Nice in 1934, a few stages in the Tour de France in 1935 and 1939, but especially the overall victory of the Tour de France 1935. The year before that Romain Maes was already on his way to a good final classification in the Tour of 1934, but he was forced to give up due to a crash.
Romain Maes is congratulated with the overall victory in the Tour de France 1935
In the Tour de France of 1935, he achieved no less than 3 stage victories in addition to the final classification. On his return home to Zerkegem, Maes was warmly received and his victory celebrated exuberantly. This happened not only in his hometown but also in Bruges and Ostend.
The career of Romain Maes could have been even greater if he had been spared a few times from bad luck: in Paris Roubaix of 1936 he crossed the finish line first, but Georges Speicher was wrongly chosen by the jury as the victor.
In the Tour de France of 1934 and 1939, he fell hard, which forced him to give up and in 1938 he seemed on the way to victory in Paris-Brussels, but he was mistaken in the number of final laps on the track, so Marcel Kint took the victory .
To honor the Tour victory of Romain Maes, the municipality of Jabbeke decided in 2012 to map out a signposted cycling route that goes over the roads where Maes completed his training rides. The tour is 41 km long and starts in Zerkegem, where Maes was born. Via Zerkegem you drive to Jabbeke, Snellegem, Varsenare and Stalhille back to Zerkegem.
You drive on pleasant narrow streets between fields from one village to another, passing the parental home (Gistelsesteenweg 500 in Zerkegem), the Ghent-Bruges-Ghent canal and the Velodroom bicycle museum. The latter has a huge collection of vintage bicycles but can only be visited by appointment (See more).
In every village you pass there is a cafe where you can stop for a nice refreshment. In Zerkegem itself, on the central church square opposite café Les Tzars is a monument in memory of Romain Maes. The artwork symbolizes his perseverance and elegant driving style.
Below you will find an overview of the route of the Romain Maes cycle route
You can also download this from the website of the municipality of Jabbeke at the following link> fietsroute Romain Maes 42km
