170mm Stems: The Only Reason You Need to Watch This Gent-Wevelgem Tech Video

It’s been a long time since I’ve ventured north from where I live in France to Belgium for the races that prelude the “Holy Week”. The last time I was in Belgium for Gent-Wevelgem was way back in 2009, then a mid-week race, when Edvald Boasson Hagen won. As for E3 Saxo Classic, it’s been on the bucket list. And now, thankfully, it’s ticked off. And because of now striking the E3/Gent-Wevelgem double header off the to-do list, I’ve come to a conclusion, one that may be a little controversial.

Are you ready? OK.

The double-bill of E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem is a superior weekend than the Flanders weekend, and I include bundling the Flanders sportive and watching the race in that mix.

Both E3 and Wevelgem are raced at an ideal length for non-stop bags of action, a duration where it doesn’t feel like you’re waiting at the roadside for an age for the action, and backing them up with only a day between the two gives the hardcore Belgie fans a perfect chance to live on calories from Jupiler beer alone for three days.

On top of that, if you head to the start towns, it’s also a far more accessible location for fans to get a glimpse of their heroes, plus, luckily, for those that have to wander the pits (as I do) for tech content, it’s a breeze, staff and riders are far more relaxed, yet there’s still that pure Belgie buzz about it all.

It’s a delight.

Being a breeze to wandering the pits means that I have quite an extensive video for you. Staff and riders were all open and ready to chat, though as bloody usual, no one would delve too deeply into their tire pressures. Every mechanic seems willing to go to the grave with those numbers.

E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem are in no way “fish’n’chipper” races; that’s far from the fact, in fact, very far from the fact. But they are races that sit just a smidgen below those that bookend the “Holy Week”, Flanders and Roubaix. Because of this, we see the kit that will be in its final testing phase before they roll out of Antwerp for the Tour of Flanders. Paris-Roubaix is a different matter.

Both E3 and Wevelgem will be the last races where they can truly test the equipment outside of recons. And this year, there are a few recurring themes, unless you ride for Cofidis! Tubulars are pretty much used across the board, and for the Belgian Classics, it’s either 30mm or 28mm widths depending on how wide the internal rims are of your wheel sponsors. The only team using 32mm tubular was Ineos Grenadiers.

Being in Belgium, it was no surprise to see a few long stems.

I’m positive it’s a law that if you turn professional in Belgium for a Belgium team, you get issued with a 140mm stem, no matter how well your previous bike fit you. Well, I’ve news for you: 140mm is out, and 170mm is in. Yes, that’s right. I said 170mm, which is a stem length that needs phoning through to let it know there’s a corner coming up. I’d hate to think how they handle it, but I’m desperate to test one (now there’s a video idea!).

The other noticeable thing this year is that every team were pretty much on their standard race machines. Gone are the days when we saw “endurance” models rolled out. It wasn’t that long ago when we see such bikes as the Trek Domane, or Giant-sponsored squads on the Defy. With almost every race bike allowing for wide tires, it seems the pros can have it all: aero and smooth.

This 10-minute video has more tech crammed into it, so please hit that play button and enjoy.

Cheers,
Dave

Gent-Wevelgem Tech Gallery