Origins

Many professional cyclists have been moving to the border region, near Maastricht, for years because of the perfect training area. However, nobody ever paid attention to the border posts, which were so numerous there. Until Jos van Emden moved to Veltwezelt from Schiedam. Before that, he himself had never seen a border post.

The fanaticism in front of the pole is not just a joke. During training, you should always have a goal. Because simply cycling a lap can get boring. When you have a goal, you have focus. And so Jos kept looking for new border posts, which he could tick off as soon as he found them. His fascination with the history of the border was soon born. In no time Jos took other riders along in his quest and I too was infected with the border posts virus.

The border area is often a very quiet strip with lots of nature, because in the past, people did not rush to live on the border. I myself grew up on the border of Germany, in Twente. Also a particularly quiet and beautiful area. Border stones always made an impression, but they are nowhere near as beautiful as the posts along the Dutch-Belgian border.

During a Cycling Café in December 2017, organised by Bjorn van de Langenberg, border posts were discussed in detail. As a fledgling idea, the idea of a tour along the border was born. A year later, Jumbo wanted to organise a similar tour to Alpe d'Huez in the Netherlands. When we were asked for ideas, we didn't have to think for long. The border region lends itself perfectly to this. The idea won the pitch. However, Jumbo turned out to focus on Formula 1 and the idea was shelved (with Max's world championship, not a bad choice by the way).

Jos, Bjorn and I decided to organise it ourselves. Because our love for the border post continued to grow. In 2019, we launched the tours along the border. Three tours in three provinces, on road bikes all along the border. We cyclists had hardly heard of gravel at that time. Then, in spring 2020, Corona broke out. Forced to cancel everything, we sat around the table. Since we were no longer cycling from A to B in the new format, we decided to add an extra tour. The Xtreme. Because every pole deserves to be seen.

Meanwhile, I too had taken up graveling and we organised a small Grenspalen Gravel (test) event in the autumn of 2020 for 50 already infected border posts fanatics. Thus, the first Grenspalenklassieker was born and we decided to organise tours for both road bike and gravel bike.

With the dates shifted, we could actually organise the four tours for the first time in 2021. Within the applicable corona measures, all four were sold out! Wonderful treks, with the Xtreme in particular being an exploration. Because no one had experience with such long treks: 25 checkpoints on the route and for the rest you get to figure it out all by yourself. It's a victory over yourself to complete the Xtreme all the way.

After my active cycling career, I went back to basics: cycling to explore and take long beautiful trips. This is exactly what the Borders Classics are, with the Xtreme as the standard bearer. Fun comes first. The cycling party, the search for border posts and the history of the border always add extra value.

Who knows where we will be in three years. There is still so much to explore and so many frontiers. Also boundaries that need to be overcome. A boundary is only a boundary on paper. As for an individual is a mental boundary. With the Borders Classic, we try to push boundaries and experience cycling with pleasure. If that succeeds, then our aim is successful. Together with you, the boundary pole madness expands.

Sporting greetings,

Bram Tankink
On behalf of the Borders Classic