About
Go4Cycling?
Nico Ruyloft grow up in a Flandrian cycling obsessed family – his father, uncles and cousins all raced – and Nico himself started racing at a competitive level when he was 15 years. He combined road racing with track racing and was one of the brighter lights of his generation. At the age of 23 years Nico began his military career with the Belgian Army however he kept racing and was quickly selected for Belgium National Army team. His talent and drive had not gone unnoticed and Nico had just turned 27 years old when he was offered the role of a stagiaire professional with Team Farm Frites – the final stepping-stone to a full professional contract. Heartbreakingly for all involved, the sponsors pulled out of the sport and this great professional outfit ended that same year.
As a leading cyclist at the top of his game Nico experienced everything that the leading cycling teams offerd during their annual training camps. He also became very familiar with many of the most famous cycling locations throughout Europe and beyond. However, it was in Mallorca where Nico he began his highly successful career as a bike guide for Fred Rompelberg. Guiding aspiring road cyclists of all abilities over his beloved Mallorcan roads, and sharing his experience and advice learned as a neo-pro with a leading professional team awakened a new passion in him. Nico committed to pursuing his new dream and gained a great deal of highly quality experience as a bike guide and team leader for ‘Custom Getaways’, the leading American official tour operator at the Tour de France. Many grateful international customers have had their cycling experiences enhanced by Nico’s empathy, focus and superb organisational skills. Nico’s passion and attention to detail soon led him to take a leading role in the planning and logistics of these trips. Based on this experience, and in co-operation with Custom Getaways, he organized a Spring Classics trip in Belgium, and at the end of 2010 he launched his own bike tours company, the legendary “Go4Cycling”.
Using all he had learned in the Belgium military and in professional road cycling, Nico developed Go4Cycling as a company with 5 powerful pillars:
- Bike & Spectators Tours
- VIP-experiences
- Cyclosportives
- Corporate Events
- Coaching
Go4cycling rapidly gained a reputation as the leading light in the field, and from 2016 to 2018 Go4cycling was the largest official tour operator at the Giro d’Italia. Closer to home, in 2018 Go4Cycling was made the Official tour operator of the Tour of Flanders.
Nico has covered more than 20 Grand Tours as group leader and company director. Many Ex-professionals riders, indeed cycling legends, like Johan ‘The Lion Flanders’ Museeuw, George Hincapie, Stuart O’Grady, Peter Van Petegem, along with leading coaches like Chris Carmichael have returned time-and-again to work with Nico. All share one thing in common, namely their appreciation for his unquestionable passion and dedication to the job and his meticulous planning.
Nico was no slouch on the racing bike himself as can be seen by the palmares he developed over his 20 year international cycling career: –
- Winner of several semi classics: Circuit du Brabant Wallon, GP Wodecq, stage 3 Tour of Antwerp, etc.
- Winner of several stages at the youth six days of Ghent (track / madison)
- 4th place at the Military World Games (Zagreb – Croatia)
- Member of the national track team (team pursuit)
- Participation at the World Cup Track in Mexico
- Stagiair professional rider with Team Farm Frites which led to full participation in the Tour of Poland, Japan Cup, Circuit Franco Belge, etc.
New from 2024: René Martens as Tour of Flanders winner and teammate of Tour de France winner Greg Lemond becomes Go4Cycling ambassador
We are known in Belgium and abroad for our VIP -Experiences during the spring classics. It is a great added value that René Martens, winner of the Tour of Flanders, will be our permanent host and guide.
Content editor – Nicky Dey
