An early start on Friday morning (16th August) with flying to Brussels with Ryanair, 1hour 58 min delay (to avoid compensation with 2 min…lol!!) Accompanied by Glenn Dunwoody who invited me, his brother Andy, Cameron Henry and his dad Jason. A 20 minute train ride to the beautiful university city of Leuven, also home to the Stella Artois, which is very evident as most pub’s and restaurants got the brand all over. You still get a 33cl glass of beer for €2.30, as thousands of students live in the city. Certainly would recommend this for a city break…the architecture of the churches, the inner city and the squares are just breathtaking, see photos below) A rainy and humid evening ahead, a lovely meal and a few drinks, not to many as a busy day to follow. The hotel was opposite the train station (La Royal, an old grand hotel with budget prices) on the Martelaren plein (war memorial statue)
Saturday morning relaxing and sightseeing, a meal in town, and a Uber (brilliant taxi service) to the headquarters of the Cannibal Team in Wijgmaal, and welcomed by the Owner and DS of the team Francis Van Mechelen (ex popstar & DJ & entertainer) his wife Erica, and daughter Gloria (cyclist with Baloise-Vlaanderen) and ex Belgian champ. His son Vlad is a world pro with Bahrain – Victorious, who also are the main sponsors and benefactors of the team. A full service head quarters, team cars and van, and plenty of work ahead for all involved…Glenn, Andy, Francis, and Jason preparing the bikes for hours, myself just eating cake, and a few bottles of beer to swallow it down, just watching with amazement, as lot of work is involved to get everything ready for the day. Cars getting washed, bottles get prepared, bikes and spare wheels checked, this till late evening…the dedication is certainly felt, the skills of all involved top level, as this team is the team to beat in Belgium, and further afield.
An evening at our digs, a meal at the station square, which had a Tango Dance evening, dozen’s of couples doing their things, great entertainment watched by hundreds at the covered terraces of cafe’s and restaurants, an early night and race day arrived!! Collected by one of the team cars, assembly at the head quarters, collection of the team riders who live a few miles away not far from Haacht (another brewery town) Seth was rested due to his trip to Hungary (Nation Cup stage winner, 2nd and a 5th, and 2nd in the GC) but Cameron ready for his race of a life time!! A group of international riders welcomed us, the team consisting of Babovich Mikata-Belarus, Antonenko Pavic – Ukraine, Birkholm Nyegaards-Denmark, Dotan Ton-Israel, Cameron Henry-N-Ireland, and Dewaele Mathis-Belgium, a combination of different nationalities and characters…see below
Soon off up the motorway direction coast and West Flanders, and a place called Ingelmunster, not to far from Roeselare, with the race head quarters at the local soccer station…plenty of gazebos, mobile homes, and a great buzz all around…went to say hello to Tom Kinsella racing in Belgium to with the Van Mossel-Heist Cycling Team, he is back from injuries and finished his race in comfort!!
A few familiar faces came to support, the family Goossens who support the Irish riders for many years now in Belgium, and frequent visitors of the nationals in Ireland each year since, sound people with a big love for cycling, Conor Mc Cann and Aaron McCann from the Trinity Pro team, and Martine Verfaillie my ex-guest mum for more than a decade, it was great to catch up with them all.
Next last minute preparation, food and drink in the team car and assistance car (on the road with bidons and spare wheels) Andy and Jason taking videos at the finish line to sent to the team car, so we now exactly what happens in the race, so did Eric and Gloria at another location, and Seth informing us to at different location…it is a team performance from all involved!! The team took with Babovich Mikata – Belarus 4 primes of €50 euro (13 on offer) but all ended up in the chasing bunch 9 sec behind the winner
LAVI DVIR VZW WP DE MOLENSPURTERS MEULEBEKE (Israel Junior Champ) …so did Cameron (49th of the 104 juniors) for his first time on the road in Belgium, the technical and fast flat course in mind, not a bad result…he had stomach cramps during the race, but I would say it was nerves also, as anybody who has his first race in Belgium would confirm…daunting!! The front seat ride in the team car was also daunting, the close encounters of team cars, the chase trough the cavalcade after stopping to re install the antenna, as my big feet pushed the arial out his socket (I was pushing the brake who wasn’t there sitting on the right side of the car..lol) intense but exciting at the same time, had to check my knickers so to speak”…a quick good bye to the team as we needed to catch a plain, and one of the team cars brought us back to Brussel, guided by Eveline, the nurse and mummy of the team, who made sure we had plenty of food and drink with us, a lovely woman who raced herself, and played soccer on high level in her younger days. Flights on time and back home in Armagh around 11am…another hour brought me back to my home in Ards…tired but a happy chap…what an experience nevertheless!! Thank you Glenn, Andy, Francis, Erica, and Gloria for the VIP treatment, Jason for the camaraderie on the trip, and my wife Maggie for letting me do this things (on my wedding anniversary weekend) merci, bedankt and thank you!!
More photos can be found on https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vLeChmisb5SyShtD/ & https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pg1wbMgKBiruWwai/ & https://www.facebook.com/share/p/CLfPQvGsgbxFt9Ah/
