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11/10/02
On Wednesday we travelled from Brugge to Zolder with a stop in Louvain
for business. Brugge is approximately 175km from Zolder.
The University of Louvain is located there and the streets were filled with
students. My friend Bob Vynkce had a meeting with a business associate and
from there we headed to Hasselt for the Elite Women's Time Trial. The start
for the TT is in Hasselt and the course travels 23.3km to the Zolder
Circuit. The traffic was heavy but we managed to park the car at the ring
road and watch from there as the riders went by.
Canada had two world class riders in this event: Lyne Bessette from
Knowlton QC and Genevieve Jeanson from Lachine QC. The first to pass was
Lyne and she was moving pushing a big gear. She had a Canadian National
Team Car following her. In this event there were 41 riders the best females
in the world including 41 year old and three time winner Jeannie
Longo-Ciprelli (Fra). Genvieve was in the last seven to go and she looked a
little laboured as she flew by. After the riders all went by we found a
Frit-stand that had a TV and we watched the end of the race and interviews
with the winner over a bowl of french fries and mayonaise and relish.
Zoulfia Zabirova from Russia won in 30:02.62 with an average speed of
46.332km/hr. Genevieve came in 14th 1:16 behind the winner and Lyne was in
23rd 1:35 behind. Pretty amazing run.
Yesterday we decided to stay in the Brugge and watch the Elite Mens Time
Trial on TV. All races are shown on one of the Belgian cable stations from
start to finish. So in many ways you can see more of the race on TV, but of
course you miss out on the ambiance. Today we also picked up our bikes.
Early in the week I managed to find a 20 year old Colnago-Roger De Vlaemick
Special secondhand at Jan Pollet Cycle Shop in Varsenare. I paid $140
euros or $218.00 Can. I intend to leave the bike here in Belgium and use it
when I come over here on holidays. Bob V. purchased a new DaVinci 47cm
racing bike as it is near impossible to find a used bike in his size. His
plan is to leave his bike here at his mothers home in Brugge.
While we were picking up the bikes we learned of a local race about 10kms
away where Johan Museeuw was scheduled to ride as final warm-up to the World
Championships Road race on Sunday. Off we went to Zwevezele for the 53rd
running of the Zwevezele Koers a 166km race 16 loops around a 10.8km
course. Now this is a midweek event and I was surprised to see the
thousands of spectators lining the course and hundreds of cyclists out in
their club colours riding the course in reverse. When the lead car went by
with the time and lap clock on the roof the course wardens would blow their
whistles and the recreational riders and spectators would get off the course
as the racers zipped by. We worked our way to the start/finish area where
their were several betting booths and the locals could place a bet for their
favourite rider. This event is only for riders who have a contract with a
professional team and we imagined that the winner would get $1000 euros or
close to $1500 Cdn. Not bad for a days ride. The pace was very fast and
the cornering amazing. Quickly there were two groups and the pack got
spread out. We parked ourselves in a cafe and over two Kierk beers watched
the Elite mens TT on TV as Santiago Botero (Col) won and out on the streets
of Zwevezele, Geert Omloop (Palmans-Collstrop) won in 3:55. Geert managed to
attack the lead group on the last lap and win by 24 seconds over Chris
Peers. Johan Museeuw was not there but wow the riding was hot.
Back in Brugge I took my new-used Colnago for a spin and enjoyed the feel of the
road. Cycling is very much a part of the Belgium culture and today I had a
firsthand view of it. People were celebrating cycling as a way of life and
watching, riding, betting and socializing as the riders zipped by.
On Saturday we are returning to Zolder for the Elite Womens RR and for the
Mens RR on Sunday. We shall keep you posted.
5/10/02
Over the next ten days I will try and keep all who are reading a firsthand
report from the UCI World Cycling Championships in Zolder Belgium. Zolder is
a small town with 20,000 inhabitants in the Limburg District of the Flemish
Flanders. The events will be run at the Circuit de Zolder a racing car
circuit and the roads of the nearby communties. Belgium is a country with
alot of similarities to Canada.
Belgium is a Nation of two peoples: The French speaking Walloons of the
southern provinces of Hainault, Namur, Liege and Luxembourg. And the Flemish
speaking ( Dutch speaking ) northern provinces of West Flanders, East
Flanders, Brabant, Antwerp and Limburg.
What are the World Championships? Since 1927 there have been 69 editions of
WC. Canada has hosted the only North American edition of the World
Championships took place in Montreal 1974 on the famous Mont Royal course.
The winner was Eddy Merckx. Eddy won the WC Road Race three times: 1967,
1971 and 1974. Other famous winner are: Alfredo Binda (Ita) (1927, 1932),
Tom Simpson (Gbr) (1965), Greg Lemond (USA) in (1983,1989), Lance Armstrong
(USA) (1993), Johan Museeuw (Bel) (1996) and Oscar Friere (ESP) (1999,
2001). The WC is run over 6 days From October 8th-13th, 2002 and includes
both time trial and road racing events. The events are contested by
National teams and include Junior, Under 23, and Elite events for both men
and women.
The 2003 World Championships are going to be held in October next year in
Hamilton, Ontario on a course that has been designed by former world class
Canadian cyclist Steve Bauer. Bauer took third place in 1984.
Keep on Riding.
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