Easter Sunday saw the 97th edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, better known as the Tour of Flanders to the English speaking world.
In researching our trip to Europe to watch the Spring Classics, my friend discovered a package tour that would not only deliver us to eight different spots to watch the race, but would also give us access to the team area in the morning before the race! So, with her husband spending the day with their two year old son, Cameron and I set off to follow the Tour of Flanders.
Around 8:30am, the first of the twenty six team buses arrived in ‘t Zand (nope, that’s not a typo, that’s just Flemish!), a central square in Brugge. The riders from Team Saxo Tinkoff mostly stayed in their warm bus rather than venture out in the cold Belgian morning, but their mechanics were kind enough to place the team bikes in a central spot so that fans could snap photos. Below, Michael Morkov of Denmark returning his bike after taking it for a quick spin around the square.
My favorite team, Garmin-Sharp, parked not long after. Soon, the team buses began to pull in every couple of minutes until ‘t Zand was packed with buses, bikes, eager spectators, and the odd cyclist out for a short warm up ride.
The boys from Europcar looking nervous.
Some buses were more crowded than others. Not surprisingly, Omega Pharma-Quick Step (say that five times fast!) was a zoo as fans and the press alike were impatient to catch a glimpse of Belgian national champion and race favorite Tom Boonen. Boonen waited for the last minute to emerge, which meant Cameron missed seeing her favorite rider in person.
BMC, Sky, and and Radioshack Leopard (below) were also totally mobbed.
It really was a little overwhelming to be in such a small area with so much activity going on.
I figured my time would be best spent wandering the square and returning to the Garmin bus every few minutes. My strategy paid off as I got to chat with staff from Orica Greenedge, wave excitedly to a handful of riders warming up, and get a photo with Andreas Klier of Garmin!
With all the excitement of cyclist spectating, Cameron and I had to run to catch our bus before it departed for the day. The plan was for the bus to deposit us along the route in eight different spots to watch the cycling as the race traveled two hundred fifty six kilometers across Flanders. There were about thirty to thirty five people in our group, mostly groups of men and couples from Belgium. The first viewing spot was only a few kilometers after the official start. Spectators lined the road, waving the flag of Flanders.
Unlike the Tour de France, there is no publicity caravan in advance of the peloton, though there were at least a dozen race vehicles and numerous police and press motorcycles.
The first cyclist to speed past was Luxembourger Jean Pierre Drucker from Accent Jobs-Wanty (the riders are graceful, the team names are not). Even though I’ve seen before how fast the riders move, it always stuns me. In a matter of moments, the entire peloton of over two hundred athletes had ridden by and everyone from our bus tour was sprinting back to the bus. Not long after, the bus tour leader made an announcement over the loudspeaker in Flemish. I didn’t understand a word he said but when every Belgian on the bus groaned in disappointment, it could only mean one thing: Tom Boonen had crashed out of the race.
We took the highway to reach the town of Wevelgem before the riders. About two hundred sixteen kilometers remained in the race from here. A breakaway of five riders had escaped the peloton: (left to right, below) Alex Dowsett (UK, Movistar), a rider from Team Netapp-Endura, Andreas Klier (Germany, Garmin), and riders from AG2R and Lotto-Belisol.
Back to bus for a longer drive before we ate boxed lunches and stood on the roadside in Anzegem, teeth chattering, waiting for the riders. It was definitely cold but it was also great people watching. I spotted supporters of Euskatel-Euskadi holding their flag in the Basque style alongside a miserable looking but well bundled child on her dad’s shoulders.
The composition of the breakaway had changed with one hundred seventy kilometers to go and now included riders from Blanco, Saxo Tinkoff, Crelan-Euphony, Lotto-Belisol, Garmin, and two additional riders from different teams. By now the cyclists had been going hard for over two hours and yet the peloton looked reasonably comfortable as they rode by.
Johan Van Summeren (Belgium, Garmin).
We drove to a spot around Zwalm and Roborst with about one hundred twenty kilometers left. The way the road snaked through the hills, we could see a seven man break away heading towards us from a good distance. With a chasing group of five riders hot in pursuit, the leaders went by so fast that I wasn’t able to get any decent close up shots.
The chasing five.
We had to jump back on our bus in order to reach the next spot in time, which was just a little up the road, somewhere around Rozebeke where one hundred ten kilometers remained. Here the course took a tight left hand turn, so there were plenty of spectators already there. Determined to get the best possible vantage point, Cameron and I decided to sit in the brambles since no one else was there.
And what a view! Since it was a tight turn, the riders had to slow down a fair amount, which made it easier to pick out riders like Ian Stannard of Sky and RadioShack Leopard’s Fabian Cancellara (second picture below).
The cyclists had always zoomed by incredibly close to the curb so far but on this particular turn they were so close that I could clearly hear their heavy breathing!
The Tour of Flanders goes through the countryside, so it wasn’t a big surprise when the roadside in Sint Maria Horebeke (ninety two kilometers to go) smelled of manure. Six riders (two from Blanco, two from Lotto-Belisol, and two from two different teams) had the lead but were quickly followed by Stuart O’Grady (Australia, Orica Greenedge) and riders from Movistar and Saxo Tinkoff.
Support crew stood on the side of the road, ready with spare tires and water bottles to hand to their riders.
Below, Danilo Hondo (Germany, Radioshack Leopard) with a fresh water bottle.
Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in the French road champion’s jersey.
We hurried back to the bus to watch the cyclists face the famous Koppenberg hill. This cobble stone climb lasts for six hundred meters with an average gradient of 11.6%. Because the maximum gradient is an incredible 22% and the cobble stone road is so narrow, the peloton generally has to slow down so much that they come to a virtual stand and the riders stuck at the back must then run up the hill while carrying their bikes.
Our penultimate watching spot was a turn near Maarkedal with just sixty kilometers to go to the finish line.
Once again, the riders in the break away had changed and a small group rode by with the peloton not far behind.
There was a chaotic moment when we got to Ronse (twenty six kilometers remaining) as we just caught the tail end of the peloton pass by before the entire crowd scrambled to get a good spot to watch the riders climb up Hoogberg Hill. As I was trying to figure out which way to go, a man unexpectedly shoved something in my hand as well as in Cameron’s, saying with a smile, “Here!” They were spare water bottles from Vini Fantini, an Italian team! Cameron was quick enough to shout, “Grazie!” to the generous support crew. What a great surprise! The bottle I got was labeled “Gatto” for Oscar Gatto, while Cameron’s was unlabeled.
We were able to pick a good spot on the Hoogberg and had plenty of time to people watch. I noticed that Garmin’s support crew were directly across the street from us, so I made a mental note to see if I could score a free souvenir after the peloton had passed.
The peloton was visible from across a large field.
With less than thirty kilometers left in the race, the break away was falling apart. An Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider was chased by a Vacansoleil rider, with Lotto-Belisol and a handful of other cyclists hot on their heels.
Despite hours of tough riding, the peloton looked strong. In this photo below, Fabian Cancellara is the fifth face from the left, behind two of his teammates and two Astana riders.
Greg van Avermaet (Belgium, BMC) in number forty eight and Edvald Boassan Hagen (Norway, Sky) in the Norweigan road champion’s jersey.
As soon as the peloton had passed, I scurried across the street to the Garmin guys. Several people got to them first and were all turned away empty handed. Not one to give up, I saddled up to one of them and said in a loud whisper, “You don’t have to tell anyone if you give me a water bottle.” He looked over his shoulders and grinned, “Take it!” Success! Two water bottles!
Since we wouldn’t get to see the finish line, we joined the masses heading across some poor farmer’s field to watch the few remaining kilometers of the race on a giant screen.
As the kilometers ticked by, Fabian Cancellara’s lead grew incredibly. The field cheered as he rode away from Peter Sagan (Slovakia, Cannondale) to win by almost a minute and a half and they roared with delight to see fellow Belgian Jurgen Roelandts of Lotto-Belisol place a comfortable third place behind Sagan.
Hard to believe that just that morning, this square had hosted over two dozen teams, their accompanying staff and equipment, and a few hundred excited fans.
To watch on TV, this may not have been the most exciting Ronde van Vlaanderen ever, but to see it live in person was absolutely thrilling.
Results of the 2013 Ronde van Vlaanderen
1. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, RadioShack Leopard, 6:05:58
2. Peter Sagan, Slovakia, Cannondale, +1:28
3. Jurgen Roelandts, Belgium, Lotto-Belisol, +1:38
4. Alexander Kristoff, Norway, Katusha, +1:40
5. Matthieu Ladagnous, France, same time
6. Heinrich Haussler, Australia, IAM Cycling, same time
7. Greg van Avermaet, Belgium, BMC, same time
8. Sebastian Turgot, France, Europcar, same time
9. John Degenkolb, Germany, Argos-Shimano, same time
10. Sebastian Langeveld, Netherlands, Orica Greenedge, same time