98th Ronde Van Vlaanderen

Just after 6am in Brugge.

 

8am.

 

And the square was full of too many people by the time the sign on began.

 

Topsport Vlaanderen, the first team to sign on.

 

I'm super excited to have a new Canadian riding on a pro team. Last year I saw Antoine Duchesne (below with arms crossed) race at GPCQM and at the Worlds, and I got to meet him both times. He saw me wave my Canadian flag and a huge grin spread across his face.

 

Gediminas Bagdonas.

 

Svein Tuft sporting a Go Pro.

 

People watched the sign on from windows above the square.

 

Fien, her sister, niece, and I jumped in the car and started our own tour of Flanders.

 

Taylor Phinney led the breakaway up the Eikenberg with 132k to go.

 

Six plus minutes later, the peloton hit the foot of the cobbled climb.

 

Tom Boonen.

 

Lars Boom.

 

Hayden Roulston wearing the New Zealand national champion's jersey I saw him win in January.

 

We dashed to the car and caught the peloton, spread across the entire road and even spilling onto the grass, a short time later.

 

Traffic of all kinds flowed in every imaginable direction.

 

Our next stop was in Horebeke (about 86k to go) where we waited for the race alongside soigneurs from half a dozen teams equipped with spare tires, water bottles, and musettes.

 

The breakaway had dropped a few riders by now and had maybe a 3 minute lead.

 

The peloton's arrival.

 

Tyler Farrar and Stijn Vandenbergh.

 

Bradley Wiggins, center.

 

Svein Tuft.

 

We drove for a few hundred meters before traffic was at an absolute stand still, leaving us frustrated until we realized it was because the race was about to cross the street in front of us!

 

Stig Broeckx, Daryl Impy, and Taylor Phinney remained in the 6 man breakaway.

 

The peloton once again had spread so wide that we spectators all had to jump out of the way.

 

On to our last chance to catch the race, the Taaienberg, one of the last cobbled climbs with just 37k to go.

 

Phinney and company had been swallowed up and an inevitably doomed 2 man breakaway of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Dries Devenyns hit the climb first.

 

Stijn Vandenbergh.

 

Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, and Peter Sagan.

 

Luca Paolini.

 

Taylor Phinney and Bradley Wiggins.

 

Jack Bauer.

 

Marcus Burghardt.

 

Bernie Eisel.

 

Tim Declercq.

 

Michael Schär.

 

A suffering gruppetto hit the climb.

 

Thor Hushovd.

 

Jay Thomson.

 

Damien Gaudin just ahead of the broom wagon. He didn't finish the race.

 

We bolted to the car one final time, this time to head home and watch the last couple of kilometers on TV.

 

Who did we spy on the road but Juan Jose Lobato, having just abandoned the race. With 4 of us in the car, we didn't have room for him and his bike, so I stuck my head out of the window and told him this in Spanish. He was a little surprised to have been recognized and spoken to in his native language while riding in Belgium. It was a good day in all.

 

Today's 12 autographs (in blue, far right panel): 26 Lars Yting Bak, 42 Gediminas Bagdonas, 45 Hugo Houle, 128 Svein Tuft, 132 Antoine Duchesne, 196 Adrien Petit, 198 Romain Zingle, 208 Aleksejs Saramotins, 212 Songezo Jim, 221 Jan Barta, 231 Tim Declercq, and 237 Zico Waeytens.