De Brabantse Pijl

Race organizer from Leuven #1: Hey, let's have the riders sign on in the shadow of our ridiculously beautiful Town Hall!

Race organizer from Leuven #2: Great idea!

And so it was.

It's possible the parking lot wasn't well marked or several of the bus drivers had heard about the beauty of the Town Hall and wanted to check it out for themselves. Either way, the buses from Giant, Garmin, and CCC Polsat Polkowice all had to pull tight U turns.

As the riders arrived, they left their bikes against the rails, some more gingerly than others.

At the Tour Down Under, it was a huge accomplishment to get an autograph from Simon Gerrans. This morning, all I had to do was ask politely.

Former teammates Pete Stetina and Alex Howes hung out while waiting to sign on.

In addition to my standard Canadian flag, I've also been gathering autographs from the dozen riders featured in the Pro Tour Pin Ups calendar. The ones who've signed so far have been mildly embarrassed so when I called Nathan Haas over, I was half covering the calendar with my flag. When he saw it, he said, “Sign the calendar? OH HELL YEAH!” and swept the flag away in order to make room for a proud, full page autograph. He paused for a moment and then pulled the calendar closer towards him to write “Enjoy March” at the top (who cares that it's already April?!). As he handed the marker back to me, he pointed out that his teammate Alex Howes is also in the calendar. I said that Alex had already signed but that I was missing Thomas Dekker, to which he responded by shouting, “Hey! Dekker! Come sign the calendar!”

And so he did! I do love this team.

The peloton awaiting the start.

The riders reappeared just minutes later, having completed a local lap before making their way to Overijse.

We headed off to the car, but I was a little disturbed by this sign. I'm not sure a toilet is where I would most like to enjoy an open bar.

We arrived in Overijse and enjoyed a picnic with Fien's family friends before claiming a spot about 500 meters before the finish on a short but steep climb.

A 6 man breakaway was barely 2 minutes ahead of the peloton on their first of 4 laps.

The peloton.

Thomas Dekker and his tongue, showing how difficult the climb was.

I could barely stop shivering at the sign on this morning but it turned into a surprisingly warm day in the afternoon.

Matthias Brandle leading the escapees.

A chase group with a Lotto rider and 3 from Omega Pharma-QuickStep were in hot pursuit.

Three cheers for Maciej Patterski and Poland!

Nick Nuyens and Yohann Gene.

Between the pros' laps, locals would kill time riding up and down the climb. This guy had a different approach to the descent.

Lap 3 and Gerrans, Haas, and Kevin Reza were on the attack!

Thomas Dekker and his tongue were still hanging in (out?) there.

Johannes Fröhlinger pulled one of the best faces I've ever seen on a rider over the age of 5.

Oh, Belgium, I love how you love cycling.

The fourth lap was also the finish! Young sprinter Michael Bling Matthews and veteran Philippe Gilbert were battling it out for the victory…

…Philippe! His first win of the 2014 season!

Simon Geschke finished 4th and Nathan Haas was 6th.

Cycling generally seems to bring out the best in people in my experience and today was no exception. Fien's family friends were able to get us smack in front of the winner's podium because they were former students of the principal whose school was the press room for the race. Yay!

Matthews congratulating Tony Gallopin on his 3rd place.

Years of scars on Gallopin's knee.

A happy Philippe.

We also got to watch the post-race press conference.

Behind me, a dozen journalists ignored Philippe and prepared their stories.

We caught Philippe as was on his way back from anti-doping control and got a photo with him! The eager Belgians all told him I was from Canada, but he took one glance at me and remembered me immediately. In fact, he had already posed for photos and was zipping up his jacket and preparing to ride off when he saw me and stopped for one more picture. Fien thinks he would have left had it not been for me!

Today's whopping 36 autographs came from: 7 Kevin Reza, 15 Amaël Moinard, 21 Dan Martin, 22 Nate Brown, 27 Nick Nuyens, 31 Jurgen Van Den Broeck, 37 Dennis Vanendert, 41 Jan Bakelants, 44 Julian Vermote, 46 Pieter Serry, 51 Simon Gerrans, 54 Michael Matthews, 57 Adam Yates, 61 Simon Geschke, 65 Johannes Fröhlinger, 66 Thierry Hupond, 76 Alexander Rybakov, 82 Fumiyuki Beppu, 87 Danny Van Poppel, 88 Kristof Vandewalle, 111 Davide Rebellin, 116 Maciej Paterski, 131 Fabio Duarte, 132 Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal, 137 Edward Diaz, 142 Matthias Brandle, 171 Ivan Balykin, 181 Bartosz Huzarski, 197 Martijn Verschoor, 214 Davide Frattini, 217 Martijn Maaskant, 221 Bjorn Leukemans, 223 Francis De Greef, Nathan Haas, Thomas Dekker, and Johan Museeuw.