Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Under-23 Het Volk 2007

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HomeStoriesUnder-23 Het Volk 2007

Continental TV may be dire, but there’s a good choice of radio stations; Percy Sledge is telling us about “When a man loves a woman”, as we jump back into the VW after paying homage at the Karl Buyse monument in sleepy Wontergem, heading for the Under-23 Het Volk 2007.

Buyse was a son of the Flanders sod who won the Tour de France in 1926. A long time ago maybe, but not forgotten here in the heartland.

Het Volk
The Karl Buyse monument in Wontergem.

The destination is Zottegem and the Under-23 Het Volk 2007.

In days gone by, this was run on the same day as the pro semi-classic of the same name, on the first weekend of the Belgian season, but now it’s held in sunny June.

A win or a podium place here goes a long way to securing a pro contract, so it’s a ‘death race’.

The roll of honour is impressive; Freddy Maertens, Eddy Planckaert, Paul Wellens, Andre Dierickx; or take a more recent edition – 2001, first: Gert Steegmans, second: Tom Boonen. Enough said.

Het Volk
The rollout.

To the uninitiated onlooker, this could be a pro race, only the team coaches and trucks are missing. There are swarms of professionally-liveried team cars; mechanics working on rows of gleaming, identical machines; masseurs applying exotic compounds to ripped, prominently-veined, tanned young legs, and cigar-smoking managers strutting their stuff.

Unibet and QuickStep have immaculately turned-out ‘feeder’ squads here, and it would be difficult to tell the U23 bikes and riders from their elite counterparts.

Het Volk
The Quick-Step HQ.

It’s one of the Unibet lads – managed by former Tour winner, Lucien Van Impe – who is leading the season-long Belgian U23 series; Kenny Van Der Schueren, and he’s already proficient at striking poses for the camera.

Het Volk
Kenny Van Der Schueren (Unibet).

It’s a huge field – 186 young men, all desperate for glory – which lines up in the main street, protected by barriers and a police presence which would do justice to Paris-Roubaix. The armada which roars-out behind them is pro-sized too.

It’s a complex parcours to follow, so we elect just to watch the start, and have a peek at it on the roads up on the ridge above Oudenaarde where so many of the world’s great races are contested – Het Volk, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, De Panne and the Tour of Flanders all use the network of roads up there.

Het Volk
Big bunch, gutter to gutter.

We catch the bunch just after the Eikenberg climb, a huge mass of riders, gutter to gutter. It has split already though, and there’s a big group chasing furiously as that chat with the Predictor/Lotto talent-scout disappears up the road.

It would be Monday before we confirmed that 18 year-old Gert Dockx (Beveren 2000) took the honours in his first season – remember the name.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

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