VeloVeritas

Belgian Opening Weekend Ramblings (2)

Het Volk used to be a cult race, the teams would line up in the street just up from the Kuipke velodrome. The first team to set up would be the late Frans Assez’s Flanders squad-no flash bus or trucks, just a ‘Luton’ style van.

But his red Flanders bikes always looked the part, neatly arranged on their stands-and as first team there they caught a lot of public attention.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2012 (0)

From the point that his Sky Procycling teammates took up station on the front of the peloton with 60km to go, Mark Cavendish never looked like losing today, and so it proved as he swept to an easy bunch sprint win over FDJ-Big Mat’s Yauheni Hutarovich with Vacansoleil-DCM’s Kenny Van Hummel in third.

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke – “I think I’ve shown I’m tactically aware” (0)

VeloVeritas recently took time to talk to the man from Devon who is setting the early season roads of Southern France aflame – Endura’s Jonathan Tiernan-Locke.

We spoke to him soon after took his fourth and fifth wins of the season-the second stage and the GC in the tough Tour Cycliste International Haut Var.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2012 (0)

Sep Vanmarcke instigated the main splits of the day, survived the many crashes on the slippy roads, rode strongly in the breaks and the final winning move, foxed and feigned heavy legs beautifully in the last couple of kilometres and finished the day with a fine accelerating power-sprint win over Tom Boonen and Juan Antonio Flecha.

Spring Classics Have Sprung! (0)

And so the warm weather (excluding Tour of the Med) precursors to the bike season proper have concluded. Down Under, Qatar, Oman, Algarve, etc have all had their brief moments in the spotlight, Langkawi has kicked off with a win to Zab in the time trial (no surprises that Zab is nowhere near the Classics! Not a sketchy conditions type of rider is the great DZ.)

Now we head to the heartland of the sport and the portion of the season where the hardmen have their moments to shine.

T’was the Day Before the Omloop… (0)

We left the Vivaldi at 02:15 on Thursday morning – we must be getting old. Gent is changing, they’ve pulled down most of the station and there are cranes everywhere as the old girl’s face gets lifted.

Our first stop after breakfast was the Holiday Inn – up until a year or two QuickStep and Rabobank used to bunk here for the weekend. But now it’s the French teams – FDJ-BigMat, Cofidis and AG2R.

We didn’t pester too many mechanics.

End of Season Review (0)

33 races done, 500 UCI points scored, 1 British Title Won.

Sat here now it feels like it was a long season, which left me both physically and mentally drained but on the other hand it doesn’t seem all that long ago I was sat at the top of a French mountain at the end of 2 week training camp itching to get on the plane to America to start racing another Cross season.

Hamish Haynes – Waging a War on Want (0)

‘First race today, took it pretty easy, finished 14th – feel good.’ Yes, Hamish Haynes is back to start his 10th season in the flatlands. No World Class Performance Plans, no Lottery funding, just hard graft and dedication. Haynes came late to sport but has been racing and winning in the Flanders since 2003.

In the last decade the 37 year-old Haynes has ridden for the DFL, Cyclingnews, Maestro and Jartazi pro teams, but more recently with solid Belgian amateur and Continental teams such as Yawadoo and Colba-Mercury.

Season Opening “2nd Trofeu Cidade de Luís” and the Volta ao Algarve (0)

Although my season started over a month ago in Argentina, the Portuguese season opened on Sunday the 12th February with the “2nd Trofeu Cidade de Luís”, followed by the Volta ao Algarve.

There were a few things that really limited me during this first Portugese race.

Charline Joiner – Pushing Past the Pain Barrier (0)

VeloVeritas spoke recently to Commonwealth Games Team Sprint Silver Medallist Charline Joiner after her ride at the Rotterdam Six Day.

Dirk Dekeyser – Life as a Bike Mechanic (2)

Who makes sure the wheels turn smoothly during a six day race? The mechanics are the men who change the gears, stick on the tyres, endlessly polish the paintwork and pick up the pieces after crashes.

They arrive first to build the bikes up and leave last after having stripped the bikes down for transit. What makes a man want to roam Europe, often driving a thousand kilometres through the night to get to the next race – or to get home? We spoke to circuit spanner man, Dirk Dekeyser at the Grenoble Six.

Heiko Salzwedel – “the Goal is to Break 3’50″ in London” (0)

‘The goal for the Russian team is to break the 3:50 barrier in the London Olympics.’ The words of Heiko Salzwedel-over the last few years it’s looked as if the 2012 Olympic team pursuit final would be a straight shoot out between GB and Australia.

But when German, Salzwedel decided to leave his Manchester office at British Cycling and take a plane to Moscow, those ‘in the know’ realised that another horse would be coming under starter’s orders.

Cairns to Oman via Qatar (0)

From my last post from the Tour Down Under to here in Oman a lot has happened. I traveled From Australia, then to Cairns for one night at my mother’s place, then to my home in the Czech Republic for a nice short week, enjoying the lovely snow – I love it.

I did some good training there before heading to Belgium for the team’s presentation.

Raring to Go! (1)

The season is here and so I thought it was about time that I posted my first blog of 2012, to fill you in on whats been happening over the winter months and what I am up to in this coming season.

The winter consisted of some functions, some visiting, catching up with UK life, not to mention a couple of trips back to Belgium.

Copenhagen Six Day 2012 – John’s Mega Photo Album (0)

Fietsenphotography’s John Young has supplied us with lots of great images from the Six Day season this winter, and it’s been great to focus on some racing, rather than all the other stories which mire the sport’s image.

John’s photos have illustrated our recent Diary pieces from Denmark, but we have lots left that we haven’t used, we’re sure you’ll enjoy looking through them to get the flavour of the final Six of the season.