It’s the ‘Belgian Opening Weekend’; 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.
As carbon came in his frames had the ‘lumps and bumps’ in the right places — just like the Treks, but which cost so much more money.
It was all a bit chaotic but I loved it — if you were patient you’d get your bike pics and ‘sound bites.’