Belgium

Thursday Shorts

Lotto Soudal verkenning

All roads lead to Belgium. No other country embraces cycling in the same way, the fervour is extensive and comprehensive. There are billboard ads in the streets and at bus stops to promote races – including that one for the E3. The local press are full of reports for this weekend’s double of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and last night’s TV had reports on the route recon by teams. Gossip magazines put cyclists on the front page. There was even a live stream for the great Claude Criquelion’s funeral yesterday. The pedal revolution is televised.

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Review: Merckx-Ickx Expo

Merckx Ickx expo

An exhibition depicting the sporting careers of Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx, a motorsport champion. Much more than a celebration of two men with -ckx in their name, the pair are friends and approaching their 70th birthdays and this show is tribute to the two and features a lot of material from their private collections.

If you’re in Brussels you must visit, if you’re not in Brussels you should visit.

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Roads to Ride: The Ghent Velodrome

Gent Six Day Kuipke

Not a road but a track and not a place to ride but a venue to visit. Still this series is about exploring legendary locations so here is the chance to look at the most famous of six day races. Or alternatively one of the last few surviving winter track contests.

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Book Review: Merckx 69

Eddy Merckx has just turned 69 but the number has another significance for him: 1969. It was the first year of Merckx’s domination, the first feast for his cannibal appetite. This book chronicles that year via a series of rich images.

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Cycling and Beer


With the Amstel Gold Race this weekend, proof that cycling is linked to beer. It’s not just a one-off, recent races in Belgium have been sponsored by Kwaremont, a brand of beer that’s exploited the sport and it’s not that long ago that a major team was sponsored by a large brewery.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: The Tour of Flanders

400 metres, 300… 250… 200 metres to go. Suddenly the four riders launched the sprint and Fabian Cancellara accelerated, took the lead and kept it to celebrate as he crossed the line. This was the moment the race was won.

The finishing straight was a nail-biter but anyone who watched the race live would have felt the tension for much longer, the quartet’s late sprint for the line was only the final act in a race of tension, drama and surprise.

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Roads to Ride: The Koppenberg

Never has a climb been so big in myth and so small in reality. The Koppenberg has a vertical gain of just 62 metres, the height of a large tree but its legend runs so tall. It’s a relative newcomer to the sport and there are riders in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders born before this climb was ever used in a race.

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Gent-Wevelgem Preview

Peter Sagan E3 HarelbekeIt’s on Sunday and it’s in the World Tour so on paper this is a big race although the course probably isn’t as selective as the freshly finished E3 Harelbeke. Cobbles and climbs feature but so does a long section to the finish line making this the most sprinter-friendly of all the major cobbled classics.

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Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Preview


The spring classics start this weekend with the double-header of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday followed by Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. No more Arabian nights in five star hotels and applying sun lotion, now it’s time to charge down farm tracks and apply a coating of mud.

Here’s a preview of the race with route info, the contenders, as well as the weather and TV timings.

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