What do non-cyclists think of when they think about Belgium? A small country with two languages? The football resurgence? Plastic Bertrand? Chocolates? The EU institutions? Right now the country is in the news for the wrong reasons thanks to some murderous losers, hopefully an aberration.
As the Dwars Door Vlaanderen race shows, the show goes on. Indeed for the cyclist Belgium rhymes with the one day classics and cobbled climbs where the bleak landscapes are the field for sporting contests. No other country in the world celebrates cycling as much, it is a genuine national sport here. Another area where Belgium is world class is brewing, whether thanks to AB InBev – the giant company with its HQ in Leuven that claims to brew a quarter of the world’s beer – or all myriad of microbreweries and monasteries that produce such a variety of beer. One newcomer to the market is Kwaremont, a brand that’s directly exploiting cycling’s heritage and demographics.
