Ozzies the world over can rejoice as Graham Brown won the Belgian semi classic Nokere - Koerse last Wednesday.
British rider Ben Swift (Katuhsa) finished second on the tricky cobbled uphill finish.
We managed to catch the race last year on our way back to London and the atmosphere on the final kilometer is amazing.
Result: 64th Nokere Koerse
01. Graeme Brown (Aus) 4h25'11" 02. Ben Swift (GBr) - same time 03. Sébastien Chavanel (Fra)
04. Björn Coomans 05. Denis Galimtsjanov (Rus) 06. Maxime Vantomme 07. Dennis Pohl (Dui) 08. Michael Reihs (Den) 09. Aleksej Markov (Rus) 10. Niko Eeckhout
The pictures below are of the old and (obviously) abandoned outdoor velodrome of Roeselare in Belgium.
The velodrome was founded by Odiel DeFraye, the first Belgian Tour de France winner in 1912, just after the first world war. In 1925 the earth track was replaced by the current 163m concrete one.
The velodrome is (typically) situated behind a cafe that has fallen into equal disrepair since the closure of the track.
Legendary names like Briek Schotte, Rik Van Steenbergen, Marcel Kint and Patrick Sercu have all raced here. After a big regeneration in the sixties by Albert Sercu, the father of Patrick, the velodrome has been steadily falling into disrepair during the nineties.
Being granted a listed status in 2002 has fueled a renewed interest and there is now a private initiative to make the track suitable for racing purposes and youth development projects once again. History is repeating itself here because the man leading the redevelopment has a little son who aspires to be a track racer in the future...
As we have come to the end of the cyclo cross season it is time to say goodbye to Richard Groenendaal.
In a way this is also the end of an era with cyclo cross races becoming faster and faster all the time. Groenendaal was one of the last tough guys who preferred the much slower, muddier and harder races.
His father Rein Groenendaal has also been a pro cyclo cross rider since 1978 and the two rode some races together in the early nineties. This means that next winter will be the first since 1977 without a Groenendaal on the starting list.
Richard Groenendaal has had many wins throughout his career but the highlight must have been the world title won in his backyard in Sint Michielsgestel, Holland in 2000.
Career: Name: Richard Groenendaal Born: 13 juli 1971, Den Bosch Teams: Rabobank (1996-2007), AA Drink National titles elite: 8 World titles: 2 (1989 juniors and 2000 pro) World cup wins: 13. Overall world cup wins: 1998, 2001, 2004 Superprestige wins: 20 Overall Superprestige wins: 1998 en 2001
Finally here is a video of the 2000 World championships. There was a lot of commotion round this particular race because Sven Nys was riding for the Belgian team but was a team mate of Groenendaal for Rabobank. He was caught between orders by his boss, Rabobank, and his national team. Result: 1 happy Dutchman, 2 unhappy Belgians.....
Last weekend was the start of the 'North European' racing season with the Belgian double Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne.
A powerfull Rabobank, Quickstep and Cerveló but a failing Silence lotto was the outcome of this first weekend with wins for Thor Hushovd on Saturday and a Tom Boonen on form in Sunday's K-B-K.
Check out the 2 video's below for a short recap of the races.
In other news, a remarkable come back (again) by Frank vandenBroucke in the highly regarded (and I can personally testify to that) Beverbeek Classic (1.2). In Hamont, Belgium.
Tour de Ville is stocking the re-release of Beryl Burton's autobiography 'Personal best'.
Beryl Burton paved the way for generations of female British track racers that came after here. Winning the world road championships twice, world pursuit title no less than 5 times and setting numerous time trial records.
Combining a full time racing career with working on a rhubard is enough for us to be interested...
Bruno Walrave, one of the best derny pacers ever on the track, ended his career last week during the final night of the six days in Hasselt.
Coinciding with his 70th birthday and 40 years as a derny pacer he decided to call it a day.
If there would be a world championship jersey for derny riders he would have amassed quite a few. The video below is of the world championships in 1976 where Walrave leads Dutchman Gaby Minneboo to the victory. One of 15 in total.
