Belgiums at the World Championship 2012..

The Secret behind the success of the 

Belgiums at the World Championship -

revealed by Team Here comes the Belgians:

Signature of Tom Boonen

The success of the team was based on frites. Why? 

Because the riders had to bloody win to get some frites.

That was the very strict ruling of one man: Maitre Norbert.

Norbert at the Lepelbed, Melle

Only pasta and rice - no frites.

Or even porridge for breakfast...

THAT motivates to win!

If not cooking for the Belgian team 

Maitre Norbert is at the Lepelbed 

in Melle, south of Ghent.

In the hotel are signed jerseys by e.g. the English and Australian track teams

These teams are staying at the Lepelbed in Melle 

- when training on the Ghent track.

Actually the success story started one year ago,

- Gilbert signed a Here comes the Belgians jersey.

After this become known among the Belgian riders

- Boonen signed

- Vansummeren signed

and two more riders signed

So we have a good chance of having signed the 2013

Belgian world champion, at least we have five Paris-Roubaix.

Der Ronde

In case anybody is up for it, the entries for the 2011 Tour of Flanders are open as of tonight! Link is here I'm down for the 260km version, like a fool. Fraser K who took some photos on our behalf (and happens to be a good friend of mine!) is coming along too!

So, who's in?

I Have A Dream...

Well ladies and gentlemen, Winter Training is upon us. Which means a few things around my house.

Firstly, I winter up the bike. New cables, chain, brake blocks and tyres. This year I've plumped for the Vittoria Pave CX tubs (Tubs in summer and winter, how Euro am I?!), I expect the extra 1mm of width will be a real boon if we have 3 weeks of snow and ice again this year... hemhem. I glued them onto some 1998 Campag Shamals I picked up off a guy at work, for £50. These wheels are still some of the best I've ridden, an utter bargain and, in reality, far too good for winter wheels. The only problem with them is the 9 speed freewheel body means I can't get into my bottom gear without the rear mech hitting the spokes. Just as well I'm not planning any climbing into my winter training.

Secondly, the Turbo Trainer comes back out and the Turbo Dungeon gets set up. I'm supplementing my Cycling DVD collection as I type and these and loud music are all that get me through 3 nights a week in the garage. I've invested in a big bloody fan too.

Finally, and here is where the dream comes in, I plan my calender for the year ahead. Having knocked road racing on the head, I need new challenges so this year, I will be looking mainly at Time Trials and Sportifs. However, I want to do a full hill climb season at the end of the year and finally pick up my cross bike and do some cross racing over the winter... Then comes the real challenge.

I have decided that in 2012, I'm going to take on the Flanders and Roubaix Sportif rides on consecutive weekends in my Belgians kit! I think I just want to see if it's possible to do the full distance of both and cope with the conditions/terrain. Hence the taking up cross. As it was blogging about training that first brought me into contact with the Belgians, I think I'll try and put regular updates on here through the winter and the season (if anyone is interested). Also, if anyone else is interested in taking on one or more of the rides... let me know.