Lembeek, Ottenburg

Last Sunday I headed to Lembeek for an apparently hilly Kermis and the course didn't disappoint. Having met Dom at his house in Zellik, we rode the 35 kilometres to Lembeek and completed a lap of the course. From the start/finish line, the road wound upwards for 3.5 kilometres, with 3 distinctly steeper sections to negotiate, before dropping down for the remaining 3.5 kilometres through a series of high speed corners.


Staying near the front for the opening laps was crucial as the climb, although not 'mountainous' was clearly going to be enough for wheels to be dropped. The usual flurry of attacks began, and trying my hand on the climb early on, it quickly became apparent that any time gained on the ascent was diminished by the impetus of the peloton, reaching speeds of around 75kph every lap. After a 'super-prime' of 150 Euros, the race settled down, as the climb seemingly became longer and longer and the descent shorter and shorter every lap.


Eventually one of my team mates, Dieter Uyttersprot broke clear of the peloton with 2 laps to go, and accompanied by one other rider made it to the finish to take the win 9 seconds ahead of the bunch. The final half lap was certainly one of the most dangerous situations I have been in. With the chase fully on, the speed on the descent was incredible, often being cut up, and lent on as every rider tried to get to the front for the mass sprint. Approaching the line, I evidently chose the wrong wheels to follow as riders who had gone too early sat up, and blocked my path to the line. I crossed the line in 28th place.


Riding back with Dom, we headed to Geradsbergen, where lies the infamous 'Muur'. Following much of the Tour of Flanders route as we headed back to Zellik, we clocked another 70km which brought the days total to 211km.


With few mid-week races to chose from, my next race was Saturday, in Ottenburg, which again promised to be a hilly affair. The circuit was distinctly more undulating, with one short, but hard climb denoting the mountain primes. With strong winds, I positioned myself towards the front of the peloton, and rightly so, as wheels were constantly being dropped as the field split on numerous occasions. Despite moving into an early break, we were swept up by the peloton on the long gradual descent after the finish line, as the impetus of the peloton allowed for greater speeds to be generated. However, I sat back in and waited for my next opportunity to attack. With 10 riders at 30 seconds to the field mid-race, I decided to try my hand on the main climb of the circuit and jumped into another group of 10 riders, forming a good chase group. After a flat out 2 laps, we finally bridged up to the leaders, leaving the peloton well behind.


Inevitably, on the final lap the group split to pieces, and suffering from the earlier efforts, I found myself sprinting for 11th position, but poor positioning through the final corner saw me slip to 4th in the final dash for the line, finishing in 15th place.

Its another solid result, and a strong performance to go with it. After a slight lull in form in the last few weeks, I feel I am coming back stronger, and the top race form is just around the corner – just in time for the stage racing the team will be riding in a few weeks!


But to end on a slightly disappointing note, despite having enough points to meet the entry criteria, I will not be riding the national road race championships. My points were incorrectly allocated from the regional championships, and therefore I appear to not have enough points on the ranking list. Despite the fault being no fault of my own, the start list will not be altered, with the organiser suggesting a not particularly helpful 'tough luck' attitude. Nevertheless, its still a long season in Belgium, and there are plenty of big races ahead to look forward to.