Road alert on McCarrs Creek Rd @ 19 Nov - Its rare to commence a BiciSport News with a road alert but this one is important. Not that far from Church Point is an insanely dangerous road plate on a semi blind sharp corner. Several cyclists have crashed here in recent days. Extreme caution is required.
Heffron Tuesday Night Criteriums @ 15 Nov - Rolly Delaytz (BiciSport Happy Wheels) before the start
Heffron Tuesday Night Criteriums @ 15 Nov - Rolly put in in the B grade bunch and B grade caught C grade with some 4 laps to go, but they themselves were caught by A grade on the bell lap. Game over.
Heffron Tuesday Night Criteriums @ 15 Nov - Rolly Delaytz
Heffron Tuesday Night Criteriums @ 15 Nov - Getting Rolly Delaytz looking pretty
Eastern Creek Dragway Criterium @ 20 Nov - Eric Dole (BiciSport Happy Wheels)
Belgian CycloCross Report from Mike Lawson (BiciSport) - Zottegem (pictured left above on the start line) was a course that suited me better than the usual speedways - plenty of turns, little pinch hills, plus a bit of mud and an extra two soft sand pits. Similar finish to 2019 for me with 14th and a couple of good battles along the way.
Sunday 6 Nov was Arendonk - higher quality & increased number of entrants. The course was the infield of a car RallyCross circuit with turns, overpasses and long hard pedalling straights - then out onto single track with tree roots on a loop through the forest. Finished 22nd in the 55+ age category (6th in the 65+ age category).
Belgian CycloCross - the Belgian sandpit with a few jumps thrown in
Belgian CycloCross - sand sand and more sand
Belgian CycloCross - Mike van der Lawson
Belgian CycloCross - Mike van der Lawson on a sharp soggy descent
Belgian CycloCross - Mike van der Lawson
Belgian CycloCross - whilst in Oudenaarde in East Flanders … Mike Lawson met the current World Champion in Zoe Backstedt
RACE SEEKER - THIS WEEK
22 Nov
Heffron Park Tuesday Night Criteriums @ 6pm
23-27 Nov
Tour of Tasmania (AusCycling)
26 Nov
NSW Team Time Trial Championships (Singleton)
27 Nov
Eastern Creek Raceway (Waratah Masters)
BICISPORT TRAINING RIDES
Tues 22 Nov
Waratah Peloton @ pass the corner of Yulong Ave & McCarrs Creek Rd Terrey Hills @ 8.00am for Akuna Bay, top of McCarrs Creek Rd climb at 8.40am, then direction Duffys Forest, then return Terrey Hills shops @ 9.15am then to St Ives for coffee
Centennial Park Lower Loop from 5.30am to 7.45am
Thurs 24 Nov
Belgian Waffle Ride @ Centennial Park @ Spruce Goose Cafe @ 10.30am for Park laps
Waratah Peloton @ pass the corner of Yulong Ave & McCarrs Creek Rd Terrey Hills @ 8.00am for Akuna Bay, top of McCarrs Creek Rd climb at 8.40am, then direction Duffys Forest, then return Terrey Hills shops @ 9.15am then to St Ives for coffee
Sat 26 Nov
Coffee @ Sandstone Cafe Miramare Gardens @ 9.30am
The Gent 6 Day is in full swing and this picture was taken at the t’Kuipe Velodrome in Gent. Freddy Maertens (left) in deep discussion with the Gent 6 Day Race Director Patrick Sercu. Both riders were undoubtedly legends of the sport. Sadly dear Patrick is no longer with us but left a remarkable legacy at the Gent 6.
Gent 6 Day @ t’Kuipe Velodrome in Gent - there is no atmosphere like it at any velodrome on the planet
Gent 6 Day @ t’Kuipe Velodrome in Gent - the spectator mosh pit inside the velodrome is not for the faint hearted.
Gent is a university town and the students come to the Gent 6 on Thursday night & party pretty well (they escape Gent on a Friday night and return home to the country and homely comfort of dear mum & dad). You maybe don’t see this race action at the DGV Velodrome in Sydney.
Preben Van Hecke
TopSport Vlaanderen Pro Team (Belgium) - 1994 to today
If any team typifies Flemish Belgium, then this is it. Primarily designed to develop Belgian riders to subsequently go into World Tour teams, but some riders (like Kenny De Ketele, who won a World Track Championship) did very nicely here without going on to the World Tour. All team members are hard core Belgian (meaning Flemish) and it means everything to have ‘van der’ in your surname. If you hadn’t guessed it by now being French Belgian won’t get you voted onto the island.
Sponsorship is primarily from TopSport Vlaanderen (being State funded) but considerable financial support comes from Baloise (insurance). Bikes were/are/will be Eddy Merckx (this is Belgium we are talking about), and groupsets are Campagnolo. The team gets selected invites to certain World Tour races (especially in Belgium). Team management is again from the mothership in Christophe Sercu, Roger Swerts & Walter Planckaert (all three are Belgian racing legends in their own right)
Biggest wins ? … as you’d expect being a development team these are few & far between. Nico Eeckhout won a Belgian Pro Road Championship (in Antwerp in 2006) and Preben Van Hecke did likewise in 2015. Other wins are rare but that’s not the point - its development development development. A great team with a great culture & attitude.
Some names above that transitioned out of this great feeder team to bigger and better things … Sep Vanmarcke, Kenny De Ketele, Ben Hermans, Jens Debusschere, Jan Bakelants & Preben Van Hecke
Bicisport magazine for November 22