Special "European Racing Report" from Vince Roberge - August 11-14, 2005

Vince Roberge of the (fka) Sunrise Sports Cycling Team is spending the summer racing and training at the Cycling Center Development Program in Hertsberge, Belgium.

Check out the programs website at www.cyclingcenter.com

Here's his report on the recent 5 stage/4 day Ronde van de Provincie Antwerpen in Belgium.

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Ronde van de Provincie Antwerpen

August 11-14

I know it has been a while since I have updated my journal but I have a good excuse. I just finished the 5 stage Ronde van Antwerpen (or the Tour of Antwerp)! The race covered over 630 kilometers of northern Belgium in 4 days. This was my first stage race in Belgium and it was quite an experience. I suffered, ached, learned, and even had some fun throughout the past 4 days. I'm not the greatest at writing race reports but I''ll try to give you a good summary.

Thursday, August 11

We were all up very early to leave by 6:00 in order to get to the prologue course in time. The first rider rolled off the ramp at 9:30. The prologue was a 4.5 kilometer circuit with winding roads and 3 sharp turns. Just before my start Bernard told me to pay close attention to my lines through the winding roads. One could lose valuable time by not taking a straight line through the course. Even with that reminder, I lost some time with some bad cornering and lack of focus. I have never done a time trial this short. There was no time to get into a rhythm so focus was very important. It seems like when when your body is at its limit your mind goes out the window (Something I''m learning to control). I managed a mid-field finish. The afternoon brought a road stage of 145km. The course consisted of one large loop ending with 4 finishing circuits of 12km. There was a breakaway of 20 guys who made it to the finish with 40 seconds on the peleton. Nothing too exciting happened in this stage. It was fast and wet, pretty consistent with racing in Belgium. I finished the stage towards the back of the peleton.

Friday, August 12

I woke up a little tired and wondered how I would feel on the bike. I had done no back to back racing in Belgium so this day would be another first for me. It didn''t take long to figure out that my legs were very tired and it was going to be a long and hard 170km day. The large loop of the day was fast and painful yet it was manageable. It wasn't until the first of 4 local laps that things started to get messy. The local lap was a 10km circuit with 2km of wet muddy COBBLES! The first time over the stones was enough to break apart some of the peleton including myself. The 2km cobbled section was a killer. The stones were wet and very bumpy so many guys chose to ride off the road in the dirt, which was actually mud. The only problem with the mud was that there were potholes the size of soccer balls. Either way, stones or mud, those 2 kilometers were hell. I managed to stick with a group of 20 guys and finished inside the time cut. I made it to the team van and fell into a chair. I was covered in mud and every part of my body hurt. I was in a daze, still cringing while thinking about the pain I had just endured. 2 days down, 2 to go.

Saturday, August 13

I figured that this stage would be the easiest considering that it was the shortest at 120km...Wrong. The Province of Antwerp in very flat so when I heard that there were 7 KOM sprints I thought that they would be on highway overpasses. ..Wrong again. The stage wasn''t actually in the Province of Antwerp. It was in Limburg, and actually very close to Liege. The whole race was either up or down. The few parts that were flat were just after the climbs and were wide open crosswind sections. Just to give you an idea of the length and gradient of these hills: I was wishing I had a 25 or even a 23 (I had a 11-21 cassette!). I was spit out the back during a switchback climb and never made it back to the peleton. I rode with a group to the finish and miraculously made the time cut. I was very happy to find out that I made the cut. I would get the chance to race the final day and the chance finish my first stage race! That is, if I could make it though the 200km final day.

Sunday, August 14

Ok, I exaggerated. This stage was only 194km... but it felt like 200km. It was a cool day and just as we rolled off the line it began to rain. The next 5 hours were filled with a crazy rain, sun, and wind cycle. I think we went through all 4 seasons. The race was point to point and ended again with 3 local laps of 10km. The pace for most of the day was manageable although I did get dropped twice but managed to fight my way back on to the peleton. Throughout the day I was just trying to eat and drink so I could increase my chances of finishing. I felt terrible and my legs felt like spaghetti. With about 10 km to the local laps the peleton was single file in the gutter. Guys were popping out and opening up gaps everywhere. At this point I had very little left in the tank and couldn''t stay with the lead group. I made it to the local laps with a group of about 15 guys and we all worked hard to make the final cut. The local laps had two short sections of cobbles, which fortunately were dry. I finished the day about 5 minutes behind the winner. Not bad considering it was a 4 hour and 40 minute day.

Today, August 15, I am enjoying a relaxing day of rest, that I believe is well deserved. I suffered through 4 hard day of racing and hopefully with some good recovery I''ll gain some form for my last month here in Belgium. The last 4 days have been a great learning experience for me and I hope you have enjoyed reading about them. (Don''t hesitate to send me an e-mail with comments on this race report). VR

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Full race details are available on the race website (if you can read Flemish) HERE

Vince conquering the cobbles during Stage 2 of the Ronde van de Provincie Antwerpen