Last week I spent a few days with Cervelo Test Team and their touring guests to kick off the first of several tours of the year that provide exclusive access and first rate experiences to the pro cycling team and the races. The first tour was in Belgium in conjunction with the Ronde van Vlaaderen, aka Tour of Flanders., one of the most famous of the Spring Classics.
On Day 1 the guests arrived and were shuttled from Paris to Gent where they were schwagged out with full team kits including helmets and got setup on their choice of Cervelo bikes. Then we were off to the team hotel for a tour of the team bus and dinner with the riders and staff. Under the old CSC team not even sponsors were invited to dine with the riders. So this was a pretty exclusive opportunity. All the riders were very cool and great with the guests. Thor was especially courteous in making sure everyone had salt and pepper. “I work here,” he said with a smile as he passed us the shakers. I sat next to legendary Dutch cyclist Jean-Paul von Poppel, one of Cervelo Test Team’s Director Sportifs, who gave really good insight on the upcoming race as well as recanted some of his own racing experiences.
Cervelo Co-Founder Gerard Vroomen leads the guest ride
Day 2 we shuttled everyone down to Ninove for the start of the official Tour of Flanders public ride with Cervelo Co-Founder Gerard Vroomen joining those doing the shorter 75K distance. Over 17K people showed up to experience the course first hand. Just amazing. It was quite a zoo getting in with cars parked for several kilometers down the main expressway. The 75K proved to be no problem as Gerard bought a few of the guest home in under 4 hours while USAT athlete of the year, John McGovern, was among the first guests to finish the 140km with John K from Cervelo. Only one ride went the full 260km (nice work Rodney!). After the last rider was in, I had a chance to go visit my Cape Epic teammate Stefan (who happens to live 100m from the tour start) as well as two other friends Stijn and Lindsey for a drink. Stefan did the 140k while Stijn was busy organizing efforts for BikeAid.be, a charity supporting the fight against cancer. Having hardly eaten all day, we had to go for a massive pile of frites…
This wasn't even the super size.
Peloton chasing the 2-man break up Kwaremont
Day 3 was race day. We had a pretty aggressive plan to shuttle riders to three different vantage points. With a Garmin GPS, a good atlas, and insider knowledge (thanks Stefan), we were able to successfully beat the crowds and make it to each location.
Musets ready at FeedZone 1
The first was feedzone 1 where we caught up with the team’s staff and vehicles. Cervelo rider Roger Hammond in a small break and smiling in good spirits as he rode by. Then it was quickly off to our vehicles to speed off to Kwaremont, one of the famous pave sections. We were accompanied by the camera crew documenting the team’s season and Ilona from Netherland based cycling magazine Fiets doing a story on the Cervelo Test Team. Two riders were off the front with about a minute gap with Cervelo Test Team at the front chasing. They were certainly putting on a good show for everyone.
Heading to our final viewing point proved to be the most challenging despite out strategic parking and hustle back to the vehicles. After only a few kilometers we found ourselves at a dead stop. We decided to turn down a narrow road that Garmin showed as going through. Sure enough it did and when we popped out on the main road we found it completely open. For about 20 minutes we drove without seeing a single car heading the same direction. As luck would have it, we think we avoided a major traffic stoppage to allow the race to pass. We rolled into Geraardsbergen with about 45 minutes until the riders made the climb up the Muur. Stijn Devolder was leading a group of 4 up the climb and it was sweet to witness his decisive move. From the big screens and pub TVs we watched the finish.
It was an almost perfect day – up to the point where I was pulled over by two moto cops for going 107kmh in a 90 zone. There was no getting out of the 50 euro ticket which I had to pay on the spot or have the van impounded. At first he wanted me to pay 100 until I was like “what?!! are you serious!??” “Yes, i am serious. Oh no, I make mistake. 50 euros,” said the cop as he looked at his chart. It was a bit of a joke. A flawless record in almost 20 years driving in the US and busted in 3 days of driving in Belgium!
Overall a great first experience with the team and leading a group of guests. We know there is a lot of room for improvement but a great start. And there’s no denying the experiences were nothing short of incredible if not once in a lifetime for everyone that came on the trip. Oh and of course, we drank a lot of belgium beer which you know enhances every experience.
One of the guests had a nice write up of his experience on Slowtwitch.com. The official site with info on the tours is on Cervelo Test Team’s website.
Many many hundreds of kilometers and hustle has me looking forward to a full day or two of just chilling at a cafe in Paris. Next up is Paris Roubaix…
