Sarah posted some links yesterday to the official Dwars site, which was useful, and so it occurred to me that we should run down whatever resources are available to help guide us through the slew of races coming up at Vlaamse Wielerweek and elsewhere. Now, official sites tend to be short on titillating detail, but they're certain to get out the basic info about a week before VeloNews. So w/o further ado...
- Whoever organizes Brabantse Pijl has very little online content, but Prijs Vlaanderen, a/k/a Harelbeke, has a flash site in several languages. Literally and figuratively. Detailed course map here.
- Go here for some general resources and links. Also, here's a site devoted to start lists. Podium Cafe needs a permanent link for this one. Vlaamse Wielerweek seems to have its own brand, but they don't have a site which collects info on the races involved.
- Anyway, back to the race sites, Criterium International's site works well enough -- which you'd expect from a race run by Le Tour. Cutting to the chase, here's the map.
- Official site of Driedaagse van de Panne. No English, and not much info available yet. If you can muddle through in French, it might eventually be of use. Looks fancy though.
- Not surprisingly, the most useful site to us English speakers is over at the Ronde van Vlaanderen site. Anyone attending needs the roadbook, a set of detailed maps. It's first class all the way, with history, news flashes, and a store replete with obscure jerseys, Boonen mania, gratuitous torso shots... you name it.
- Next up is Gent-Wevelgem, whose own top shelf site befits its Pro Tour standing, torso shots or no.
- Paris-Roubaix, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege are all listed by the ASO/Le Tour website as part of their sphere of influence, and nothing is available yet. ASO doesn't want us looking past Criterium International.
- Leaving Belgium, you can check in on the Vuelta a Pais Vasco site, although it's all in Spanish. And has almost no info up yet for 2006.
- Stateside, we got the Dodge Tour de Georgia with all the internet coverage you'd expect.
- Amstel Gold has tons of info in English, including an invitation to the race party where you can catch Guus Meeuwis and Dj Superduper Jasper.
- And to close things out for April, head on over to the spiffy Tour de Romandie site. We'll repost this stuff as the month progresses, or you can bookmark this entry.