Sometimes, the anticipation is the very best part. Last week was all about the anticipation as we ran full speed toward the first cobbled monument of the season. Voorpret, it feels so good.
We dreamed of cobbles. We met Steven Gordon who has cobbled dreams of his own. We worried about the weather and learned to make frites. We also saw Seb Rosseler win Driedaagse de Panne. But that was just the warm-up.
We went to the hellingen with Chris and the Paterberg with Pete. Then Cuddles the Cobble showed up to talk smack about the race favorites. Monty told us about the women's Ronde van Vlaanderen. Finally, race day came, and there was lots of talk. We had a surprise winner, Nick Nuyens from a three-up break (Oh Chava! Heartbreaker!). Dutch woman Annemiek van Vleuten, meanwhile, punked the sprinters to win her first Ronde. The Ronde week, it never fails us.
Also: We very happily introduced the Official Podium Cafe T-shirt. We really like it, and we hope you do too.