Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne

Wow, what a great race!

I've been watching cycling for a few years now, and I have never seen a race like this, where a heavily overloaded break goes away ridiculously early, and makes it stick. And wins the race!

We didn't think we were getting any coverage here in the UK, but it suddenly popped up on Eurosport, so hooray for them, and LLB and I cancelled our plans for the afternoon, choosing instead to sit indoors and watch the cycling. Well, unlike the weather in Belgium, it was cold and raining, so it was no loss...

After the filthy weather of Omloop on Saturday, it was a positive relief to see blue skies and a bit of sunshine, although it was clear from the water-filled ruts in the fields all around that this was a recent improvement.

The race suffered from an early crash, which wiped out a couple of riders altogether: there was an early break of four unknowns - one of whom was in BMC kit but we'd never heard of him - then a bit of side wind and a bit of clever work by Omega Pharma Armbands caused a few splits in the peloton.

For some unknown reason, the peloton let a bunch of Armbands get away, dragging three Belkin guys with them, along with Schlecklander pet Johan Van Summeren, he of the incredible height, the tucked-up armbands, and the ludicrously non-aero flowing hair. They picked up a Topsport Vlaanderen guy who had dropped off the back of the four breakaways, and he - to give him credit - did a fantastic job to stay with them for the rest of the race.

So we had 5 Omega Pharma Armbands, including Boonen, past winner of the race - yet the peloton did not manage to catch them. Their lead (they quickly overtook the former break) went to around a minute, and just stayed there for about the last 80km or so. Sky did try to pull them back, but - frankly - they just couldn't do it. They only had three riders able to do much work, and they were struggling, with hardly any support from other teams. Lotto did a little work, presumably for Gummy Bear Gruipel (or "Android Gruipel" as I'm sure I heard Rob Hatch say) but then lost interest, and no-one else seemed to be bothered. 

Towards the end, the Dark Lords of Katusha got on the front, and Paolini did a lot of waving-of-hands and looking angry, but it was too little, too late, and the break went all the way to the end.

Predictably, Boonen got it, but it was a close-run thing, and the Belkin rider was definitely going faster by the time they hit the line! But it's not about who's going faster, it's about who gets there first, and Boonen was that rider.

Meanwhile, back in Luxembourg:

There is a gentle tap at the door. Andy opens it, cradling a tiny little person against his chest. It's Jakob, holding a bag of nappies and a huge yellow teddy bear.

Jakob: *whispers* "Hey, mate! How are  you doing?" *blows kisses at sleeping baby*
Andy: *whispers* "Fine, thanks. Jil's asleep, so be quiet."
Jakob: *whispers* "d'aaw, he's so tiny! Can I hold him?"
Andy: *whispers*  "No! You are the one who dropped the bag of shopping, remember?"
Jakob: *whispers*  "Aw come on, it was only that once!"
Andy: *whispers* "And you were the one who knocked the vase off the shelf."
Jakob: *whispers* "That was the cat!"
Andy: *whispers* "we don't have a cat..."
Jakob: *whispers*  "Aw, come on, just let me hold him..."
Andy: *whispers* "Maybe tomorrow...."