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On Friday June 18 (yes, this is a bit late- my computer recently died so it has taken some time to retrieve the photos!), Specialized-Mountainbiker.at had two(!) riders at the Geluwe kermesse near Kortjik, Belgium. They happened to be Lukas Leitner and your correspondent in Belgium, Joachim Toelke. Like much of Flanders, the area was flat and windy, and there were low grey clouds threatening rain before the start. We would be doing 10 laps of an 11km circuit on a mix of crappy cement roads, crappy single lane paved roads, and some crappy brick/cobblestone bits.
This was a 1.12B race for elites without contract and U23, so we knew it would be fast, but it was made even more interesting when Lukas pointed out American cyclocross star Jonathan Page in front of us at the start.
From the whistle it was fast. But while all races in Belgium are fast, this one felt a little bit faster than most due to the strong winds and strong field of French and Belgian riders. While we didn't manage to come away with any primes or prize money, it was fun, good experience and very good training.
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