I recently had the opportunity to join the Cervelo Test Team professional squad at the 93rd Ronde van Vlaanderen, over the steep cobbled climbs of Dutch speaking Flanders, Belgium.
The trip was organized by Cervelo Test Team Travel, and I cannot recommend their service highly enough. All I had to do was get myself to Charles de Gaul airport by noon, Friday April 3rd, and they handled the rest. Ground transport to Gent, Belgium, first class private room, meals, drinks (very important in Belgium, the ancestral home of really, really good beer), the use of a top of the line Cervelo S3 already set to my measurements, and entry into the cyclosportif held over the race course the day before the pros rode, were all included.
After a relaxing ride from Paris to Gent is a roomy van shared with Cervelo rep Jon Kameen and DC shop manager Andy Cicero, we quickly changed into the full professional Team racing kit and joined the rest of the group, led by Cervelo’s bicycle design genius-in-residence, Gerard Vroomen. From the center of town, we worked our way out over cobbles and crisscrossing trolley rails. The point of the ride was to get loose and fine tune the bicycles. After a massage from the team soigneur, quick shower and change, we were driven over to the pro team hotel for dinner with the Cervelo Test Team.
Perhaps it’s a cliché to be surprised by finding famous, accomplished professionals to be laid back and friendly, but these guys were the most engaging dinner companions I’ve had in years. Of course, they had their inside jokes in 4 or more languages, but overall the food and conversation were top shelf. Passing the salt (constantly; these riders are addicted to table salt) with the likes of Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, Andreas Klier, etc…… was a unique and enjoyable experience. I could never imagine being as calm as Haussler and Hushovd, knowing that I was a favorite to win one the monuments of the sport.
Prior to turning in, I visited a local bar with Peter and Stephen of Test Team Travel. The Belgians seem to have a particular fondness for rancid tobacco and disco music. Despite the pair of plump arses gyrating to the hustle inches from my elbow and the mad cackling of a drunken woman drowning out the beat, the trappist dubbel ale was a real treat.
Morning saw us meeting with the mechanics in Ninove and setting off on a 140 km odyssey over the cobbles and steep climbs. Us and 17,000 others. It made the steeper cobbled climbs into obstacle courses with the best strategy being to hammer as hard as possible while yelling as loud as possible for slowing riders to make way. Other than the crowded conditions, I haven’t had such an inspiring day of riding in years.
The best way to ride the cobbles, known as kinderkop (Dutch for “baby’s heads”), was to have a relaxed grip on the top of the bars and stomp as big a gear that can be spun around 80 rpm, ass planted in the saddle. When the path was clear, it was a huge rush to grind along, even as energy was rapidly sapped by all the bouncing. The tarmac after a cobbled stretch felt bizarrely smooth, as if riding on glass.
After returning to Gent, we were treated to a wonderful dinner in a restaurant fronting a canal. Having myself exclusively ridden Cervelos since 2002, it was a rare treat to dine with Gerard Vroomen as he discussed cycling design and technology.
Sunday brought the Ronde. First we made our way to the feedzone where we watched Roger Hammond force the pace then we quickly rushed to the Old Kwaremont. We took a spot towards the top on the inside of a corner where the riders were guaranteed to be diving into the rain gutter at our toes. We gathered small yellow Lion of Flanders flags being handed out. The crowd continued to swell until 10 deep, many buzzed on beer, many more waving flags. The excitement grew as first the publicity caravan screamed by at 30 miles an hour, inches from our feet. A Hummer, too wide for the narrow path, nearly made hood ornaments out of us. After it passed, a sleek looking fellow paused before us, earning him an elbow from Jon Kameen. As he moved on, we realized it was none other than Erik Zabel.
Finally, with the helicopters overhead, a 2 man breakaway came past, right in the gutter as predicted. A little over a minute later, a large chase group came flying up the hill at 30 kph, with 5 black, white and red uniformed Cervelo riders driving on the front riding the center crown of the cobbles. They were incredible. And with that, we and a few thousand of our new friends were sprinting back to the cars.
Our plan was to head for the Kapelmuur, the penultimate climb and traditionally the launch pad for the winning move. As we crested a hill, we came to the rear of a long line of idle traffic. Steve, our driver, took off down a narrow side lane. After a few minutes we rejoined the highway, now worryingly devoid of any traffic at all. For 15 kilometers we wondered if we we’re the luckiest or unluckiest fans until we pulled into town and found a free parking space at the very base of the Muur. Halfway up to the chapel, a tremendous throng of partying Belgians drank and smoked and watched the race unfold on a huge jumbotron. Up on the screen, Cervelo’s Haussler was chasing a small break but no one would work with the fear young German who recently missed winning Milan San Remo by a mere 5 centimeters.
The crowd cheered as Stijn Devolder and 3 companions hit the wall and flew past us. Nearer the top, just below the chapel, Devolder ripped the legs off of the other 3 and was gone, driving onto and over the Bosberg and solo to the finish with a minute to spare. His 3 pursuers were reabsorbed by the pack and Haussler, anticipating the sprint, lept away for a hard won 2nd place in his 2nd Classic in a row. A crash into the barriers took down a few and we were saddened to learn that earlier in the day Cervelo’s Hayden Roulston broke a knee cap crashing on the cobbles.
We returned to the hotel to collect our bags. Along the way Steve, whose praise we had been singing for his navigational skills, got pulled over for doing 107 kph in a 90 zone. The police gave him a choice of paying the 50 euro fine then and there, or having the van confiscated. Once back in Gent, Gerard presented each of us with a Test Team jersey signed by all of the riders who took part in the race. It will hang proudly in our shop. We then drove down to Paris, had a hilarious dinner at the airport hotel then went to sleep to prepare for the morning flights home.
The crew at Cervelo Test Team travel are not only consummate professionals, but wonderful travelling companions each in their own right. I’d have a drink with Steve, Steve and Peter anywhere, anytime, but most of all at a cycling classic. Check out the Cervelo website and join them if you can. You’ll be most glad you did.
I would love to do a trip like that one day. Great story.
Ken
Awesome.
I only hope you didn’t enjoy the Belgian beer too much… Cartman. 
F ML. No way to enjoy too much beer in belguim. Sounds like an awesome trip!
Yeah, and Du Nats is a pretty flat course, so I hope Cartman has ballooned up to 220, and will race Cylde now with no worries about the “weight penalty”.
This sounds way more fun than a Murphy’s Law ST smackdown tour event.
On second thought, this would be even more fun as an ML 2010 Smackdown tour event. What could be more fun that than an ST smackdown with all the trappings of a protour event, complete with classic course, ST approved bike gear (Cervelo) and real pro tour riders to dine with who can listen on the ST smack…maybe they could even pick up some ideas on what real smack to throw across to Devolder, Boonen and Chavanel.
We might have to fly Desertdude in to elevate the level of smack, but I am sure ML can teach the protour guys a bit a about how to carry oneself within eye/earshot of the competition.
Dev
ML, surprisingly, I didn’t really drink too much. For instance, there was no beer at the training table Friday night.
Dev, that’s a great idea, a true ST smackdown with all the trappings. The guys at Test Team Travel would be all over that and they have the personalities to keep stirring the pot. Nothing like cresting a cobbled climb a few seconds down on ML only to hear some Englishman yelling - “is that all you got, fatass!”
What other events do they run this fantasy travel package to?
Here’s their website:
http://www.cervelo.com/content.aspx?t=TestTeam&i=TestTeamTravel
This one sounds the most amazing:
"The Tour organizer has given us the exclusive right to lead a small group of guests over the course of a Tour stage just hours before the peloton.
Ride a stage of the Tour de France from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes, including the climbs of the Col d’Aspin & Col du Tourmalet. Riders will have the opportunity to ride the whole course, or just the last 100km, over the climbs listed, with service vehicle back-up, food stops, etc. There will be some surprise guests as guides for the day.
You have probably heard of the Etape du Tour, where 8000 people ride a stage of the Tour a week before the pros. Our group will contain no more than 20 guests, and with the ride so close in front of the peloton and the fans already lining the course, the experience will be unreal. Don’t think you have to be a pro to stay in front of the pros though, we’ll make sure you make it to the finish without being caught by the real TestTeam riders.
Coupled with a visit to Barcelona and watching one of the most spectacular stages of this year’s Tour, this trip is a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
…Price: € 7 800 (approx $10,425 USD) based on single room standard…
This would be a deal breaker for me as I could do the entire trip including my airline travel from North America for ~$2500 for one week on the ground in France “not living frugally”.
The dirt cheap variant could be pulled for for $1500. Of course, neither includes rubbing shoulders with rock star racers and talking smack with Haussler and Hoshovd, but it could include talking smack with ML. Of course, the Dev Paul, self supported, no frills variant would include all the riding and more, just as much pain, and even more smacktalk, but sadly the “Playing in Yankee Stadium experience complete with , Derek Jeter” experience would be lacking.
Dev
For those who have the means, I highly recommend the Test Team Travel crew, but you’re right - we can hold a smack down a whole lot more economically. I’m thinking of returning to Flanders to reride the hills and cobbles without 17,000 other people getting in the way.
I think I could go for the Test Team/Trek Travel type option once my son is through college and I can justify spending stupid amounts of money on myself for my own self gratification (not like I don’t already)…in fairness, the cost of the trip with the Test Team is the difference between buying a new Toyota Matrix and a new Toyota Venza. You can have the Matrix and the Test Team Trip for the same price as the Venza…(now we’re talking…)…or I can get a second hand Yaris and do 2 of those CVTest Team Trips…(funny how you can justify anything to yourself if you try hard enough).
Edit: The Matrix+CVTT could be sellable at home…the Yaris+2xCVTT would likely not fly 
Dev
Thanks for the report and that sounds like a great adventure. I have been to the Spring Classics a couple times and that was truly special.
As a sponsor representative in my previous life I was lucky to have easy access and personal attention from gracious Belgian hosts, but most folks can’t get that done and then a trip like yours sounds perfect.
Kudos to Cervelo too.
H
I detect the Herbert organized ST Smackdown at Milano San Remo next year. Just line up all your pro buddies for a training ride the day before…ST posers fly our asses in. Next day, we ride the Poggio and pummel ML in the sprint finish in San Remo before the “real deal” comes galloping through.
In 2004 I rode the Col de Glandon the morning that the TdF came through with a bunch of buddies and perhaps ~400 other tourists who randomly appeared on the road. The Gendarmes would kick us off the road, and then all 400 riders would hop back on until the next round of Gendarmes…then back on the road, and another round and another…then you get terrorized by the TdF publicity carvane. Eventually we got to the summit around 30 minutes before the peleton rode through.
The day before I was in Bourg d’Oisans for the start of the TT up Alpe d’Huez. Phil White was getting interviewed by a french reporter about Basso’s rig and since Phil was having difficulty I offered to step in and do the translation. The riders and the team crew are really accessible. Walking down the warmup zone to the Credit Agricole tent, I talked to Hoshovd warming up on his trainer. When I asked him what time he needed to do, Thor answered, “I just hope Lance and Jan ride slow and hopefully it is not faster than 40 minutes, cause I have a cough and I need to make the cutoff to compete on the Champs in a few days”. Thor looks at my pencil width legs and says something to the effect, “I need legs like yours today…these ones are too big…”
Dev
You could do La Marmotte for a low-budget option. I’ll do the course at the end of May with a friend for a bit of weekend suffering…should be fun.
From Wikipedia:
The route is 174 km long, but features more than 5180 metres of climbing. The event goes over the Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and finishes at the top of one the most famous Tour de France climbs, Alpe d’Huez.
I detect the Herbert organized ST Smackdown at Milano San Remo next year. Just line up all your pro buddies for a training ride the day before…ST posers fly our asses in. Next day, we ride the Poggio and pummel ML in the sprint finish in San Remo before the “real deal” comes galloping through.
298km seems a little short for the ST crowd. Most of us won't even have warmed up by then. :D
Actually the day I referred to above, on Glandon, I did the Marmotte loop minus Alpe D’Huez (was too fried, but will do it one day)…the day before I did 3xLes Deux Alpes and the day before 2xAlpe d’Huez and amazingly enough my time for both climbs was 1:01.51 (one was early morning with no crowds, the other one was late day with crazy crowds).
I went back in 2007 on a weekend over a business trip, rented a bike and did Fri Alpe d’Huez, Sat Marmotte Loop minus Alpe d’Huez but including Col de Mollard, Sun early Am Alpe d’Huez.
Here is my account:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1499281;search_string=saturday%20on%20galibier;
For the record, I finally did break 60 min on the trip in 2007…took my 58.51 up Alpe d’Huez
Lots of riding options on the cheap for anyone that wants to make it happen. The more I type, I am inclined to blow an additional week of vacation and hit some climbs during TdF week 2…
True. Herbert could make us start slightly early and run a 21K loop around the San Remo hills (and there are plenty) after we finish the 298K ride
luckee bastard. glad you had a good time tho… I personally would have drunk waaaay too much beer on that trip…
AP
Great pics We’re doing the same…Alpe d’Huez on Friday afternoon, then the rest of Marmotte on Saturday, and Les Deux Alpes on Sunday.
No way I’ll come close to your 60min up AdH though!