Gent-Wevelgem

Today I raced in the Belgian Classic race, Gent-Wevelgem. This race is held every year as a men's event, but this year was the first year that there was a women's race too. The race attracted a strong field with all the top women's teams on the startline.

The race started off fast, with everyone jostling for position. As always in Belgium there were lots of potholes, traffic islands and cobbled sections as well. So the first 1.5 hrs of the race were quite scary with lots of near crashes and swearing all through the bunch!

After around 70 km there was a section of 4 climbs, with the hardest one being the Kemmelberg, a very steep cobbled  climb. Last year I raced these climbs in the GP Stad Roselare, and did not have the best of days- I fainted part way through the race due to heat stroke, and ended up in hospital! Luckily this year I had a better day, and was able to make the front group of around 35 riders after the climbs. This group stayed away until the finish, with 4 riders ahead of us- Lizzie Armitstead won with a gap of a minute over our group, and 3 others finished 100m in front of us. I had a pretty terrible sprint, finishing the race in 30th place. However, I was extremely happy to be in the front group in a big race in Belgium, as I know this time last year I wouldn't have been there.


After the race, we stayed to watch the men's finish, and saw Tom Boonen win the sprint, which was also pretty cool!

Now I am looking forward to heading back to Dijon tomorrow for some more hill training!!
For the full results of the race, here is the link

http://gw.pro.p.assets.flandersclassics.be/files/679/original/2012-03-25-Wevelgem-1.15-Uitslag.pdf?1332774641

Emma