Race #14 Lucien Van Impe Classic, Interclub

This past Sunday was the third of 4 interclub races I will be doing this year in Belgium. If you read the previous posts about the last two interclubs you know that these races are characterized by larger fields, longer distances and harder courses than the Elite kermesse races.
On Sunday the race was in nearby Erpe-Mere and is organized as a tribute to the great Lucien Van Impe who lives in the area. Lucien van Impe was known for his incredible talent as a climber. One of his most noted accomplishments was his 6 times winning of the climbers jersey at the Tour de France, as well as one overall GC victory. Anyways in tribute to him a very challenging course had been layed out with a 80 km big lap to start out which included several cobbled sectors such as the Paddestraat, which is a 4 km nasty section of pave as well as several tough flanderian climbs including the famed Berendries (spelling?) from the Tour of Flanders. This big lap was to be followed by 7 small laps to make the 165 km distance.
The race started of well and the only thing bothering me was the scorching 34 degree heat. I stayed at the front of the 170 riders strong peleton and managed to avoid a couple of early crashes. After 20 km the first cobbled section started and then it was all turns, field roads and climbs for the next 50 km so staying in the front was key as splits were bound to happen. After 30 km a couple of small groups had gotten away, but the worst was still to come so I stayed calm waiting for a bigger split. At 30 km on a wide long climb a saw my teammate Chris attack on the left in an attempt to bridge to a group just up the road. I was sitting right on the front so I couldn't respond without towing too many guys along so I waited until a small group attacked and went with them. We got clear and started to turn to join the leaders. Shortly after we hit the field roads on the approach to the Paddestraat cobbles and we were about 15 seconds down on the leaders with the peleton charging behind us at about the same gap. Suddenly around a corner the cobbles appeared and the 12 man group I was in summoned everything to get across the gap and not lose momentum on the rough road. I was just following the guy in front of me, riding the gutter, trying to stay smooth and calm. Then about half was across the sector my bikes rear end went loose the road got really rough, I had a flat tire. Normally you ride until the car comes when you get a flat, but this was my nice wheel and the road was brutal so I pulled over, took out the wheel and signaled for a change. Unfortunately no neutral cars had made it to the front and our team car was number 19 in the caravan. At the tail end of the peleton my teammate Geert pulled over and gave me his wheel. He later told me he was deep in the hurtbox by that point already and would have been dropped soon regardless. I took the wheel with great thanks and rode away just as Tino pulled up with the car. I was now in survival mode knowing that I had to stay calm but ride hard to get back in the group. It was very difficult though as the roads were very narrow and twisting with small climbs everywhere. Tino pulled up several times and I paced behind the car at 60 km/hr for short sections before a corner forced me to dart passed and duck in again a few cars up. This battle to gain ground continued for almost 15 km. On the Berendries I could see the peleton not far ahead, but even though I was closing the gap it was still to big for comfort. I did manage to enjoy this moment though as I rode up the climb that has seen hundreds of the worlds finest riders in years past. VDB was written all the way up the steep road, as a tribute to a rider whose fall from greatness has been just as painful for fans as the climb was for me. Over the top of the climb Tino worked his magic and found me again for one last push for the peleton. He delivered me within the first 5 cars and after a few hard minutes I was back in the group. By this point I was punched and tried to focus on pulling myself together and refueling after the effort. I had made it back to the group, passed dropped riders and survived the big lap. For the small laps I tried to stay near the front and get in a move to bridge to the leaders. A group of about 25 was up the rode at this point and I wanted out of the peleton. After several failed attempts with groups on the hilly short laps I finally got away with about 8 with 30 km to go and we managed to catch a couple groups of 3 and 4 dropped from the leaders and chasing groups. In the end our group broke apart and I got away in the first third finishing in 44th place. Considering the circumstances with the flat and the course it was a good performance. I learned after the race that a group of 20 had gotten clear on the Paddestraat, never actually catching the leaders, but staying well clear of the peleton. Without the flat I was in that group, that's racing though, I did what I could do and rode my best.
It was a great day for the team over all with Chris Willems making the break and finishing in 7th. This is an incredible result and he deserves some recognizing. Bart and Jeff also finished in the main group. Only about 80 riders actually ever saw the finish line so simply finishing was a strong performance.
On Thursday I am doing a 120 km Elite race 35 km from home. I am riding there with a South African espoir who that just arrived last week. Its going to be a long day, but that's what is needed to achieve the goal at nationals. Otherwise I have been doing more riding with Roesems and Penne and Co. The weather is stinking hot at over 30 every day. Tomorrow its supposed to cool of to about 25 which will be better for racing.
Also I met Mark Pozniak another Canadian espoir at the race this weekend. He is riding with a Dutch team and came down to Belgium with his squad for the race. I will be riding against him at nats in a couple of weeks. Good to see other Canadians are riding in the region, this is were its at, I don't understand why more riders don't come over.....