Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields U23

“Ploegstreets!” Gent-Wevelgem U23 © Thomas Sneyers

The Belgian World Tour spring classic Ghent-Wevelgem will also host the first competition of the U23 Nations Cup. The race of the same name leads over a slightly shorter track, however, has the key passages in common with the race of the elite, including the “Kemmelberg”, a very steep cobblestone climb. With 148 starters from 25 nations, the field of competitors was also able to keep up with that of professionals. It was Felix Ritzinger’s first time on the road for the national team and actually only his fifth start in a road race classified as UCI. The nervousness before both the demanding course and the starting field was correspondingly great.

Kopfsteinpflaster und Seitenwind – welcome to Belgium! Gent-Wevelgem U23 © Jens Morel

After a hectic start, the situation calmed down temporarily and after 70 kilometres the character of a real Belgian classic set in: the Belgian national team opened a wind edge and the field fragmented temporarily on the narrow, winding roads. The first ascents and the first crossing of the Scharfrichter Kemmelberg started at kilometer 120. Not positioned far enough forward and already somewhat marked by the previous distance Felix lost the connection to the leading group. On the following “Ploegstreets” (unpaved roads, which should remind of the fallen ones of the First World War), too much of the power reserves were wasted in the tracking work, which were missing a little later – some racing drivers could still advance into the 54-man leading group. In the following second hilly lap Felix broke away from his group and crossed the finish line with 6 other escape companions just seven minutes after the winner in 68th place.

Durchaus gezeichnet nach 187 Kilometern Gent-Wevelgem U23 © chase.cx

Although marked by a tactical mistake, it was still a very good start to racing at the highest level and a very exciting experience. In contrast to the majority of the other Austrian teams, Felix came with his chase.cx UP wheels defect free over the 187 km long track. Both the Belgians, known as cycling mad, and the sometimes very bad roads provided a very exciting experience. Next weekend we will continue with two UCI 1.2 races in Slovakia and Slovenia before the second race in the Austrian colours is scheduled for April 7th: The Ronde van Vlaanderen is not without reason a cycling monoment, not least because of the brutal climbs and the large amount of cobblestone!