Posted by Elizabeth. Bike racing is huge in France and the year culminates with the Tour de France in July. A couple weeks ago I realized we would be within 45 minutes of Le Tour while in Brussels. What luck! So yesterday at 09:00 we hopped on the intercity train at Brussels Midi for the easy 45 min ride to Antwerp where stage 3 started.
Like me, you may be confused about the city where stage three was held. Throughout most of the world Antwerp is Antwerp not Anvers. But, like everything in Belgium, the city has a French name (Anvers) and a Flemish name (Antwerp). Every street sign, every menu, every canned good is labeled in both languages and often in German too. It makes for some confusion (is my stop at Gare Midi or Zuid?) but the locals are exceedingly bi and tri lingual so they seem to have no problems.
We got into Antwerp Centrale and followed the yellow banners and the crowd through the heart of town to the start of the race. We found great spots right at the starting line and hung out watching the publicity caravan and all the sponsor floats which proceed the day's race.
As 1pm neared, the crowds started to thicken but never got unruly. The first bikers pedaled past using the road in front of us as their warm up lane. Soon there was a large pack of riders getting into position literally two feet from where we stood. They all waited as Fabian Cancellara, the previous day's winner, made his way to the front. The English speaking announcer then led us all in a countdown to the start. Yelling 3...2...1 with thousands of excited spectators and watching the riders' faces as they mentally prepared for a challenging day was exhilarating. Leo's favorite part was the rider who quickly downed his sandwich right in front of us and threw his wrapper at Leo's feet. I loved seeing the camaraderie among the riders as they helped each other fix seats and tires and joked around waiting to take off.
The race moved from Antwerp through central Belgium to end with a killer hill in the town of Huy/Hoei (pronounced "Wee"). When we got back to our apartment we learned there had been a terrible crash before they headed into Huy with at least three riders out and many more injured. The race was halted as medical crews assessed the riders and damaged bikes were pulled off the course. Terrifying to watch the riders fly over each other and land in the road and grass but amazing to see their strength and fortitude as they got back on their bikes knowing they had one of the hardest hills of the course ahead of them.
We are sad to leave Belgium (oh my chocolate how much I'll miss you) but we're headed into our last couple weeks in Biarritz on the southwest coast of France. Looking forward to seeing some friends and explaining the French custom of topless bathing to my teenage boys.
