Etikettarkiv: Ronde van Vlaanderen

Ronde van Vlaanderen ’13: Pre-party at Oude Kwaremont

Two nights before Ronde van Vlaanderen and the pre-party before the race is on. Some of the great people of Zingem took us to places we would never have found ourselves near the Oude Kwaremont. To be sitting at the table next to the great cycling photographer Graham Watson or the cheif mechanic from the Orica GreenEdge team was great. But greatest of them all were of course our new-found friends from Zingem.

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Ronde van Vlaanderen '13: Pre-party at Oude Kwaremont. Photo: Christer Hedberg | christerhedberg.se

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Later that night we drove down to a farm at the bottom of Oude Kwaremont that turns it’s old stable into a great bicycling bar for a coumple of nights every year. Jam-packed with cycling fans and local beer cheap as dirt. The man in the grey sweater told me what he considered to be the most important Belgian word: ”koers!”

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Ronde van Vlaanderen '13: Pre-party at Oude Kwaremont

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Ronde van Vlaanderen ’13: The beer table

We’re in the enormous beer tent at the finish area of this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. One of the guys at the next table see our press vests and walks over to us.
”Hey, take a photo of us. It will be the best photo you have taken at the race this year”, he asks happily.
The amount of beer on their table is somewhat…impressive, so we ask them how many beers they have bought.
Calculating on his fingers one of them replies ”first we bought forty. Then 60. And then 60”.
I ask him how many they are in the group sharing those beers.
”Ten!” he replies, smiling mischievously.

Oh Belgium…

Ronde van Vlaanderen '13: The beer table

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Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013. Late night editing

Late night editing. Photo: Christer Hedberg | christerhedberg.se

Life as a member of the press at a pro cycling race equals full speed ahead from early morning until late at night. Once all batteries are recharged, photos has been backed-up and tomorrow’s maps have been examined – a couple of hours of photo editing in the hotel room. And then a few hours of sleep before an early breakfast and a new day. Love it.

» See all my photos from Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013

Ronde van Vlaanderen ’13: Emma Straat

Late at night, the day before the Ronde van Vlaanderen race passes through the village, the people of Zingem honors their favourite rider by painting her name on the road. Emma Johansson, the Swedish pro cyclist, lives in Zingem and the villagers has taken her to their heart. Along the Heirweg road, Swedish flags are hung above the road, turning it into ”Emma street” for one day. But the paint on the road stays on for months.

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The night Heirweg became Emma Straat. Photo: Christer Hedberg | christerhedberg.se

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» See all my photos from Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013