Stevovo

Strade Bianchi week!

Dont you dare leave out the 6th monument- Strade Bianchi 7 march

Okay, I feel safe to say that it is finally... OPENIIIIIING WEEEEEEEKEEEEEND! The start of the real racing. Cobbled spring classics. Omloop het Nieuwsblad on Saterday. 208km, 6 flat cobbled sectors and 9 climbs (not all cobbled) Wout will be there and it is possible that Van der Poel can show up. Boom boom boom! Kuurne Brussels Kuurne on Sunday 195km, 13 climbs Sprinters get a go.

Seems like we are both misreading the calender. 😉 Omloop on 28 Feb and Kuurne on 1 march. Gent- Wevelgem on 29 March. Im a week out and youre a month out. We may be wrong on the dates but the cobbles are coming!😂

This climb is shaking things up. Del Torro and then Remco also falling back

Tiz🥷 I was also watching on YT and saw today we are restricted.

Today they will end the stage with a proper 15km climb at around 8% avg. The last 6.8km at 11%. 30km from finish atm. break with a 5min gap

Joh! Ja. Del Torro winning the sprinters and then Remco doing a 56kmh TT. 2026 is gonna bring big clashes.

Aaah mannn...sorry, got everyone excited there for a sec...haha. UAE tour still on at least. Will we see Remco vs Del Torro

The cobbles are back!! Omloop weekend is here. Get your snack cupboard ready, its time to watch killowatts being thrown around. Bikes, rain, cobbles and crashes. Lets see who trained the best. https://youtu.be/Ste7dszMFO8?si=0yGZgKHbPnzd_HzV

Some of my orders from AE still go through SAPO but most are through Speedaf. Not sure if they are planning to cut them out. The sellers say that AE chooses. I hate that the Speedaf charges such high customs and taxes though. They are faster at least. What % was your customs cost from Meili?

Courier guy

Meili do charge rediculous high customs fees on packages. And they wont declare how they calculate it. I try to avoid them when buying on Aliexpress but now I see Aliexpress just choose them randomly(Speedaf as the courier). Are they obligated to give an invoice with the breakdown or can they just charge and demand a payment from a link sent to me?

Race week! Not much to be done fitness wise so time for weather and route watching. My first real gravel race on a gravel bike. Gonna hurt for sure! I see they predicted the 145km race winner in 3:55!! Joh! It looks like we might miss the cold front that will come in on monday. Actually a little warmer morning on sunday which I am VERY gratefull for. Hopefully the wind dont blow too much. Been riding the roads the past month on the gravel bike. It felt really good but today it suddenly felt as if it got very harsh very quickly. Hopefully it was just in my head. I saw some roads got grated today and really hope they will get to the main one going past venterskroon as well before the weekend. Dont know if you have info @Scary Rider? Nervously excited for this one.

So here we are...2 days from Sabie classic 2025. So I thought heck...lets revive this fred. Its a shame to see this epic race go from one of the biggest attended races on the callender to a small 65km race. Names like Mannie, Evans, Max, Luus, Stander and even the Bulls guys had flippen epic battles in the mountains in the ULTRA distance races and I still get a tingling sensation thinking of those days. Ride magazine had write ups of this race with fotos of the pros dashing up and down the races like they were hollywood celebs. (Some juiced a bit 🤣) Jinne I just wanted to go do it and I did. Twice. First time I was gonna do the 75km....entered on the morning of the race...but when I got to the start I realized to my anger that I entered the 40km. Thank God! 75 km would have killed me. Sam Saunders blasted past me on a downhill making me feel very down to earth. I was dead and releaved to be finished and not have another 30km to go. 2nd time we were a group of guys taking a vw transporter panelvan from potch to sabie. Bean bags as seats in the back between all the bikes. Stayed in the backpackers in Sabie. Laying in bed the night before the race, listening to the rain falling all through the night and Im sure I promised myself Im not gonna ride. I lied...going down singletrack so slippery its better to just sit on your bum and slide I think I, for a moment, regretted not staying at home. I do remember a lekker feeling passing Lourens Luus pushing his bike on another slippery singletrack ( brakepads allready gone). I dont remember having too much fun that day, but did finish in 1 piece. Bike lost a few years of life there. Its a beautifull place to be on a bike. The mountains are big. The mossy trails slippery when dry and snotty when wet. Heck Im lus for a propper sabie sufferfest on a mtb designed for propper mtb terrain (gravel😤😡) going down steep slippery singletrack feeling totally out of control but totally alive!! Soo...any sabie residents here? Is it dry or wet on saterday? I want to be there but I dont make mistakes like a muddy sabie twice....I hope🤣

The start is basically next to the vaal river so what can we expect the temps to be in june at the start @Attie Koekemoer?🫣

This is the finish line pics of Keegan. He threw up as he went over the line hands in the air. Its a very special pic🤣 https://www.instagram.com/p/DISLh_2So2P/?img_index=1&igsh=MWFnMWt6aGE5YTJ1bg==

Dan saying riding the Arrenberg sector is like driving a Lambo flat out down a road thats full of speedbumps. The cobbles are wild. Never rode a road bike on cobbles but if it feels anything like riding a mtb on corrugation it must be brutal. Watt eating baby head sized rocks for a road.

Was wondering at what time you posted that😁 A true cycling fan you are! I checked updates this morning thinking Im weird. Its difficult to not get a spoiler of who won after a race. I want to go see the whole thing play out from the start and be surprized by who won and where Matt ended. Happy to say I managed to do that. Friday off to a good start!

Matt 2nd and Haley Preen 3rd in the lifetimegrandprix standings after round 1. Go Saffas! Bring back some dollars.... no tarrifs on prize money🤣

Matt was second. Rode a super strong race. Looked like he was closing the gap to Keegan. That last hill he sat behind Vermeulen and I think a gap opened to Keegen. He had to go past Vermeulen to get to Keegan. Think he would have stayed on Keegens wheel over the top if he didnt have to do that.

Jinne I love Pogachar but just cant see a place where he will have an advantage big enough to drop the other guys. That UAE train are gonna bring hectic stuff thats for sure. Firstly to keep the golden boy safely to the finish, cause heck, if he gets hurt you're gonna hear it nè, and secondly to be there if the opportunity for the win presents itself! Wouts late altitude camp started to kick in mid race in flanders on sunday😜 . Seemed like he was struggling and was gonna get dropped and then all of a sudden he rode like the Wout that could win MVP in the past. He must still be bedonnerd over that flat he go a few years ago just after dropping MVD where he could have won. And Mads....ai the guy is unlucky to have the competition he has atm. Jeese he is riding well right now. My heart hopes he gets this monument win. Somewhere the universe should give an oak a lucky day hey? Then theres Ghanna...if you can finish with guys like MVP and Pogachar after the bombing on those final hills of MSR you must be something. Not there at Flanders, but the hills...so lets see on the flat cobbles. Oh and MVP...nothing to say. The guy knows how to. He will be there. He is immune to bad luck when it matters and even if he gets it he just ride back from it. Gonna be a lekker watch

Yes but got a revolt Im riding now. Done many rides on that steel farr. Maluti d90 with the roadies as well.

Hey we are in the era of gravel! Ride that freaken gravel bike! 🤣 lets get this industry booooomin I will also take my gravel bike...even though I know it is gonna hurt. Its rough mostly. These were photos taken in 2019. Beautifull place to ride a bike. In 2019 the roads had a mayor rebuild. Mannnn it was smooth. You could take your road bike onto it and go full tilt everywhere. Joh, guys would have moaned its too smooth for gravel if used in a race😆 Need to start training for a long day on the 'ruk en pluk' stuff.