BERENICE

Hey we're back in business after a not so great summer, bad weather, covid rules etc..

But here we go again, chasing down the best coffee shops in town. I admit that I got a little push in the "action" direction from my Dutch friend Patrick. He came with the idea, if we don't ride our race bikes on Sunday morning why not ... still ride tho ... to find new coffee houses. And so we launched a message in our cycling club, who would be available on our first Sunday coffee ride. Barely 2 up to 7km on townies.

Our first stop, of course in the city center of Gent. When you arrive with ten persons in a coffee shop it not easy to find a table where you can sit together, but in Berenice they have a corner where we all fitted in. 

The advantage of attacking a coffee shop with so many people is the fact that you can taste a fair few different brews. Lieve as usual tried the espresso macchiato and a flat white, I went for a cappuccino (it was before noon! Italian joke.). We both had the same reaction, great coffee but could be a little bit warmer. Our friends had mostly same comment, but the Americano and flat whites got a good evaluation. But not everything was ok, the "slow coffee" was simply not strong enough! Renate and Massimo didn't even finish the drink. 

When the weather is better you can sit on a little terrace on the street side, but it is pretty close to the traffic. Town buses pass really close.

It is definitely a nice place, they serve breakfast and lunch, you can enter with a pretty big group (as we proved) and the service is top and friendly.

Asking how you pronounce "Berenice", is it kinda French or more English (like bery nice?) the girl answered that it is the name of her grandmother, so more the Frenchy sound.

On the side is also a little flower and gift shop. So once again, a trendy place to visit on walking distance of the city center, direction Dampoort.

BERENICE is situated in Steendam 76 in Gent, open from Wed till Fri from 8.30am till 5.30pm and Sat and Sun from 9am till 6pm.

 

HERO FOR ONE DAY

 

The dream of each young cyclist, male or female,  is to become a professional rider in one of the great pro teams in the cycling world. Boys wanna ride the “Ronde van Vlaanderen”, “Paris – Roubaix” and all the other classics or the “Tour”, “Giro”, “Vuelta” or at least some smaller tours. And finally the girls can dream about all these big races too the last couple of years.

Was it a dream of Belgian, French, Dutch or Italians 50 years ago, it was the ultimate thing to go for, for Aussies, Americans, British or Kiwis the last 30 years. But since the 90’s it became a worldwide task. When you count the registered UCI teams you come easy around 200. You find teams in very exotic countries these days. (f.e. I am DS for a UCI registered Continental team in Guam. Where? I hear you say. Really, Google it, you be surprised)

But !! A lot of young men or women try, never succeed, a lot try and get into a Continental Team, a Pro Conti Team or the most fortunate make it to the World Tour ranks. Still there is a but….. some only last one season or even less then a season. The shock from amateur to pro or even semi pro level is sometimes to high for some of them.

The most extreme long career must be (not over yet) the one of Davide Rebellin who turned pro on 

 

 

August 1st 1992 for the G.B.-M.G. team and rode this year, yes 28 years later, for a Croatian Continental Team (Meridiana – Kamen Team).

Dutchman Fred Rompelberg did even better, but didn’t ride the big pro races as Davide did, he had a pro licence for 36 years (1971 till 2007).

Other “strange” ones are the Brit Reginald Harris who was a pro from 1949 till 1957 and retired, but made a come back in 1971. He finaly rode his last race in 1975. Reg was a famous track sprinter.    Also the Spaniard Guillermo Timoner Obrador, another tracky, stayer, had a first go in 1945 till 1967 and tried it again in 1984/1985.                                                                                                                       Both became World Champions in their disciplines, Reg 4 titles (Sprint in 1949/50/51 and 54), Guillermo 6 titles (Stayers 1955/59/60/62/64 and 65).

The other extreme, I could witness, at a Belgian “pro kermesse” in Belgium. An Australian boy turned up at the rego table of the West Flanders commissary table, gave his license and got a start number. When I saw the rider later on his warm up I noticed a strange jersey. He rode in National Australian amateur colours. The white jersey with green and gold vertical lines. So eather the commissary didn’t know the difference between an Australian pro or amateur license or the boy….. yeah he didn’t know what race he was in. I think he lined up one more time in a pro kermesse, but then his pro career was over. Couldn’t find his name in amateur kermesses eather.

So now it is my intention to find out who those one day/one month/one year pros were. I will start in 2000. And also to find out what happened to them after their short adventure.

Talk to you soon

Tour de France 2020 - part 1 - UAE

UAE Team Emirates won with Alexander Kristoff (Oslo, 5 July 1987) the first stage in this Tour de France. Alexander rides for UAE since 2018.

UAE is a World Tour Team sponsored by a sheik from the Emirates. The team is the continuation of the former Italian team Lampre. They took over in 2017 with and scored 16 wins in their first season.                 The most important win that year came from Diego Ulissi, winning the Grand Prix Montreal.                         Jan Polanc (1 stage win in the Giro) and Matej Mohoric (1 stage win in Vuelta) were top results too.                They also won two national road titles with Jan Polanc (Slovenia) and Yousif Mirza (United Arab Emirates). Top scorer of the team that year was Sacha Modolo with four wins of the sixteen team victories.

 

In 2018, the first year Alexander Kristoff signed with the team, he became also the most succesfull rider of the team with five wins. He and Daniel Martin won also a stage in the Tour.                                                      Vegard Stake Laengen won the Norwegian road title. All togheter the team won ten races. Of course they lost their previous year most winner Modolo to E.F.-Drapac.

2019 was the first very successful year. They signed a few big guns for that year. With Pogacar, Philipsen, Oliveira and Gaviria they certainly upgraded the team. The end result of 35 wins says enough. Alexander Kristoff won Gent-Wevelgem, 3 stages in the Vuelta and Youth GC for Pagacar and a stage in the Giro of Gaviria were for sure the highlights. Pogacar and Mirza won the national titles of their country (Slovenia and UAE). Most wins that year Pogacar (12), Kristoff (8) and Gaviria (6).                                                            

And then came the Covid-19 cycling season. With thirty riders they were looking at a successful year again with noone of the top riders leaving and some young additions. With twenty five wins on the teller so far, I guess they can not complain. Two national road titles by Bystrom (Norway) and Rui Costa (Portugal) and two TT titles, Ivo Oliveira (Portugal) and Pogacar (Slovenia). They won stages in the Tour of San Juan, Valencia, Colombia and of course the cherry on the cake the first stage and yellow jersey for a day in the Tour that just started. So far this season, again Pogacar has most wins (8).

The 2020 roster

ARDILA ORDONEZ Andres Camillo (COL Mariquita - 2/6/99)                                                                     ARU Fabio (ITA San Gavino Monreale - 3/7/90)                                                                                      BJERG Mikkel (DEN Kobenhavn - 3/11/98)                                                                                                BOHLI Tom (SWI Uznach - 17/1/94)                                                                                                  BYSTROM Sven Erik (NOR Haugesund - 21/1/92)                                                                                         CONTI Valerio (ITA Roma - 30/3/93)                                                                                                               COVI Alessandro (ITA Borgomanero - 28/9/98)                                                                                                 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David (ESP Sabadell - 6/5/89)                                                              DOMBROWSKI Joe (USA Christiana - 12/5/91)                                                                                                 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto (POR Povoa de Varzim - 5/10/86)                                                                       FORMOLO Davide (ITA Negrar - 25/10/92)                                                                                                     GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando (COL La Ceja - 19/8/94)                                                                                     HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis (COL Rionegro - 5/8/93)                                                                           KRISTOFF Alexander (NOR Oslo - 5/7/87)                                                                                                        LAENGEN Vegard Stake (NOR Oslo - 7/2/89)                                                                                            MARCATO Marco (ITA San Dona di Piave - 11/2/84)                                                                                       MC NULTY Brandon (USA Phoenix - 2/4/98)                                                                                                       MIRZA AL HAMMADI Yousif Mohamed Ahmed (UAE Khorfakkan - 8/10/98)                                            MOLANO BENAVIDES Juan Sébastian (COL Paipa - 4/11/94)                                                                 MUNOZ LANCHEROS Cristian Camilo (COL Ventaquemada - 20/3/96)                                                        OLIVEIRA ALVES Ivo Emanuel (POR Vila Nova de Gaia - 5/9/96)                                                                     OLIVEIRA ALVES Rui Filipe (POR Vila Nova de Gaia - 5/9/96)                                                                     PHILIPSEN Jasper (BEL Mol - 2/3/98)                                                                                                             POGACAR Tadej (SLO Komenda - 21/9/98)                                                                                                       POLANC Jan (SLO Kranj - 6/10/92)                                                                                                                     RAVASI Edward (ITA - Varese 5/6/94)                                                                                                  RIABUSHENKO Alexandr (BLR Minsk- 12/10/95)                                                                                            RICHEZE ARAQUISTAIN Ariel Maximiliano (ARG Bella Vista - 7/3/83)                                                      TROIA Oliviero (ITA Bordighera - 1/9/94)                                                                                                    ULISSI Diego (ITA Cecina - 15/7/89)           

 

                                                                       

Valeir

Wednesday morning, warm and sunny and 10.30am, time for a coffee. Our first choice was to pedal direction Lochristi where Lieve had seen a new coffee shop. Double check opening hours on the net told us: closed on Wednesday and Thursday! Just don't get it when after being forced to close down your business because of Covid-19. Two days of incom down the drain??? It must be me.

Never mind enough places that keep their doors wide open. Didn't we bought a nice ice cream the other day near the swimming pool Van Eyck? Yep let's try that one.
Only 15 minutes ride to Portus Ganda, another upgraded area few minutes from the city of Gent.

From the corner we could see the terrace bading in the sun and some people had the same idea as us. A chalkboard welcomed us on the footpath. Most tables occupied, but still one left for us. It only took two seconds before the friendly hostess brought a menu (? is this ok in Corona time?), never mind, a smile and a few words got us in the right mood. Yes a cappuccino and for Lieve a doppio espresso macchiato.

And I was so happy to finaly find a place where they serve the coffee hot! A lot of coffee bars serve great coffee, taste wise, but just not hot enough! This one was the right temperature and the coffee tasted fabulous. Together with the nice little home made coco-bickies made it worth to stop at this place.


Now don't think this is all you can get here. Last week we enjoyed a nice ice cream, flavour choices enough, the usuals like vanilla, chocolate but also tangerine, "blood"orange and some veggie or mojito ice.

 

For breakfast you can make the choice between a simple coffee, Danish + bread up to four different breakfast menu's. The names of the different choices already make you hungry. You can choose between Healthy, Kickstart, Boost and Guilty pleasure. mmmm. Non of these? no problem. breakfast à la carte also available.

A quick look on the menu tells me that they serve "Valeir" beer too. Maybe next time I can ask them what the connection is with the Contreras brewery in Gavere?

A great place where you be welcomed with a smile and get your brew at the right temperature. Finally a bit of competition for my number one coffee bar "Take Five"

VALEIR Icecream & Breakfast - Sint Joriskaai 1 - 9000 Gent
open daily from 9am till 5pm
www.valeir.gent

CUP coffee

Five years ago noone would walk along this canal road unless you really needed to be there for .... yea for what? Can't think of anything. Serious you didn't want to go there for a walk or a bike ride.

But now the neighbourhood has been upgraded with new walk and bike paths, new apparments and lofts, a nice dock for house boats. It will soon be the place to be. Call it "The City meets the Harbour".

Easy to be reached from the Dampoort or the pedestrian bridge from Dok Noord. Two and a half kilometers away from the city centre.

And in a new trendy area, you must find a trendy coffee bar. The CUP bar, is a place where you enjoy a coffee along the bike path, five meters away from the waterside.

But not only you drink a brew or get your breakfast or lunch, you bring your bike to the shop behind the cafe for repairs or even better to buy a brand new one. I know cycling and coffee is our thing, but you can also start running, kano or yoga. So they can call themselves a sportsbar too. 

No outfit?, no problem eather, they have a small sports clothing division too on the same address. And of course you can sit outside on the terrace enjoying your coffee and cake. 

The very friendly staff is very helpfull but....

Maybe the only negative point was that the espresso macchiato can be a bit stronger, same issue with the ice caffé latté, a bigger coffee shot would be perfect. Now I had the feeling drinking a milkshake with coffee taste.

Bikeking is the shop in the back where you can buy bikes, the home brands are BMC, Moustache & Benno. Mountain bikes, race bikes and E-bikes are available.

  
Cup Coffee- corner Bataviabrug and Schipperskaai - 9000 Gent
closed on monday - https://hello.cup.gent/landing

EuroCyclingTrips.com - C.M.I. Pro Cycling Team

Put some weird bike riders, a few cycling lovers and some crazy ideas together, and you have the perfect mixture to set up a professional cycling team.
Weird bike riders are easy to find, there are no others! But maybe the most extra different ones, you find around a French town, named Toulouse. Hard to understand cause of their accent, it sounds like French, but they understand each other, so that is a bonus. Good thing is they speak English too, well kinda.
Cycling lovers you can find easely in Belgium, no doubt about that. So that is where those two Frenchies found two volunteers to be called from now on : Staff !
Ideas, 100s, 1000s or even more, no problem, but none seems to work, so we will see what comes.
And then you have those strange guys that wanna ride for the team. You can not imagine what funny reasons they find out to become member of the team.
O just one problem, money. There is hardly any money.... so far. Not important, sponsors will line up the moment the results are there. But again ..... but...... no races. Some Chinese bat or some idiot or whatever created a virus. No need to give any explanation about this subject I guess. Unless you been living under a rock or been flying in from another planet.

Now serious, we have done two races in New Zealand (The New Zealand Cycle Classic and Gravel and Tar) and three in Greece (The Tour of Rhodes, GP Rhodes and some criterium). And that was it. We had races on our program in France, Belgium, Swiss, Spain, Macedonia, Kosovo, South Africa, Indonesia, etc...
Now it is waiting for? For what? I donnu, hopefully soon we get green light for a start.
We our ready, we have kit, bikes, team cars, even post cards!

                        
 

Before I introduce the riders I have to tell you that our team is registered in Guam. "Guam?" I hear you say.
Guam is a U.S. island territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific. It's distinguished by tropical beaches, Chamorro villages and ancient latte-stone pillars. Guam’s WWII significance is on view at the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, whose sites include Asan Beach, a former battlefield. The island’s Spanish colonial heritage is evident in Fort Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, atop a bluff in Umatac. The capital is Hagatna and has a population of approx. 166000 people. It is about 540km²!
I have never been there, but it is on my bucket list!

these are our 16 riders:

Simeon Green, (Great Britain, 12 December 1979), alias Sim, the founder of the Continental team, lives in Albi in France. Started in several tours all over the world, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Serbia, Greece, Morocco etc... Loves a Chimay! Hates track and criterium races. British.

Guillaume "GuiGui" Soula, (France, 29 October 1980 in Toulouse) co founder of this team. 6th on GC Tour du Faso 2009, 4th on GC Tour du Faso 2010 and of course a globetrotter just like his mate Sim. Loves a good (French) red wine.

Romain "DuDu" Guillaume Duverger, (France, 2 March 1985), can climb, can sprint, can ride GC. Placed 5th on GC and Points in Tour of Kosovo 2019. The quiet man in the team, always happy!
The man you count on (and can!). Lives in Poitiers.

Thomas "Perotte" Peyroton-Dartet, (France, 9 July 1985), this man makes an unbelievable comeback after a horror crash in the Tour de Tahiti, September 2018. Good climber and is working hard on his return. 5th place in stage 5 in Tour du Maroc 2010.

Robert Orr, (Great Britain, 1 October 1980 in Nuneaton), From 2017 till 2019 pro with Memil Cycling Team. 5th place in stage 7 Tour du Maroc 2013, 28th Omloop v/h Waasland 2015. Strong rider in stage races.

Boris Clark, (New Zealand, 28 January 1995), Probably the best rider on our team in the New Zealand races. Had to pull out the Cycle Classic, due to mechanical, in the KOM leaders jersey. Finished 10th in Gravel & Tar too. Was 8th in the New Zealand ITT championship 2016.

Matias "T" Fitzwater, (New Zealand, 29 March 1998), together with Boris our big hopes in the team, performed really well in the New Zealand opening races. Was really keen and ready for Europe, but must wait a bit longer to come over to Belgium. I know "T" since he rode with us in the New Zealand national U23 team. Finished 3th in the U23 GC Tour du Maroc 2019, 30th in GP Criquielion in Belgium.

Alexander "Smytie" Smyth (Malta, 10 December 1988) Alex is the current National Champion of Malta, but lives in Melbourne, Australia. Rode for different conti teams in the past (2011 Worldofbike.com, 2015 African Wildlife Safaris CT, 2016 State of Matter-MAAP CT, 2017 NSWIS, 2018 Drapac CT). I know Smythie since 2011, and is a regular visitor in Belgium to race the kermesses. Is a good GC rider and sprinter. Finished 3 times 6th in stages in Tour of Indonesia 2010, 5th in the Oceania Championship 2011, 3th in stage 2 Tour of Singkarak 2012, Came 13th on GC in Tour of Kosovo 2019.

Jake Klajnblat, (Australia, 22 March 1994 in Melbourne) Strong Aussie, been racing many years in Belgium as Elite rider. Finished 20th in Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten 2012.

Nathan Bunn, (New Zealand, 30 March 1989) Hopefully he gets the chance to come to Belgium soon.

Peter Lombard, (Guam, 24 May 1976 in Mong Mong Toto Maite) one of our four Guam riders. Looking forward to meet these guys.

Gorgi Popstefanov, (Macedonia, 19 July 1987) Macedonian National Road Champion in 2010, 2016. Lives in the U.S. Represented his country at the Worlds 2014 and 2015.

Dan Aponik, (Guam, 17 May 1972) Current Guam National Road Champion.

Jonathan Martin, (Guam, 9 October 1985) represented his country 3 times at Oceania's Championship

James Mowatt, (Australia, 28 May 1990) Former Conti rider of Peter Bauwens's team in Belgium Colba-Superano 2012 and 2013, In 2015 he joined the Aussie Conti team Data3-Symantec. Finished 9th in the GP Nogent sur Oise 2012, 18th in Antwerpse Havenpijl 2013, 7th in stage 2 Herald Sun Tour 2015.

Joffrey Degueurce, (France, 24 August 1997) In fact Joffrey is a track rider, but finished 15th in the U23 ITT championship in France. Will have a go on the road with our team.

Derek Horton, (Guam, 26 September 1972) represented Guam at Oceanias in 2005.

Staff members: Lieve Drieghe (soignee) and Dirk Van Hove (DS)