Fleche Brabanconne

  1. Edwig Van Hooydonck  4:30:34
  2. Gontchenkov              + 6 secs.
  3. Konichev            same time
  4. Museeuw                   38
  5. Tchmil                    40
  6. Ballerini                 54
  7. Van Der Poel            1:00
  8. Peeters                 1:02
  9. F. Bontempi
 10. Den Bakker
 11. Bugno           all same time

They call him Eddy Bosberg, naming him after the celebrated climb which passes hard by his home and was the making of his two Tour of Flanders victories, in 1989 and 1991. On Sunday 26 March, Edwig Van Hooydonck renewed his legend: he's back, this long-limbed racer, facile in effort, who attracted so much admiration from his peers, a few years ago.

In winning the Fleche Brabanconne for the fourth time, over a very difficult course, the big redhead not only added a new line to his palmares, he's also back with one blow in the Hall of Fame of the "Flahutes" [French nickname for the Flemish hardmen) a few days before their annual rendezvous, the Tour of Flanders.

It's also worth remembering that in 1991 he took the Fleche Brabanconne a week before imposing himself on the Ronde. And yesterday, seeing him passing the summit of "his" Bosberg, at the head of a majestic peloton led by specialists like Museeuw, Ballerini and Bugno, we understood that Van Hooydonck isn't far away from celebrating his grand return.

"Before thinking of the Tour of Flanders, I needed a great victory to reassure myself. Now I'm convinced that I have the means to win my third Tour of Flanders on Sunday."

When crossing the finish line yesterday at Alsemberg, swept by a glacial wind, Eddy Van Hooydonck didn't however seem to believe in his win, as if he had lost the habit of making the gestures of a victory. It is above all his bungled season last year that had him thinking about things, because he always wanted to believe that he still had a place among cycling's greats. "To win the Tour of Flanders again would put me back among the best," he said, convinced henceforth that it's not just a dream.

Yesterday, from the start of the finishing circuit, when there was still 70km to run, the great Eddy wanted to test his adversaries. They were all there, all the favourites for the Tour of Flanders: Johan Museeuw, Gianni Bugno, Andrei Tchmil, Franco Ballerini. He knew that the climb of the Lindenberg, which is just before the finish but which had to be climbed six times in the finishing circuits would be very hard. And he knew above all that all the hardmen of the peloton would want to ride on the limit, to make a final point before the Ronde.

"This was indeed a true test," he explained later. "But I truly hadn't planned to attack on the first passage. It's only in taking a turn on the front from Bugno that I found myself out on my own."

With a steady lead of a minute, he stayed on his own up to 10km from the finish. He was then rejoined by Konishev and Gontchenkov, who had preferred not to wait for the eventual hunt for Van Hooydonck by the chase group. "When I saw them behind me, I thought it was all over," said Van Hooydonck. "Konichev was a better bet than me for a finish like this on a climb. But when I launched the sprint from far out, nobody followed me. I couldn't believe my eyes."

In an indescribable crowd, he was to be seen tapping his fist on his saddle -- as if to convince himself he wasn't dreaming. The Belgian flags fluttered in the breeze, the Trappist beer ran fit to float a ship, giving new ammunition to the prognosticators of the Tour of Flanders. Museeuw is not the only Belgian favourite.