Back on track: The Marion Clignet Journal 2004

French track legend Marion Clignet retired from racing in 2000, intending to become active as an advocate for women's sport. But after two years off the bike, and perhaps inspired by the other female champions she's encountered while working as a presenter for French TV, Clignet returned to the velodrome in 2003 to the velodrome in a determined comeback. After a solid year building a foundation, Marion's back competing at thehighest level in 2004.

• Index to all entries

Women's Tour of Flanders

Attrition, position, the two-our record, and chicken farms

Belgium... home of cold, rain, cobbles, wind, cold... and its effin warmer here than in Spain! There's even sun here mates, I can't believe it! First ever women's Tour of Flanders World Cup. Good on ya!

I had heard there was to be a women's Amstel Gold and a Paris-Roubaix too, but maybe next year. It's always been my dream to race in Roubaix. I actually spoke to Jean-Marie Leblanc [director of ASO which puts on the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix, among other races - Ed] about putting one on for us and he just sort of chuckled at me the way some French men do when you discuss women's racing with them. I did hear though that there'll be a women's Paris-Roubaix in a few years. And, no, I won't come out of retirement to race it. Oh well.

Back to Belgium. After looking at the race profile it really seemed to me that it would be a race of attrition and position. A constant crit type of effort to stay at the front and if you weren't there you'd be chasing to get back on, riding around to move back up, or just spat out and into the wind. I was honestly expecting the climbs to be harder, more cobbles, more percentage I guess. I'm NOT complaining mind you. I battled for my spot at the front or next to Leontien who proved to us that she is capable of establishing a two hour record by staying in first or second position nearly the entire race.

The weather was fine - a bit of wind, no rain - though anything would've been okay after Spain. Lots of drunken spectators on the climbs. On the hardest one, the Muur at Geraardsbergen, I got stuck in mid-pack when a drunk spectator caused a girl to fall in front of me causing me to have to maneuver a bit to get back on. By the time I did, a break of four had gone up the road. My legs were a bit irritated so I just told them to hang in and try something other than dodging bodies in field sprints.

With 4km to go I went to the front, hopped on an attack by Puckinskaité with 2km to go and led into the final turn with 350m to go. As we turned right there was a wave to the right and then WOW! an opening! Yee hah!! I'll make it through this and with space to boot! Okay so I ended up twelfth. A step up from, like I said, dodging bodies with 400m to go.

Oh, and if you were wondering, Zabirova won solo, 4 seconds in front of Trixi Worrack with Leontien Van Moorsel and Mirjam Melchers 7 seconds down.

Way to go for the Dutch whom I think have the most top level women's cycling teams at the moment. Could you have a chat with the french about promoting women's cycling?

After the race we went off driving to find our housing for the week until the Tour of Novilon which starts on Friday in Holland. We're on the Belgian/Dutch border behind the chicken farm that took us hours to find...

Till then
Marion

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