The Scott Sunderland Diary 2004

A big week of racing

De Panne and Flanders, March 30 - April 4, 2004

Since I last wrote, I've done the Three Days of De Panne and the Tour of Flanders. I was really happy with how I came out of Brabantse Pijl and more than happy with De Panne. It was good to be in the break on the first day of De Panne, because that race is not really something for me. Even the break itself wasn't going hard enough for my liking - we needed another climb to make the difference.

After De Panne I had good recuperation for Flanders. I felt good the day before, but on Sunday although I was OK, the legs weren't turning as well as they should have been. I think I was just missing something. I didn't eat much - three small sandwiches and three gels - but I didn't really feel empty.

I went training on Monday with Andreas Klier, Serge Baguet, Geert van Bondt, Peter Van Petegem and Andy De Smet and we were all talking about the race over a coffee and cake, as we usually do after a race like this!

We all agreed that when the finale started on the Kwaremont, we were all giving full gas to the top of the climb but that from that moment there never really was a tempo to the next climb. It allowed a lot of guys who were initially dropped to come back in small groups.

It wasn't even that fast from Oudenaarde to the Kwaremont. First Lotto and then T-Mobile were riding so their stronger guys could have the best position on the climb. I was well positioned there too. When you're making such a big effort to get to the top in the front, and then guys don't continue the effort which enables a big group to come back, it's a little frustrating. There are riders who finished up in the top 10 or 20 of this World Cup race, who were getting dropped on the climbs.

The Koppenberg was much harder than it was previously. All the dirt and gravel has disappeared from between the stones - the same thing will happen on the Muur in a few years. I was going over the Koppenberg thinking 'Bloody hell this is hard'. I haven't done it in a race since it was resurfaced, but I've trained over it of course. Van Petegem agreed it was the toughest climb of the race. Don't get me wrong, the new Muur is still tough enough too.

I was also a bit worried about the Steenbeekdries after the Koppenberg. There's a long section there with cobblestones. I was well positioned after the Koppenberg; well, I thought that being on Museeuw's wheel was a good place to be in at that point. I was up the front on the Steenbeekdries and then I also started the Taaienberg in good position. I went over the Eikenberg OK, then Boigneberg and Foreest, where I was still on the front with Van Bondt.

But then, on the Steenberg I dropped back a bit and what do you reckon; yep, I let myself get caught out on the Haaghoek!

That was my one mistake all day: on the Haaghoek. I got shuffled back a bit, trying to stay out of the wind, and then, of course Murphy's law took over and a move went on the right hand side. Van Petegem gave full gas and there was a split. At the top of the Leberg, I was stuck between that group and the group I eventually finished in, and it was game over.

The legs surely were good enough to be with the front runners at the Muur. I'm not saying I would have made it to Wesemann's, Dekker's or even Museeuw and Van Petegem's groups, but I definitely should have been there for the chance. That's the way it goes and that's how the race was.

I wasn't bad and I'm happy enough with how I rode. I have always enjoyed this race. At the start you think, "it's just another race" and then you get into it. I like being there for the right moves. Positioning is such an important thing for Flanders. It's different to all other races - it's not just attacking and seeing if you're strong enough on the climbs. There's more to it.

All in all it was good day. We were lucky with the weather and we had fantastic crowds. Unbelievable. It was such a buzz. You get it in Milan-San Remo on the Cipressa and the Poggio, but when you do the Tour of Flanders it's just the whole day. Even on the coast and coming inland there were huge crowds. Then on all the climbs at the end there were people everywhere. Even if the race doesn't go to plan it's still such a nice race to be part of. So no complaints here.

And by the way, not only had it been a really big week with De Panne and Flanders, but instead of doing 257 km on Sunday, Serge Baguet and I both had over 280 km, without the neutral section!! So in reality The Tour of Flanders was 290 km long. My teammate Cristian Moreni said he got nearly 280 km on his computer as well. It makes a huge difference! We're talking at the big end of the scale here, and with that wind and racing all day...

A peculiar race

With the weather conditions and how it all was, made it a peculiar race. With the exception of Bruylandts, a few of the lighter guys like Boogerd, myself and Baguet probably suffer a bit more with the wind than most of the big riders.

Leif Hoste had the ride of his life. He rode tactically well. Wesemann wasn't mucking around on the Muur. Related to what I said last time, I think the extra weight he's lost means that he's climbing better than in other years. Wesemann has never gone that well over the Muur before.

Team suffering after crashes

Unfortunately there were three Alessio riders in hospital during the race on Sunday.

First we had Michael Skelde, who fell heavily during the first stage of De Panne, taken to the hospital in Zottegem. He's getting there slowly but surely. In the next couple of days, he should be able to be transferred to hospital in Luxembourg, closer to his home.

He has a fracture in one of the neck vertebrae and is going to need to wear a brace for three to six weeks. He's lucky it wasn't further down as there's a good possibility he could have been in a wheelchair for life. There's no fracture of his skull, although the impact has gone through his helmet and he's still very concussed. He is improving every day though.

It's a tough sport and at this very moment it's hard on his family, himself, his whole career. I feel a lot of sympathy for him and I hope for the best for him.

Then, Martin Hvastija had to be taken to the same hospital, also during Tuesday's race, to get a wound on his forehead stitched up after crashing earlier in the stage.

Then, on Sunday, Marcus Ljungqvist, who had been riding really well went down, again near Zottegem, and had to get six stitches in his eyebrow. It looked like he'd been clubbed by Mike Tyson. His knee took a whack too.

Gent-Wevelgem

Now we're going for a good one tomorrow! The forecast is a northwest wind, which means it will be a sidewind all across the coast, a tail/crosswind to the Kemmelberg, then a crosswind all the way to the finish. Because we do a loop we going to have crosswinds in every part of the race.

Quick.Step will be out to proove something tomorrow. They'll try and make a big one for Tom Boonen. Let's see if we can be part of the show!

Until then,
Scott

Ronde van Vlaanderen results
Driedaagse van De Panne results