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prendas ciclismo: omloop van vlaanderen

omloop van vlaanderen

before the internet became organised, there was a certain 'thrill of the chase' frisson to early season weekends when trying the various feed options expounded by steephill.tv or cyclingfans.com. in the early days, any thoughts of 'geo-restricting had yet to be formed, and it often became a case of opting for whichever feed provided the largest on-screen picture. and though it cannot be described as anything other than an affectation, there was a certain satisfaction to be gained from watching race footage accompanied by flemish commentary.

omloop van vlaanderen

granted, my grasp of belgian is every bit as non -existent as my grasp of quantum mechanics, but somehow, watching belgian racing with native commentators letting out the occasional aye, aye, aye, aye interspersed with the word 'omloop' was the closest to authenticity that could be had, without spilling frites and mayo over the laptop keyboard.

the world has now changed, and not necessarily for the better. eurosport, have, in mitigation, improved their coverage of many of the european, early season classics, but it was always the more obscure events that offered the opportunity to acquire badges of honour, bragging to the less-than-interested office staff of a monday morning, that an obscure omloop had seen victory from gerben de knecht or bram de groot. the self-satisfaction was almost palpable, even if totally incomprehensibe to the civilian population.

omloop van vlaanderen

the union cycliste internationale's onward march to globalisation, has not been without its casualties. cycling may arguably offer an excellent return on investment for its myriad sponsors, but those sponsors form a finite pool of money, much of it subordinated to regional demands. thus, a belgian fork lift manufacturer is perhaps unlikely to see the benefits of having their jerseys witnessed by substantial crowds in eastern australia. and, as new races have appeared in countries with no notable cycling heritage, long-running european events have had to close their parcours, unable to equate start-line quality with sponsors' demands.

omloop van vlaanderen

one belgian event that has not succumbed to the rigours of mondialisation, is that of omloop van vlaanderen, first run in 1945, starting and finishing in ghent. though framed as a part of prendas ciclismo's 'forgotten races' series, in essence, it's only the name that has changed for this event, one that still continues today, and one of only a handful of events that took place in 2020 before european lockdown was instigated. it was initiated by the the flemish newspaper, het volk in opposition to het nieuwsblad's ronde van vlaanderen, two event titles that, to all intents and purposes, mean precisely the same thing. the belgian cycling federation subsequently dictated that the newspaper re-name the event, at which point, it became omloop het volk.

omloop van vlaanderen

financial considerations in 2009 brought the necessity for the two newspapers to merge, at which point, the much-loved omloop het volk, became omloop het nieuwsblad, the banner under which it still appears in today's race calendar.

on the basis that you can tell a great deal about a cyclist from their socks, prendas kindly bestowed a pair of their orange, lion of flanders styled footwear in order that i might improve the weekend's average speed. you know, the reading on my garmin, that i continually protest, holds no personal interest. it may be coincidence, it may be serendipity, it may be a shovelful of bullsh*t, but on saturday, i returned home with an average speed some 2kph faster than the previous weekends. and it would be hard to deny their efficacy in assisting my grimpeurship during the first half of my attempt on rapha's #26challenge on sunday.

this has left me wondering just how much faster i might have proceeded had i opted for the long or short sleeve omloop van vlaanderen jersey, or simply the matching cap. the jerseys are available in a colossal range of sizes, ranging from small to 8xl at a price of £66.99 for the short-sleeve and £82.99 for the long-sleeve edition. the cap, a garment for which prendas are renowned, is £8.99, oversocks are similarly priced, and the speed-inducing socks, as worn by yours truly, retail at a mere £7.99 and available in five sizes.

and now that you know the lineage of the event, any combination of the above can be worn with confidence.

omloop van vlaanderen - forgotten races collection

monday 27 april 2020

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................