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Michael Barry's Diary: Back in Belgium at Brabantse Pijl

By Michael Barry, T-Mobile professional cycling team
Published: Apr. 2, 2007
Barry has his feet back on top of the pedals again after a bout with bacteria
Barry has his feet back on top of the pedals again after a bout with bacteria
Photo: Graham Watson

Belgian racing is unique in such a way that I often forget just how unique it is until I am standing on the start line: The crowds are fervent and passionate, huge, the racing intense and dangerous, the wind constantly blowing, and the roads rarely straight for more than 10km.

It had been a year since I last raced in Belgium when I crashed and ended up in hospital with a broken back at the Tour of Flanders. Oddly, it somehow, felt good to be back racing in Belgium, and despite images of last year’s accident, I was motivated to race; perhaps, because the Belgian racing feels like — and is, perhaps — real racing.

We, the T-Mobile team, started the Brabantse Pijl with one clear objective: put Kim Kirchen in the position to attack and go for the victory. Kim is now in flying form—he attacked in the final of Milan-San Remo, on the Poggio, and placed a very close second in Tirreno-Adriatico. Brabantse Pijl is one of the hillier semi-classics, with five hilly circuits at the end of the 200km race. It is a race of selection, like a world championships, where you need to be in the front as the peloton thins from behind with each ascent.

Racing in Belgian is also completely insane: There are hundreds of roundabouts on the race courses, lousy pavement, road works, viscous seams in the concrete roads that trap a bike wheel perfectly, and a corner every couple of kilometers. The racing begins before the actual race begins — in the neutral area — as everybody knows what lies ahead and begins fighting for the front even though the commissaires’ car is right in front of the peloton, controlling the speed keeping the peloton at bay until the official start. The races, although five or so hours long, fly by as we are always focused, attentive and rarely relaxed. If there isn’t a climb coming up, there is a wide-open windy section in a few kilometers, and soon after there will surely be a town, a cobbled lane or slick, wet road.

The nerves in the peloton are on edge from start to finish, and to get to the front to be in position to attack riders will use every available section of road, sidewalk, bike path, or front lawn. Spectators dodge out of the way while cyclists attack the peloton along a parallel sidewalk or jump curbs to get a shortcut through a corner in the hopes of passing a few riders and moving up. As a result, crashes are frequent, but it is all part of the game — like playing a video game for five hours at anaerobic thresholld. They are expected, considered another element of the show.

Axel Merckx was my roommate over the weekend. He knows the roads like the back of his hand, another key element to being in the right place at the right time, and doing well in a Belgian race. Rarely does a rider step into a Belgian race a virgin to the country and do well. The protagonists in the classics, semi-classics and Belgian stage races are usually Belgian locals who grew up riding the courses and still do daily while training, or veterans who have ridden the roads since their early pro years. Riding the classics with an experienced rider, like Axel, or George Hincapie, makes the team’s job much easier as these riders simply move through the peloton with ease, wasting little energy and always being in the right spot at the right moment.

After a challenging beginning to the season, I feel as though I have my feet back on top of my pedals again. I was able to animate the finale of the race and set Kim up for his final attack. My form, like that of many of the riders on T-Mobile, is finally coming after having battled bacteria for the last month, and I can finally focus on training well and racing.