Ronde van Vlaanderen & Herbeumont 2023 - U17 topcompetitie Belgian Cycling - Michiel Nijst
My second goal of the season was the Tour of Flanders. The cobbles were new to me but went easy. Too easy I think. The course just wasn't hard enough which kept far too many riders in the bunch. I turn in 10th position on the Wolvenberg, the last climb of the day. I was not aware that there was a rider in the breakaway. The peloton started preparing for a sprint and I was committed to go in full for the win. But like the entire race was it was super nervous and going towards the sprint there was a big crash. I hit the tarmac hard. The race turned out nog nearly as much fun as I had expected.
In Herbeumont I got a race I loved again. For me personally I would have preferred to go harder on the first part of the race but the first climb nobody attacked until a few hundred meter before the top. The next climbs the pace was much higher but after each climb the pace went down. I had planned to attack on the local circuit but when we came to it I was poorly positioned. I did a really fast climb passing the peloton and got to the front just in time because several of the favorites went in the attack. I rode towards them en from there it was a constant battle. So nice. I really enjoyed that. A bit too hard I think because I forgot to attack myself and so we got into a sprint with five guys in the breakaway. My gears jammed a bit and my sprint sucked finishing 4th. Which is great. But I kinda have the feeling I could have won if I played my cards better. Loved it though. This is why I race.
Looking forward to my next goal!
