1. Venue
- Getting there: It was a longer drive from Brussels, it took us more than 1.5 hours. 3 points
- Sights&City: I spent there only the duration of the race so I’m not really in the position to judge it’s merits, however, it didn’t seem like a huge place to me.  3 points

2. Course
- Getting there: sings were mostly adequate, though not all the time. However, where the sings failed to show us our way, friendly staff helped to fill the gaps. 4 points
- Layout & getting around: It was a great course with many quirks, however it was hard to get around sometimes as the crowd was huge. 4 points
- Skill level: Finally, some sand! I didn’t envy the riders and especially their bikes, though, the wet sand didn’t to much good to them (I mean, the bikes). 5 points

3. Press services
- Distance from course: I’ve seen worse, it was reasonable The press center itself was in the premises of a military base which was unusual, to say the least. However, the planes and helicopters on display played an excellent background for photos in a certain angle. 4 points
- Internet – excellent internet connection, no registration required. 5 points
- Handouts – Handouts were prompt-ish, not bad, but I’ve seen better than that. 4 points
- Staff – They were very helpful and kind. 5 points
- Catering – Wide array of sandwiches and hot soup was available, plus water and other beverages. A clear winner so far, from this perspective. 5 points

Overall score: 42/50 points

1. Venue
- Getting there: It was a short 45 minute long drive from Basel Airport. It still cannot beat Roubaix, but this is as easy as it gets. 4 points
- Sights&City: I booked a hotel in Montbeliard which is a lovely smaller city with a brilliant old town in the center. However, there weren’t a single restaurant that was promised decent food, which is quite surprising, given that the French were supposed to be quite savvy when it comes to food.  3 points

2. Course
- Getting there: You couldn’t see even a smaller junction without arrows showing your how to get to the course, I haven’t seen such thorough signing policy every before, respect. 5 points
- Layout & getting around: The course was too stretched out so it was possible to wander around it without risking to get back to the finish on time. 4 points
- Skill level: It wouldn’t have been a challenging course, however, the rain made it quite tricky, especially a few steep climbs and a long off-camber section. 5 points

3. Press services
- Distance from course: Quite close from the finish line, which was good. What wasn’t good that sometimes security guards seemed to grant or deny access from you to certain areas. 3 points
- Internet – excellent internet connection, though there was a weird registration process. 4 points
- Handouts – Handouts were prompt and delivered by press staff. 5 points
- Staff – They were very helpful and kind, however, there were times when only an older gentleman was present, who didn’t speak a single word in English. As much as I’m a huge fan of preserving one’s national heritage, it might make sense to have people at the press center with proper language skills at all times. 4 points
- Catering – Impressive lunch and some biscuits during the day, it was adequate. 4 points

Overall score: 41/50 points – well done!

I forgot to sum things up for Plzen and Nommay, so now I add both.

1. Venue
- Getting there: Plzen is situated around 50 miles southwest from Prague and is easily accessible by train or car. 4 points
- Sights&City: Plzen is a quite nice city and probably it’s most famous of the beer brand Pilsener Urquell. The factory has a museum, a gift shop and a decent restaurant, that offers a wide range of traditional Czech food. 4 points

2. Course
- Getting there: The course was very close to the town center and it was easy to get there. 5 points
- Layout & getting around: It rained quite a lot before the race, however, it didn’t ruin the course too much and it remained rideable for the most part. The layout was great and offered many good vantage points. 5 points
- Skill level: It was rather a fast than a technical course, probably the least challenging (in terms of technical skills, of course) cyclo-cross course I’ve seen so far. 3 points

3. Press services
- Distance from course: it took a good 5 minutes to get from the finish line to the press center, partly because the press center was situated in the building of a nursery school and we had to walk through many corridors to get to the actual press room. 3 points
- Internet – excellent internet connection. 5 points
- Handouts – As there was only one race, it wasn’t to hard to present the result handouts as soon as the race finished. 5 points
- Staff – extremely helpful, in every aspect. When approached them to help me to get to the top of one of the neighboring buildings, they helped me out without hesitation. 5 points
- Catering – Some crackers and water, not too impressive. 2 points

Overall score: 41/50 points – well done!