When Tfoto’s Wouter Toelen asked me if I liked the course, I wasn’t sure what to say. It’s grim, the huge rubbish incinerator behind the hill literally made of rubbish. It was an ugly and gloomy day, not much to feast one’s eyes on, yet it’s a unique course. It’s ugly, but it’s not something I’ve seen as a cross venue, so I would say it’s a good venue for one race. Logistically, it’s a nightmare: no traffic is allowed on top of the hill, so we had to park our cars (or bikes) a mile away and a shuttle would take us to the bottom of the hill. From there, it’s a brisk five minute uphill walk to the start area, where there simply wasn’t enough room for everybody. I literally couldn’t sit down until someone left. And let’s not even talk about the organiser, who stepped out in front of Blanka Kata Vas and Yara Kastelijn in the last lap…
The course had lots of long, straight sections, it begs to use the long lenses, I only used wider lenses at a handful of occasions. Which is all good, but it becomes a bit boring after a while. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
