February in Belgium, and Spring is nowhere to be seen. Considering I am here for the Belgium Spring Classics, I cannot help but feel like I have had a fast one pulled on me.
But what do you expect? It's February … in Belgium?
As I stand in a muddy field, core temperature plummetting as the northern polar winds batter me, the thought, why did I leave a Cape Town summer for this, plays on repeat.
Cycling, that's why.
The Spring Classics in Belgium are seen as the official opening of the professional cycling season, and I am embarking on a project to document this somewhat undiscovered world. I say undiscovered as the Belgian Spring Classics may as well be a secret society for most of the world who only know of the Tour De France and perhaps Paris-Roubaix. Think more secret stamp-collecting society than eyes wide shut, but you get the point.
For those of you, such as myself, who are big fans of bicycle racing, you are all aware of the races mentioned above. However, after a visit to the region last year, I realised that there is so much that even the so-called hardcore fans don't know about these races and what they mean to those who live here.
So what makes this part of the world the centre of the cycling universe from late February through April? This is what I hope to find out.
Over the coming weeks, I will visit the region to document the racing, the people, and the places to better understand the 'why' behind these beautiful races. And more importantly, why do they get to lie to the world about it being Spring in February.
I will be sharing my discoveries here and on several other platforms.
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