Of the six Belgians picked for the U23 World Championship, two leave with their job already written down. Bert Bolle and Viktor Soenens go as domestiques, riding for Jasper Schoofs, Niels Driesen, Matteo Vanhuffel and Matisse Van Kerckhove.
Serge Pauwels pointed to Bert Bolle’s ride at the Arctic Race in a support role. “But he is also a rider who has stayed a bit under the radar. He has good numbers and he put in a fine performance at the Arctic Race in a support role,” he said to DirectVelo.
The national coach also said, of one of his riders, without naming him: “He rode very well at the start of the year. After that, he was no longer really at the level of the other riders. But he still got a lot out of that domestique role and I think he will be needed to go and get the result.”
Under the radar. Fine. Where I work, under the radar is the cable in its housing: you don’t see it, you hear it, and the day you stop hearing it, it’s because somebody took care of it. Nobody ever thanks a cable housing. On Saturdays in the van I’ve got three bikes that run straight and that nobody will look at on Sunday, and one shiny bike everyone will talk about because it crossed a line. Both have the same pressure. Well, they will once I’ve been round them, mind you.
Serge Pauwels named Niels Driesen and Matisse Van Kerckhove as Belgium’s two spearheads for the road race, and reckons that “for each of the four, there is a chance of a medal”.
The time trial is on the Monday: Belgium lines up Matisse Van Kerckhove and Jasper Schoofs there too, with a medal in mind.
It’s true, we checked: DirectVelo.
