Gallery
Catching Them Napping
Lotto Soudal has been riding the Ronde van Vlaanderen most aggressively. Lars Bak had been up the road earlier and they had three men in the front group after attacking the Paterberg. It was Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) who surprised the peloton (and me) by attacking on the lead up to the next climb of the day. He caught them all napping and it was a surprise to see the big German National Champion sprinter attack on a steep ascent. For all of the classics in Belgium the farmers have been lining the roads with their tractors, although here it is just their black flags on the side of the road, to protest recent EU changes in agricultural regulations. Today was the first time that they disrupted the start of racing, usually, they just make tons of noise and wave their black flags.