Roadside in Aalst: Ed Hood had to drag himself away from the Paris final of the Tour de France and where did he go? Yes, another bike race. Also on the list of participants was Tour winner Chris Froome and points winner, Peter Sagan along with some of the other Tour riders and some top Belgian riders. Aalst was the venue and it was beer and frites all the way for Ed and Callum, in the Flemish style, to beat the post-Tour blues.Its the same every year, the Tour finishes and then . . .Monday morning: scan LEquipe as you drink over-priced coffee in Montmartre, wander the book kiosks on the left bank, have a croquet monsieur among the polished timber and red leather of the Cafe de Flore?Or.Subject yourself to a Navy Seals initiative test to see how you can get from Paris to deepest Belgium for Monday night and then fly home from Germany, Tuesday lunch time using numerous trains, forced marches, shuttle buses and hire cars.No contest. . .Aalst and the annual post-Tour criterium; there are frites and tins of Jupiler within yards of the station ahh! That’s better! Next up, find the circuit not hard, it snakes through the heart of the town and is completely barriered.Penny farthings? – well, its Belgium and you never know quite what to expect; I remember once I was at a kermis with PEZs cycling soothsayer, Viktor and the old ordinaries appeared I thought I was going to have to...
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