Superprestige Gavere - Postrace

So I had bought too many beer tickets. I headed into the beer tent at the front of the castle (not very impressive btw - newish. More estate like.) I passed on picking up some Jenever, and brought an extra beer back to the Bakers. Not surprisingly, Jon turned it down, but Cyndi and Bakerdad were happy to put it away. :)

It turns out that they were right across from Jonathan Page, so I went to say hi. He was talking to a young guy about the race and his situation. He wasn't very happy. I can't remember if he finished his race, but he definitely had a bad one. Apparently at one descent he had hit the blow-up barrier and got wedged under it with his bike on top of him. No fun.

During this time, a Sunweb-Projob apparelled dude tried to get JP to step into his mobile home to discuss things. Jonathan wouldn't have it. It was his space, and his family was inside. There was a bit more talking around. His wife Kari was there with a baby in a front pack. She was chiding me (not really joking) for spending vacation in Belgium in the fall to watch bike racing. "Aren't there sunny and warm places you could have gone?" The serious talks were going on around, and someone says something about Mario, and I turn around and I'm standing next to Mario DeClerq. It took me a second to sync the photos to the man I was looking at. He's a cross racing legend, and seemed to be the only one on the SW/PJ team that was being supportive of Jonathan.

Unfortunately, their mobile home was stuck in the mud. About 10 of us pushed on the back and got the JPmobile and another SW/PJ rider free.

The younger guy that was there was Cyclingnews correspondent Brech DeCaluwe. If I had known, I would have told him that I was going to be staying in the CN apartment in Gent that night. He ended up writing a report on the blowup between JP and SW/PJ.

Once they were underway, I knocked on the JPmobile and asked for a ride back to my car since it was about 1.5 miles away and I had been on my feet all day. They were happy to oblige me. I spent the time chatting with them about me, my boys, cross racing, and their situation. At that point in time, they were "off" of the SW/PJ team. Willing to be poor in order to be in control of their situation. Good for them. I expected them to actually follow through, but a few days later, things were patched up somewhat, and the contract was shortened to end after the current season.

I really hope that Jonathan can get some good results and salvage his season. He's been sick, and had some bad accidents, and has been under the pressure of a nightmare team boss. Apparently all the other riders feel the same way, but haven't been the focus of the pressure. After all, JP was the runner up at worlds, and is the foreigner on the team. He's not allowed to slide the same way that Sven Vantourenhout or Tom Vanoppen is. The thing is, he's an awesome rep for a sponsor. Even with all the turmoil going on around him, he was focusing completely on 3 little boys that had come for autographs. Genuinely enthusiastic high-fives for them. On the way back to my car, we got stopped in front of a busy restaurant with big windows. It's not like he could hide or sulk in the camper. It's plastered with SW/PJ stickers and his name on it. Instead, he was hamming it up and waving for the restaurant audience. Incredible.

After wishing them well with his future career prospects. (Everyone in the camper expected him to be "unsponsored" for the next race at Koksidje.) He let me off and I shuffled back to my car and steered for the shortish drive to Gent, the Cyclingnews apartment, and Emma and Peter. What a fun day!