With a month of racing already under our belts, we’re ready for the start of the “real” season–at least for the Belgians.

Het Volk is their kick-off race, and everybody we’ve encountered in Belgium are well aware of what the weekend holds. With seasonal, yet “it could be worse”, Belgian weather for the forecast, it looks like a bit of rain might make the cobbles in the second half of the race a bit slick.

For most of us here this is our first Het Volk. We’ll tap in to the wisdom of our experienced classics riders–Tyler and Christophe–and whatever Huub and Martijn found out during their preview of the course earlier this week.

In Belgian racing, knowing the roads is half the battle and the fight for the base of the climb is often harder than the hill itself. Fingers-crossed we manage to snake a few to the front.