Michael Friedman, Het Volk Today Mike “Meatball” Friedman got to show the burly Belgians how a Pittsburgh boy takes the cobbles. In his Flandrien debut, Meatball pounded the pavé of the Belgian season opener Het Volk for 190 km, hanging with the break and finishing 12th in the final hill sprint.

Said Director Sportif Johnny Weltz: “Meatball took over Belgium today! He was in the break from kilometer 9 to the end. His hard training in Girona with Maggy paid off.”

Magnus “Maggy” Backstedt sent congrats to his Girona training partner: “It was so nice to get back from training today and see my loyal training partner in the break. In Girona he was a great help to me, always staying with me on the training rides.”

Michael Friedman, Het Volk “Today he confirmed that he has the engine and class to be one of the sport’s best classics riders,” said a proud Backstedt.

Will Frischkorn dropped out of the race early and Martijn Maaskant got tangled up in a crash and also didn’t finish. Though Tyler Farrar also was involved in a crash, he still managed to finish the day.

Look for the Argyle Armada to hit it hard again tomorrow at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.

Slipstream’s Het Volk results
1. Philippe Gilbert (FDJ) 4.55:25 +

12. Michael Friedman 1:58
30. Huub Duyn 4:49
32. Christophe Laurent 4:49
56. Jason Donald 6:32
93. Steven Cozza 6:54
127. Tyler Farrar 18:19