Cozza stoked for De Pain of De Panne

The classics crew made it back up to Belgium today. First up on our plate is Three Days of De Panne on the windy coast of Belgium. This race is three days, just like the title implies.

What’s missing from the title is three “windy, rainy, sand-in-your-eyes, cow-poop-in-your-face, dangerous” days.

De Panne is known for its danger. In fact, some teams refuse to have their riders do it before the bigger, more important races around the corner: Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

I personally am stoked for this race, and so are my teammates. Since I was a little junior racing over here, I have been watching this race on TV. It’s a dream come true to be doing these races alongside riders such as Magnus Backstedt. In the next couple weeks, I have a feeling I’m going to learn quite a lot from Magnus about how to ride the cobbles.

The first day here is a 190 km day, the second day is 228 km and the last day includes a 119 km morning stage and a 13.7 km ITT to finish off the race. These longer stages are crucial for getting ready for Flanders and Roubaix.

Thanks for reading. More to come after stage one. - Steven Cozza