The garlic bread and olives of Australia and the Middle East are done and the main course of single-day racing in northern Europe is about to be served. Chris, David and Gary look ahead to Openingsweekend and the Spring Classics in general.
📸 The single-day race first known as Omloop Van Vlaanderen was first held in 1945, becoming the somewhat more familiar Het Volk two years later before adopting its current guise as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2009. The 1947 edition was won by the man shown here, Albert Sercu, pictured after winning that year’s Dwars door België (Dwars door Vlaanderen today), just a week earlier. If you think the family name sounds familiar then you’d be right. Albert’s son who was 2 years old when the photo was taken would go on to dominate the six-day track scene, as well as being a multiple Giro and Tour stage winner. His name? Patrick, of course. (Credit: KOERS Museum of Cycle Racing collection via Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Colourised by Cycling Legends Media 2026)
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