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Michael van den Ham finds out that Belgian crowds love a rider who won’t quit

Recent winner of the first day of Cycle-Smart International, Michael van den Ham (Red Truck-Garneau presented by Easton) contested his first Belgian cyclocross race on Sunday.

November 16, 2015
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Recent winner of the first day of Cycle-Smart International, Michael van den Ham (Red Truck-Garneau presented by Easton) contested his first Belgian cyclocross race on Sunday, and though he found the fourth round of the Superprestige at Gavare tough going, he discovered that the Belgian fans appreciate the lagging riders who persevere.

Van den Ham came 29th in the elite men’s race, where Belgian Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice Golden Palace) triumphed to solidify his lead in the Superprestige series. In the women’s race, Belgian and European champion Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) took her fourth Superprestige victory in a row to pull out a huge lead in the competition.

Earlier in the week, van den Ham warmed up on a legendary climb.

Van den Ham talked to Canadian Cycling Magazine about his Belgian debut: “I’ve long been warned that Asper-Gavere can be one of the toughest parcours on the circuit. On Friday, the course seemed almost innocuous. A couple steep sections here, a big climb there, but nothing to get to fussed up about. One night and buckets of rain later, the relatively safe-seeming Gavere course turned itself into a giant slip and slide. Technical on the downhill, boggy on the up.

“A grand total of about 20 m of my race were flawless. I was just about feeling happy with my start when Tom Meeusen (Belgium) broke a chain and slid through the field causing mayhem as he went. Stan Godrie (The Netherlands) took the worst of the hit as he hit the ground hard. At first I thought I had avoided the scrum, but somewhere in the chaos, Meeusen’s bike had taken out a handful of spokes in the front wheel. It was getting worse with each rotation of the tire and, only a 100 m into the race I was forced to dismount and run to the pits. Welcome to Belgium!

“If I sound bitter about that, my apologies. Let me assure you. I’m not. That’s cyclocross. I pushed on for the rest of the race. Meussen and then Godrie made their way by me as I made my way by a British rider, Rob Marion, and Mark McConnell (Canada/Hot Sauce Cycling Club). Perhaps in a perfect race, I would have finished up a few spots, perhaps I would have made the lead lap, but I felt myself riding smoother and learning each time around the parcours.

“As the race went on, I began to get more and more cheers from the fans. I’ve realized that as much as they love their heroes, they also love someone who refuses to quit, someone who will suffer. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll never get cheers for leading the race, but for the latter, I think I can manage that.”

After the race, van den Ham was philosophical and impressed with his equipment for holding up so well.

McConnell came in right behind the Red Truck-Garneau man in 30th. Van den Ham will stay in Belgium; his next races are at Hasselt on Saturday and Koksijde on Sunday.