For the first time in nearly 20 years I am back in Belgium. I probably don’t need to point out that the 94^th edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen was a good one — perhaps one of the best I can remember. The two top favorites fought it out to the end, giving the thousands of rabid fans a great show. Perhaps the best thing I was reminded of, however, was that the Belgian fans simply respect the sport. The average old granny knows more about cycling than your garden variety American Tour de France watcher. As Cancellara crossed the line yesterday, the café in which we watched the last 40km filled with applause — not golf-clap applause either, but honest, heartfelt appreciation kind of applause.

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Jerry K - Birmingham, Alabama

Well-sir, to tell you the truth, my feeble brain has a hard time with box scores sometimes, which is ultimately why I had to quit baseball and take up bike racing - baseball is all about box scores and numbers and whatnot, while bike racing is just about "go."

Seriously, I have known/known of Jonathan Page for a long time, and utmost respect only sort of starts to come close. But back to the box score thing ... I am not proud to say it, but I really haven't paid close attention to how JP has been riding lately. I often think that if I had a chance to do it all over again I would have gone the cyclocross route, so I am at least glad that someone with the initials JP has.

Jerry, you bring up a good point - and further applause for you for paying attention to a rider who has chosen to do it the hard way. But your question has also opened the floor for a wee rant ... so I will go ahead and grab hold of the talking stick.

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