On Sunday 24 April 1999, Johan van der Berg left his Belgian home on his daily training ride. In his first year competing as an elite amateur cyclist in Europe, Johan was following a path so many South African riders had done prior – make the pilgrimage to the Continent in order to try and get noticed by a top flight team in hope of a professional contract. Not many, if any, had really succeeded up to that point, most getting their heads kicked in before heading home. Except for two: Robert Hunter and David George (three if you include Zimbabwean Tim Jones who was racing in Italy for Amore & Vita) had excelled enough in the greater European amateur scene to catch the eye of Lampre and US Postal Service respectively. Knowing that neo-pro Hunter was on the startlist for that year's Amstel Gold Race made Johan's training ride that day slightly different – he rode into the Netherlands, destination Maastricht, to not only catch some of the racing action, but also to hopefully connect with a young Hunter and catch up on some news.
