Take a look at the image of the Dwaars Door Vlaamse Ardennen podium and you might notice a fellow in Australian colours taking photos. He is Belgian, but has an affinity for English-speaking cyclists. Which begs the question: who is this tall Flandrian resplendent in Green and Gold?
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It's a little after 8am on the second Saturday of June. Hilde Speleers walks into her kitchen with a bowl of freshly laid eggs, ready to prepare breakfast for a multitude of extraordinary guests. In the next room, husband Christian de Clercq is sitting at the table poring over maps of the East Flanders.
"Here is the Kwaremont. I think this is the best road to get there," says Christian, marking a back road with a red pen. "Bosberg is here, maybe it is quicker to get there via Ronse and Ellzelles. It's going to be a hot day so do we have enough bottles?"
Hof Ter kammen is a guesthouse in the Belgian town of Oudenaarde. Catering specifically for cyclists, this expansive and rural setting has seen many of pro cycling's luminaries pass through its doors over the years. MTN-Qhubeka (now Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) used Hof Ter Kammen as their base for a couple of years, as do National Teams from Australia and New Zealand, not to mention many other individual riders from several trade teams looking for a quiet and rural place to stay. In short, any number of well-known and distinctive team vehicles grace the the De Clercq's drive way as riders and staff pass through.
But Christian and Hilda are more than capable hosts; they actually get involved in helping their guests out. Be it feeding zones (Dimension Data and BORA-hansgrohe are regular clients), access to local amenities or just good local knowledge, what sets them apart is the family-type atmosphere at Hof Ter Kammen. The resident chickens cackle out the back while any number of visiting riders arrive back from training, racing or travel. Local children run happy and free in the back garden, soaking up the summer sun in the newly assembled swimming pool. Hilda feeds the chickens whilst Christian tinkers with a new carpentry project, all while there world-class-athletic guests go about their daily regimens and preferred leisure activities (read: sleeping in general).
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It is almost 10am as Christian sets of for Erpe-Mere, site of the Dwaars Door Vlaamse Ardennen. Covering some 200km, this UCI 1.2-grade race will cover pretty much every single cobbled climb that East Flanders has to offer. And Christian knows exactly where he needs to be.
"OK, I think we are set," he says as he takes one last look at the race book. "I'll be at the cobbled sections with wheels and extra bottles, and head straight back to the finish for the closing circuits. See you there. Hopefully we'll get the win, eh?"
