The Cobbled Classics always bring to the fore the gnarliest of cyclists; those who have been through the Flanders School of Hard Knocks, who love nothing more than eating a 40 km/h crosswind and sticking into the gutter whoever trembles in their wake. This is their period of the season, and for a rider experiencing Belgian racing for the first time, it can be a rude wake-up call.
Mauritian national time trial champion Alexandre Mayer has spent his early career racing in Africa, emerging as one of the continent’s best talents. He was picked up in the middle of last season by Spanish ProTeam Burgos-Burpellet-BH following a period racing at national level in the United Kingdom. For the first time, the Spanish squad was blessed this year with wildcards to most of the cobbled races this spring and Mayer has stepped up as one of their Classics contingent, racing Opening Weekend, the Ronde Van Brugge and E3 Saxo Classic.
For a rider still getting used to life in Europe, Mayer’s Belgian baptism has been of the fiery sort, especially thanks to several encounters with gnarly Belgian cross-wind munchers.
Dan Challis
“To be honest, it's the craziest races I've done,” Mayer tells Escape over video call from Spain as he takes a brief pause in his classics calendar before re-joining the team at Scheldeprijs next week.
Racing against Belgians 'almost born on those cobbles'
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