The Omloop Het Volk on Saturday, February 26, marks the opening race on the Belgian calendar and kicks off the two month long northern classics season. Many teams typically choose to reconnoitre the parcours of Het Volk several days before the race, in order to re familiarise themselves with the innumerable twists and turns that make up the course and the unbridled joy of riding over lots of cobbles.
The race was cancelled last year due to snow, and organisers will be crossing their fingers that the weather will be kinder this year. The forecast for the next few days is generally positive, if a little ambiguous: "variable cloudiness, dry or risk of snow showers" with temperatures hitting a balmy 3 degrees during the heat of the day. But this being Belgium, anything can happen and probably will, all within 10 minutes of each other.
