What NOT to do in a kermesse ...

It seems like a weird thing to start with, but it’s these three things you can do wrong that seem to hold back first time racers here in Belgium. The main things I want to stress are:

1) Don’t do too much racing. It’s a very tempting with the amount of racing you are able to do, but it’s a long season and there is to much risk in doing to much.

2) When racing don’t feel the need to do lots of pulling. Lots of Belgians (and other foreign riders) are more than happy to force you into working more than you should. Many riders do more efforts when they shouldn’t.

3) Don’t attack all the time ... you really need to conserve your efforts for the moments that will make a difference. The level of racing is a bit higher, along with the speed, so the number of efforts you will be able to make is reduced. Make the ones you do count. Don’t hesitate when you initiate an attack, but if you are not going to make the gap or be able to hold your lead just back off and recover for another moment. Riding in “no mans” land is stupid, either you can make it or you can’t.

For what to do see the “Tactics” section