From: Guy Vermeiren (Gazet van Antwerpen) Country: Belgium
Conclusion: a well organised race, deserves his spot in the WorldTour
Pre race information: as Gent – Wevelgem is a part of Flanders Classics, the info on the website is available in Dutch, English and French
Conditions at the start: parking space for journalists in between starting podium and the square were the buses park: very good
Pressroom: sandwiches, coffee plus cold and hot drinks and friendly staff. Race coverage is shown on a giant screen. Press conference with winner in the pressroom. Like in a couple of other Flanders Classics races the internet connection was poor. Internetprovider Belgacom is one of the main sponsors of Flanders Classics, obviously they can do better. A major downside, because the same problems occurred in Dwars door Vlaanderen AND the Scheldeprijs.
Working conditions at the finish: the distance between the first and the last teambus in the row was about 900 meters. Also a problem is that the police makes a prison from the tv-area. Journalists and soigneurs are locked up there until the riders have passed. Not workable. Maybe the organization has to move this tv-monitors a little bit further.
Parking at the finish: very hard to reach. There’s an amateur race taking place before the arrival of the WorldTour event.