Racing for his Asfra Flanders team, VeloVeritas contributer Dan Patten bagged his first win of the year in Belgium at the weekend, at a kermesse in Ghoy, in the Wallonne region of Hainaut. It has been on the cards for a while but Dan finally got the first one under his belt.
Away from the beginning of the race in the break, Dan rode away from what was left of the group with around 30km remaining as they were being chased down by another group – so even though it was still a long way from the finish he felt it was the right moment to go.
Dan quickly established a good gap and despite being chased down by a couple of riders who got to within 20 seconds at the line, he was able to stay away to the finish. A solo win – nice way to get your first victory in Belgium.
Riding out and back also gave him a good 170km total for the day, with the only dilemma coming after the race concerning how to ride home with kitbag, flowers and trophy! Dan solved this by giving the flowers to “Miss Lessines 2010” and making her day.
Dan’s condition is obviously starting to build again after he was laid low a few weeks ago, and he has a busy month ahead with a programme of kermises, Interclubs, a pro kermis, one or two races in France, as well as coming back to blighty for the Nationals at the end of this month. He’s coming into form at just the right time.
Keep up with Dan’s blog on VeloVeritas.