The "Other" Belgian

Since 2003, the only Belgian more popular than Justin Henin and Kim Clijsters was Tom Boonen.

Boonen burst into the Belgian consciousness when he came third behind American George Hincapie and Belgian legend Johan Musseuw in Belgium’s biggest race, Paris-Roubaix. Despite the fact that he was a rookie eight years ago, and had been working for teammate Hincapie at team US POSTAL, and he came in third in a race that can reduce grownups to tears. It was only a matter of time that he would rule the one day races. Not only that, Boonen was the complete package – he had a very fast sprint, superstar looks and a million dollar smile. And Belgium loved him!

Phillipe Gilbert,on the other hand, turned pro the same year Boonen did and signed for a French team. While his directors (coaches) though he was special, his talent was a slow burn compared to Boonen’s meteor. Gilbert doesn’t have the aura of Boonen nor his fast twitch muscle fibers but what he had was that a finishing kick that couldn’t be beaten if the last kilometer in a race ended in a steep ascent to the line.

Last year, Gilbert was showing all of us his stuff especially in the season ending classics but the dominance of Swiss Fabian Cancellara in the classics put his exploits in the inside pages of our attention.

This season, as early as it is, is different. Gilbert has been on a tear. Eight days ago, he won the Dutch Classic, Amstel Gold and 4 days later, Fleche Wallone. Last night, he was the overwhelming favorite to win the final race of the spring classic season, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the second man to complete the “Treble”. Winning the “Treble” was done only once, back in 2004, by Italian Davide Rebellin. (Unfortunately, Rebellin tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and is currently suspended by the UCI.)

If I were a betting man, I’d put all my money on Gilbert. His racing style is a throwback of the golden era of cycling, where strong men won because of panache. Even if he doesn’t win tonight, he will never be the “other” Belgian.

115th Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon predates the IAAF, the world governing body of track and field yet I only knew last week that any records made in this premier marathon event doesn’t count because the IAAF rule states that, a. the course’s start and finish points cannot be farther apart than 50 percent of the race distance (The Boston course starts in Hopkinton, Mass., 26.2 miles from the finish), b. the overall decrease in elevation from the start to the finish cannot exceed one meter per kilometer, which comes out to about 138 feet. The Boston course drops about 470 feet. Also, a tailwind, blowing at 15-20mph, was way beyond that was allowed by the IAAF.

Therefore, Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai’s time of, 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds, the fastest marathon run by nearly a minute, won’t count in the records. It’s a shame that an event as prestigious as the Boston Marathon doesn’t count and I hate it. But then rules are rules.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate a friend of mine, Allen Nitollama, for competing and finishing of the 2011 Boston Marathon……Congratulations to Ome Rodriguez for wining last Saturday’s Crit at the Mandaue Rekla. – THE FREEMAN