Blow for Belgium as Gilbert and Naesen come down with illness ahead of Tour of Flanders

A Belgium team might have been winning nearly everything this spring, but not Belgian riders, and that's causing some concern. A worried headline in Het Laatste Nieuws pointed out that none of the 12 one-day races so far this spring, from Classics opener Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen, has been won by Belgians, something that hasn't happened since the Second World War.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.