Ridley's big day out

Earlier this year, the Ridley bike company hosted a day for riders and media to get together at Belgum's Zolder, the famed race track that claimed the life of Gilles Villeneuve, posting in a couple of laps in race cars in addition to a short time trial. Shane Stokes was a late substitution for Cyclingnews, and here he gives an account of what was an unusual, but extremely interesting, day on the track.

The two may be entirely unconnected, but back in April the high speeds reached at the Ridley riders/media day at the 41 year-old circuit appeared to have transferred to both the Davitamon-Lotto and Unibet.com teams.

Davitamon-Lotto had come under fire in their home media after a somewhat disappointing spring campaign. However, a matter of days after they had hurtled around the circuit, both Chris Horner and Cadel Evans won stages in the prestigious Tour of Romandie. Robbie McEwen missed the day at Zolder but he too topped the podium, taking the first road stage of the race. Best of all, Evans’ stage victory saw him blitz the field in the concluding time trial, seizing the yellow jersey from the shoulders of previous leader Alberto Contador (Liberty Seguros-Wurth) with a high-octane display.

Read the complete Ridley Trophy article.