Ronde van Drenthe through Assen

I worked in Groningen yesterday. This meant I didn't get to watch the first stage of the Ronde van Drenthe as it took a winding path between Coevorden and Hoogeveen which included passing through Assen. I had the local radio station on at work and could at least listen to it - the coverage was punctuated by some of the the surprisingly large number of Dutch songs about cycling.

Judy and Alice both went to watch and take photos:

Here the peloton appears, riding at speed along the south side of the Vaart (canal).

Alice's view from the other side of the canal.

The riders turned and crossed the canal on this bridge

And they were followed by the many support vehicles. In this case, a Czech car from an American team, carries bikes named for a British cyclist drives through a Dutch city in support of a Dutch rider who came 4th yesterday (Boy van Poppel). Note that due to the speed of the racers, the car seems to be leaning to the left somewhat due to taking the corner faster than any normal person would drive around this corner,

The top three in the first stage were Kenny van Hummel, Sacha Modolo and Adam Blythe. You can see full results here and more photos in Judy's Picasaweb album.

There are also women's races, which didn't come through Assen this year. However, there are some nice photos here of the womens' race, including climbing a hill on the route.

See also a video of a completely different event at the same location.