Antwerp and Scheldeprijs

After hearing and reading about Scheldeprijs, we decided that it would be worth a day trip to go check out the start of the race.  Scheldrpijs (I still cannot pronounce it correctly) is one of the Flanders Classics and it is on the Wednesday between Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix.  It starts in Antwerp and finishes in Schoten.  This race is much lower key than the other two races, has team presentations before the start of the race, and some big name riders were going to be there.  We figured after watching the start we could do some sightseeing around Antwerp and then head back to Brussels.

Antwerpen Centraal

We headed to the station in the morning to catch the train to Antwerp.  I had read that the Antwerp train station was beautiful, and they weren't lying!  Antwerp is the last stop for the line and the trains on the top level pull all the way into a covered station where the tracks end.  It seemed straight out of a Harry Potter movie.  It was almost worth it to make the journey to Antwerp just for the station.  

MAS and start line

Next up we had to figure out how to get to the Museum an de Stroom (MAS), the race start location, using public transit.  Thanks to Google maps and Amy's navigational skills we made it to the correct bus stop and easily figured out where to get off when we started to see team busses.  MAS is right on the water and easily recognizable.  We decided to skip the rider/bus area and head to the team presentations that were already in progress.  We were able to get really close to the stage.  Although the team presentations right before the start of the race is probably annoying for the riders, it was great for us!  The announcer spoke in multiple languages including Dutch, French, English, and maybe Italian.  He kept pulling some of the bigger name guys and potential winners up to the front of the stage to interview and show them the winner's trophy, a small diamond encrusted bike.  Sir Bradley Wiggins, 2012 Tour de France winner, almost gave the announcer a heart attack when he picked up the trophy and said it wasn't worth winning the race for.  Got to love the British sense of humor.  After the presentations we headed toward the start line and ended up right behind all of the riders!

Sir Bradley Wiggins 

Fabian Cancellara and the trophy

Peter Sagan

Tom Boonen

2013 winner Marcel Kittel

Behind the riders at the start

Once the riders were off we headed across the street to get some food before checking out Antwerp.  Antwerp is an interesting mix of old and new buildings with traditional squares but a very crowded shopping district (surprisingly crowded for a Wednesday).  

Not sure what this was all about

We were pretty worn out this point and thought we would grab a beer at Le Royal Cafe in the Antwerp train station but it was closed down indefinitely.  Hopefully they are just remodeling because it looked very cool inside.  We headed to Starbucks for a tea and then caught the next train back to Brussels.  We made it back to apartment just in time to find the race on TV and see Marcel Kittel win again!