There will be something missing when the flag drops at the start of the 2010 Het Nieuwsblad, next Saturday - Bert Roesems. A former multiple Belgian time trial champion; author of epic moves in Het Volk, Gent - Wevelgem and Paris - Roubaix and one of the last of the true Flandrian hard men, there'll be no 'one season too many' for this man. We caught up with him just before the 2010 season kicked off.

When I think of the Northern Classics, I think of 3 things: Belgium, beer and frites. But if I was to make anything that resembled the riders’ diets over this couple of weeks it would contain far too much mud or dust to be palatable, let alone be a tasty, appealing meal. Luckily the Pez himself had a better idea: Mussels.

If I had a touch of the Divine about me, I’d walk across the North Sea for another experience like chasing the Ronde van Vlaanderen with the family of Predictor-Lotto’s Pez-fave, Bert Roesems. The most important day of the year for Flemish sports fanatics, became one of the most special of my life.