The Adventure takes me to… LUXEMBURG

6:30 am: My alarm clock woke me up with the ringtone of the very famous imp Wesley. He’s cursing, he always does, “Godmiljaar” (that’s Dutch for “God damn it”) through my room. I was already awake since 6 o’clock this morning and I was gazing at my very interesting ceiling, which is normally yellow (Ha, Tour de France) but with the lights out, it’s just boring black… or invisible, what you prefer. Three words were tumbling through my mind: Andy, Fränk, today. A big grin showed upon my face and wouldn’t go away for the rest of the day. I was dreaming away for a bit, till my mum haunted me out of bed to the breakfast table. I jumped out of bed and at 8 o’clock I was outside at the bus stop waiting for my bus to the station Gent-Sint-Pieters. Hmm, I’m never that fast when I have to go to school. Well, this would be much more fun than school… I have checked like a million times if I had taken everything with me: train tickets, okay; tickets for the entrance to the presentation of Team Leopard-Trek, okay; hotel voucher, okay. Alright, I’m ready to go! Once I was at the train station I went to buy another train ticket to get over the border to Luxemburg (Arlon – Luxemburg, I had four train tickets in my bag, gah! The more tickets the more possibilities to lose them). All together I paid 25 euro for my return tickets. Much cheaper than expected, woohoow for me and a happy dance. Well, I stepped from the locket to the departure hall where I could overview the departures of the different trains. There I could see I had a train earlier if I would hurry on platform 9… Train leaves at 9:03 am to Brussels-North station. I was just in time to hop on the train before he leaves. Good God, too many people here wanting to go to their work in the Belgian capital. Gah! This sucks. I found a seat in the back of the last wagon and pushed the big bag I was bearing with me under the seat.  Within 40 minutes I arrived at my station. Text messages of Leonie and Mariska had kept me company during the trip and Leonie also texted her train had some delay so she wouldn’t make it in time. Stupid trains, always some delay, they just can’t be there on time, can they? I went to the sandwich shop in the train station and bought a cheese sandwich with extra veggies and mayo. I don’t like the stations in Brussels… They’re grey, old and not artistic like in Antwerp or Gent. They’re just boring and I feel quite unsafe in my own capital. I do like Amsterdam more than Brussels. I walked back from the shop to the big entrance hall and took a seat on a big marble bench. I was texting with Mariska to know sure we would meet in North. Nope, South. Oh man! I knew I should have asked it before. I really didn’t like the fact I had to wait for another half an hour in the creepy station in Brussels North, all by myself. So I decided to take a train back to South. I could be a pirate and not pay for a ticket, but I’m an honest little girl and walked to the closest locket and got a cheap ticket. Okay, that’s another good thing, I was thinking satisfied and I hurried to the correct platform. It took the train fifteen minutes to get on his destination, just in time to catch up with Mariska. I saw a silhouette I recognise from pictures on facebook, tumblr and twitter. I called her name and she turned around. “Oh hi there!” she said smiling. “Hi”, I said back. I was still out of breath because of my hard-walking to the platform and took a sip of water while Mariska got a telephone call. Meanwhile the train arrived, we could leave to Luxemburg. No Leonie though. Bah, I swore at delays and got in the train with Mariska. Five minutes later Leonie called. She was in North. “Jump out, now!” I said. She jumped out but she landed in Central. “Ah your compatriots are asses! They put me on Central! Well, guess I have to wait one more hour”, she sighed at the telephone. I felt bummer she couldn’t be with us, but we couldn’t change much of it. I watched the little screen in the train which showed all the upcoming destinations. Terminus Luxemburg. “That’s ours!” Mariska said. I smiled, I was really leaving, oh my God… It’s weird people only can start believing things when they get proves of it. So for the upcoming three hours I would be talking with Mariska, tweeting via my phone (which the battery didn’t like and decide to die every time I started up the internet at the end) and studying a bit. I was being a little rebel: I picked Dutch to study while I was in a train which was rumbling on the tracks in the French speaking part of Belgium, Wallonia. We are just a hell of a difficult country. After two hours of Dutch I switched to Film and Documentary, but I was getting slightly nervous ‘cause we were almost crossing the border with Luxemburg. So I putted my stuff away and watched the scenery. There was still snow on the fields and it was raining. Great weather, gah, not! And I forgot my gloves at home! Luckily I was wearing two scarves.

When the train arrived at Luxemburg Central Station, we jumped out of the train and ran through the raindrops with our suitcases being heavy in our hands. Outside the train station we were searching for bus 16 to the airport to go to our hotels. Mariska was staying in the hotel in d’Coque itself, and I stayed at Novotel Kirchberg, the same hotel of Petra. We had already passed Novotel when I realised that stop might have been my stop… Next stop Mariska got out of the bus. I walked to the bus driver and asked him where I had to descend the bus. Ah two stops too late. Bummer. Well I took back the bus and when I got on the good stop I was walking at a sideway which was covered with ice. You should have seen me… Well Petra did. She might have been laughing. I almost ended upon my ass ‘cause it was very slippery. I found a little corridor so I walked through it and saw the letters of Novotel appearing in front of me. Might be the good one. Still not confident, so I didn’t dare to enter. Luckily there was Petra, she texted me that she saw me and I asked her if she would mind to come down and rescue me from the cold wind and rain. A few minutes later she said a happy “Hello!” to me and joined me to the reception. A friendly dude was helping me there, said hello in French which I responded in a twist in English. My French is okay, but please, English is a bit of a second language for me. Apparently I had a room at the same floor as Petra and when we were upstairs, we decided she would join me in my room. As true computer addicts, she went back to her room to get her laptop and we were both surfing on the internet in my room (number 434, ha!): me on the bed, she on the sofa. After an hour Leonie called me. She has arrived in Luxemburg and was bored. “Eva, I’m coming at your hotel. What’s the number?” “Uhm 434.” “Okay, see you in some minutes”, she said and hung up the phone. A half an hour later we were with three of us in my room, cosy… It was the first time I met these people but I felt really good with them, like I have known them whole my life. Only Mariska was missing… following twitter she was out in town. At half past six we decided to check out downstairs in the restaurant if they had anything to serve for dinner yet, though two of us (me and Petra) were actually too nervous to eat. The friendly waiter said we could have dinner from 6pm. “We better go up in our rooms and get ready for tonight”, Petra said. All three of us thought that was a good idea and Leonie decided to stay at Petra’s room this time while we were getting ready for dinner and the presentation. Leonie was already ready before she got to our hotel. I have never been so fast in a shower and getting dressed and doing some make-up. At 6pm I knocked on Petra’s door to leave to the hotel restaurant. We ordered the buffet… You could eat as much as you want… Yes, listen, we (Petra and I) were nervous, we had problems to eat something. Leonie, on the other hand, was starving and got two big plates of food. She glared at us, we glared back. “Enjoy your dinner, dear”, grinned Petra. Leonie grinned back at us. “You aren’t eating much, are you?” I shook my head. “I can’t, too nervous, my stomach is blocking every single thought of food.” Petra nodded: “Same with me…” Leonie explained us she would only get nervous when she would be there and see the guys we came for. I shivered: “I still can’t believe I’m actually going to see those dudes, awesome!” So after Leonie had finished her dinner, Petra had already left to do some last things before leaving to d’Coque, we decided to go again upstairs to Petra’s room and then hold a quick stop at mine, ‘cause our jackets were still there. We picked up our jackets, I wrapped my leopard printed, well, snow leopard printed scarf around my neck and we were ready to go.

The presentation… or show of Cirque du Soleil?

It was pretty cold outside and it was dark. d’Coque wasn’t that far away from Novotel. Ten minutes walking to there. We got into a building but we were wrong. Quick bathroom visit, and then asking a security-man where we could find our seats. He started to mumble something in Luxemburgish… “Oh, we aren’t from here, you speak English?” No.. French, yes of course, second language there. Gah! I’m lucky it’s supposed to be my second language too so I could understand the man. On our way to the actual correct building we met Mariska (Petra was already gone ‘cause she had a special seat downstairs where the journalists are eager to hear new things they might not have caught during the press conference.) Mariska, Leonie and me were seated in block D. High above, we could see enough to see the riders, but that’s all, hey, I’m not complaining. I got excited all over the whole happening and watched my eyes out. And then, suddenly, I saw them. I kicked Leonie who was sitting next to me. “Look! Andy and Fränky!” She was looking in the hall but couldn’t see them. “Not there,” I said, “THERE!” “OH!” She took her camera and tried to take some pictures, but she was not satisfied with the result. “Hm, I’m going downstairs and try to get a bit closer.” And off she was, running downstairs. Just when she was about to launch her camera, Andy and Fränk decided it was time to go backstage and undress and dress in their new team-kits. She came back, playing a grumpy photographer. “Meh, they just left when I was ready to shoot them.” I grinned. “I saw it.” A few minutes later the show started.

First we got to see a little compilation they also showed at the press conference earlier that day. I was getting totally excited by the music, I have a weakness for drama music and up-tempo stuff on movies. I can’t help it, it makes me feel excited and enthusiastic. Oh, there is Andy-smile! Very short, but he smiled! Yeey! It was good to see they had a team camp with as main goal to get to know each other and not a training camp. Skiing, I bet they had a lot of fun, I mean, sometimes I really want to be a little fly and hides in rooms or trees. A fly with giant ears and eyes, I have to hear and see it all very clear, of course. But back to the presentation. As first we had a speech from Brian Nygaard, manager of the Team Leopard-Trek. The Danish manager explained why he chose for the name Leopard. I think it’s original. He is right, there are so many teams with the name of their sponsor (of course, you can discuss the fact they don’t have a main sponsor, except for the managing bureau of Nygaard), this is a nice variety in the peloton. Besides that a leopard is a very fast animal. I grinned while Nygaard told his story. I couldn’t stop thinking about my nail file with the catchy phrase on it “Catch the Leopard while you can”. I think that should be the new slogan of the Luxalicious angels, don’t you? (From the real Luxalicious angels of course, I have seen some piracy about that name. IT’S PROPERTY FROM LEE/NIM (I don’t know anymore who came up with this, girls, sorry)! Okay, this aside, we go on with the presentation… Nygaard also revealed the team car, HELL what a beautiful car! Mercedes E-class, it’s a wonderful good car! After Nygaard, Pat McQuaid entered the arena. The president of the UCI (Union Cyclisme Internationale) spoke: “This team portraits everything that is good about this sport, and will continue in the upcoming years to portrait everything what is good about this sport. The riders themselves have a big responsibility, they have the hopes of a nation on their shoulders and also the hopes of the cycling world on their shoulders. I really believe they can live up those expectations and that we can see wonderful performances from this team.” Then the Minister of Sports came on, mister Romain Schneider. The man said that Luxemburg has become a real “Vélonatioun” or a cycling nation, with great riders from the past as Johnny Schleck and Charly Gaule. And youngster as Andy and Fränk Schleck and Ben “With The Nice Hair” Gastauer. He also thanked Flavio Becca for his contribution to this new team build a bit around the Schleck-brothers. (note: He spoke in Luxembourgish, quite a difficult language for people who don’t speak any German at all, yes, I’m talking about me. But then he spoke a bit in Allo Allo – German accent English, just like Jensi would do, but then less Chuck Norris and the Terminator) He hopes the team can collect some nice victories and wishes the team good luck for the upcoming season.

Nygaard wanted to introduce another someone who’s very important for the team, the Dane Kim Andersen, the team manager. He came on with a broad smile on his face. “We put Luxemburg once again on the world map with this team”, explains Nygaard. Andersen reveals the goal of the team. “I think it’s no secret what our biggest goal is: we want to win the Tour de France with this team. We also want to do good in some classics, a few of them at least”, he joked. The four sponsors are Trek (bikes), Mercedes (cars), Craft (clothing) and Enovos (a power company in Luxemburg (Google translates!).

Then it was time for some entertainment, “The Ring” was the title of the act. “Look, Zebraman, aaaaw, he is wearing the wrong print!” We were enjoying it, but I think live in the arena it was more exciting than on a television screen or behind a computer monitor. Though it looked very artistic and sometimes an “Oh that’s cool” slipped through my lips.

After the entertainment… some more entertainment, CYCLISTS. We start of with the Young Professionals, the youngsters of the team: Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), Stefan Denifl (AUT), Martin Pedersen (DAN), Will Clarke (AUS) and Dominic Klemme (GER). And look, the kit appeared! On the internet pictures they look rather boring and not cool, but in real life, when real riders wear those tricots! Holy God! I love it, it’s classy, it’s stylish, it’s sober, it’s Leopard-Trek. I like it, I have fallen in love with a very beautiful kit. People are saying it looks simular to Team Sky’s and Garvélo. But I don’t agree. Those two have no white in the jersey and the sponsor with both is in a specific square. No copies in my opinion of Sky and Garvélo. Maybe Saxobank – Sungard? No, not even that. Yes the pants are black, that’s like with the half of the peloton like that, ‘cause it’s easy, it’s the best colour for not having, ehm, embarrassing moments. I think the kit is really unique and shows what the team wants to show: elegance and performance. Stefan Denifl was impressed by the amount of people in the arena. Martin Pedersen, the little one from the youngster got asked if he was superstitious. “No, I’m not that superstitious, I used to have a lucky charm, but it seems like it was better without it, since then I haven’t been that superstitious. I know it’s a dangerous sport sometimes but if you get too superstitious, maybe it’s a little bit bad for you. I try to stay calm and relaxed and just hope for the best.” Wise words from a down-to-earth person.

After the youngster we got to know the sprinters of the team: Daniele Bennati (ITA), Robert Wagner (GER), Wouter Weylandt (BEL) and Davide Viganò (ITA). Also concluded to the sprinters is Stuart O’Grady (AUS), also known as the road captain. One of the big young talents is my compatriot (May I please?) Wouter Weylandt (no, not Voeter Vaailandt, Miss), he is even a region mate (we call him the Gent-Leman, ‘cause he also lives in Gent, you see? Nicknames aren’t that hard to find). As the female presenter, Nathalie Reuter, started to interview him, he got a goofy smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling. This man is ready to roll, ready to kick some sprinter’s asses. Or rather classical riders’ asses, Wouter? “My body says I’m more a sprinter and better for the stage races, but the mind wants to be a classic rider. My heart says also a classic rider, ‘cause I’m a Flemish boy and lots of beautiful classics are in Flanders, I’ll start to race for that.” What follows now, is some great Italian from the male presenter, Dan Spogen. *Personal note* That was funny, seriously: Bello Ragazzo! *personal note off* “Cycling is the reason of my life!” The best answer of the whole presentation goes to Daniele Bennati.

But we had the young lads, we had the sprinters, we should have some more entertainment. We got a guy on a bike, who was doing things I would like to see in the Tour de France from Andy Schleck for example… Think of it: Andy cycling backwards on the Tourmalet, not sitting on the saddle but on his handlebar! Must look marvellous. Still I don’t think he would do it, he only does wheelies during training. Oh look, the aerodynamic look! Might be a good trick for Fabian Cancellara, like a flying bird with his chest on the handlebar, wonderful. I was seeing things that sounded like magic. Aha! We are going to joke about mechanicals. Would be awesome to see riders uphill changing their front wheel by riding on their back wheel. This is Cirque du Soleil!

It’s time to introduce the team leaders, the sports directors: Lars Michaelsen (DEN), Luca Guercilena (ITA), Torsten Schmidt (GER)and Adriano Baffi (ITA). The Danish sports director Michaelsen explains us the difference of being a rider and of being a… rider? “When I was a rider I was on two wheels pushing my pedals, and now as a sports director I’m pushing a Mercedes’ pedal”, he joked. Next victim of Dan’s Italian skills, was Luca Guercilena. The “Come staaaaai” made me giggle. That man has a twisted sense of humour which I like. Next question for Guercilena who’s the only one of the sports directors who hasn’t been a professional rider in a previous career but studied sports science, was how important it was for him to become friendly on a personal level with all of his riders: “The friendship is the base for a good life when you live together for 200 days together all over the world. It’s normal that you want to become friends with your riders ‘cause you set up goals together. Normally at the end of the season you have to have more friends than colleagues. That’s the way to reach results.” Friendship seems to be the keyword for the team.

The climbers are ready to climb the stairs to the podium: Bruno Pires (POR), Brice Feillu (FRA), Oliver Zaugg (SUI), Anders Lund (DAN), Jakob Fuglsang (DAN) and Fabian Wegmann (GER). Brice Feillu, part of the Feillu-brothers (his brother Romain is still at Vacansoleil as a sprinter) got the micro as first one under his nose: “The mountain stage I have won in the Tour de France might have put some pressure on my shoulders, but I like that. You always need some pressure to succeed. So I’m really happy to be here and this is a very strong team.” But what is his role? “I’m the teammate. I want to end the season with the sports directors saying that they are happy with the work I have done and that it was super.” And then I might have get a bit enthusiastic. I was filming the climbers for my Aussie ladies who like a certain man who likes sweets, candy. We’re talking about Jakob “Candyman” Fuglsang. Not really sure what he’s doing with the climbers, I consider him more as an all-rounder. “The stages in the Tour de France have an exciting profile this year, there are some hard stages, but we have a good team and we have a man in the team who can win the Tour this year. And we will do whatever we can to support him. I hope we can present the yellow jersey here in Luxemburg after the Tour.” Fabian Wegmann is a man of little words. “Alles klar.” (Everything is clear for me, in German, gah! A funny guy) And downhill they go, those climbers of Team Leopard-Trek.

Then we go on with the all-rounders of the team: Linus Gerdemann (GER), Maxime Monfort (BEL), Tom Stamsnijder (NED), Joost Posthuma (NED), Jens Voigt (GER) and Martin Mortensen (DEN). The all-rounders have more chances to win smaller stage races, they climb well and they have good timetrial-skills. Jens Voigt wasn’t there, his wife was giving birth to their… sixth child. Some clichés about cyclists and infertility get disproved in one night… Congratulations Jensi! Jens wasn’t there, but Maxime Monfort is there. He got the attention of Nathalie Reuter because he won the Tour of Luxemburg in 2004. “I think my power is my mental strength. When the circumstances get difficult I’m always there, ready to kick some ass. And at the end of the race that makes the difference,” he explained. After the all-rounders, the person who has putted the show together must have thought it would be good to add some more entertainment now. Zebraman was back with a wheel full of lights which you could hardly see on the video, but very good live. It was nice to see.

And then it was finally time for the three big champions, the three big leaders of the team, the three kings (it was the 6^th of January after all). Of course we are talking about: Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Fränk Schleck (LUX) and Andy Schleck (LUX). And they have company, their beautiful Trek Madone 6.3 bikes. “We don’t need a radio to communicate, we just have to look at each other and we know how we feel. We train a lot together, we’re brothers”, said Fränk Schleck about being on the road together with his brother Andy. “This team is like a dream that comes true. This gives a lot of emotions, but also lots of motivation. When we met for the first time in Crans Montana, the ambiance felt really good, this is a dream that comes true for us”, he answered to the question how he feels about the new team.
Then we get to the funny part… The bikes. “This is of course a supermodel from Trek, the SSL of Madone.” Andy was explaining things but Fränk laughed at him… Poor Andy! I think they joked about electric gearing (Gah, we all know what they mean, right?). “It’s all tip-top, it’s electric and works in every circumstances”, grinned Andy. The boy had a hell of time on stage (being the little brother, haha, I shouldn’t laugh, sorry). And then we got Fabian… God, in the arena, he totally cracked me up. The interviewer asked him what’s so good about his timetrial bike. “It’s the fastest…and it has definitely no motor. It has only a battery for the electric gearrrring.” And he is proud on his World Titles: “For me as World Champion, multiple World Champion…I am super happy for having the supermodel of a bike, with this nice team, nice kits!” And then it’s Fränky-time, poor Fabian got hit on his butt with Fränk’s bike because Dan the interviewer asked him who the clown of the team is… Andy or Fränk (me thinks it’s Fränk, I mean, we all have seen videos *ahum*) Oh and the boys are learning Luxemburgish to Fabian… I bet they learn him some bad and dirty words, I do that too with my Dutch pupils, hehe. And then they were gone. Bye Andy, bye Fränk and bye Fabian! It was time again for some more Cirque du Soleil… out of sync, but still, nice entertainment and some kind of mashed up Pirates of the Caribbean music mixed with E.S. Posthumus, sometimes I think those guys check out my Twitter… *ahum* When the entertainment was finished all the riders came together. Leonie and me found out we could escape to the podium, but damn it, there were more luminous minds there. And I am shaky onion after all, so I couldn’t make good pictures, so I filmed. That was the end of a marvellous presentation.

It’s a damn chasing for life

The presentation was nothing compared to the chase we had afterwards. We, that will be Leonie, Mariska, Petra and me. Petra texted me to come downstairs. Goal: PR-manager of the team, Ken Sommer. So, Leonie and me run downstairs and we lost Mariska… Great. Anyhow, we came downstairs, but didn’t see Petra nor Mariska. I got called, thought it was Petra but it was an unknown phone number. I picked up the phone and heard for the first time the voice of Tweetfriend Marco in my ears. He was doing live updates on Twitter for ProcyclingLive. Marco, if you read this, didn’t dare to say it in real life but you are really tall! Haha, sorry, it was nice to meet you! You are a friendly man.

When we were talking to Marco, I suddenly saw a silhouette I got to know by now… Petra! But she was talking to someone. I looked, saw nice hair, a nice smile, lovely eyes and a suit. Jakob Fuglsang! Marco said goodbye and we went a bit closer to Petra. I was gazing at Jakob. The only thing that went through my mind was: “Wow, I see him, in real life…” Then I noticed he looked back, I smiled and looked at Leonie. “I want a picture, but I’m too shy to ask”, I whispered. “Shall I ask?” she suggested and she moved a bit closer to Petra. “No, no, don’t, I mean…they’re talking, wait…” What was I saying? My mind was talking to me. What the hell, Eve? No picture with Jakob, are you INSANE? I heard myself saying. “I would feel more sorry about no picture with Andy.” HOW WRONG WAS I? Well, I’ve learned something from this… Get guts. Stop being a moron, and don’t be shy… The most idiot thing that can go through your mind at such moments are: “Hi, I’m Eva and I’m a shy journalist”. Not giving any motivation. Anyhow I did dare to say goodbye to Jakob (Petra introduced us, check out the official fansite of Jakob www.jakobfuglsang.com! She made that one, totally awesome). Anyhow, I realised what I refused and kicked myself. Petra blamed herself for not asking, but dear, you’re not the one to blame, it’s me, being too shy, next time better.

But we were searching for Ken: following Jakob he was in the VIP Room, following Kim Andersen he was in the arena. One thing is for sure: Ken Sommer is the multiple World Champion in Hide-and-Seek. We went from upstairs to downstairs. I think we’ve seen the VIP-room a hundred times. The bike of Fabian stood there and also the kit and the helmet were exposed. I really like the helmet, beautiful and classy. We saw Maxime Monfort a few times. Leonie asked him for a signature. We were at the entrance of the arena again but the curtains of the entrance were closed. We stood there a bit, doubting about what to do, ‘cause the security guys didn’t want to let us in. And suddenly, Andy walked out of the curtains, one meter in front of me. I remembered the text message Cátia had sent me during the presentation: DON’T DIE. Okay, it was hard, but hey, I’m typing, so I’m still alive. Andy was calling. OH NO, NOT AGAIN! Gah! Frustations, he turned around, saw us and smiled and walked back under the curtains into the arena. Bummer! Well, he smiled though…

We still hadn’t found Mariska and when I get a little less paralysed by the things I have seen, I checked my phone. Mariska had seen the boys at the bus… What? There is a bus? Huh? We decided to check it and split up. Petra stayed at the entrance of block D and Leonie and me would check at the outside. When we came back in, Petra was gone. She had tried to call me. I called her back and heard a story about the teambus outside at the big entrance of d’Coque. Okay, ran outside! We walked the wrong way, couldn’t find the bus, and then Leonie called Petra ‘cause my money had flushed away by all the calls and texts. She told Leonie where it was and after some running we came there. Woohoow! I like the team bus, stylish, couldn’t expect less from Mercedes of course. The names are printed next to the door with the according flags. And suddenly Johnny Schleck passed by. Though I have never seen him race, you have respect for this man. He raised three sons with his wife Gaby, and two of them followed in his foot steps in cycling world. And then we saw Fabian Cancellara and Andy Schleck. Leonie tried to scream Fabian, but he didn’t hear. I called Andy’s name when he was almost disappearing in the bus corridor, he turned a bit, but didn’t see me and walked through in the bus. Damn, I should have yelled harder. Fabian disappeared too. And then we have a new hero… Somehow Johnny Schleck had seen Leonie had some marvellous art: a painting of Fabian, and he called Fabian back from the bus. Fabian was pleased with the painting and did a little chit-chat with her and signed her painting and said goodbye. Johnny Schleck is Leo’s new hero! We almost forgot who’re we waiting for: mister Hide-and-Seek. And there he was, he jumped out of the bus and ran to us and smiled broad: “Petraaaaaa!” She was totally stunned when he didn’t accept her outstretched hand and hugged her and give her two kisses. And she wasn’t the only one, I was staring at the scene with twinkles in my eyes. Sommer is a little man, but with the looks of Jake Gyllenhaal. This must say enough… “I’m sorry but we have to go, but I’ll back!” he promised. Ha! We waited for an hour in the frozen cold for you, Mister Sommer, but Danny, the bus driver, decided to take of again, without him! That’s something you can define with “Gah!”. While we were waiting in the cold for nothing, actually, Brian Nygaard came out of the afterparty for a little breath of fresh air, together with some friends and his girlfriend. His girlfriend saw us, and I was my friendly looking-back self and I got an approving nod towards my leopard printed scarf (snow leopards, they rock my winter!). I smiled friendly back and saw her shoes, nice shoes, leopard printed! Hehe, she obviously knows what humour is too! Mariska tweeted Ken meanwhile for asking where he stays. After some time we got an answer back with the bad news of Danny already taken off. “Well, let’s go back to the hotel then”, we decided after all.

Mariska went to the hotel in d’Coque itself, we first took a group picture with our four and said goodbye to Mariska. It was great to get to know you in real life too chica! Thanks for being a great company during the three hours during train trip, haha! We would do this again, right?
Then Petra and me had to say goodbye to Leonie. We give a massive hug and said goodbye too. Great to see you too Leo! You’re also an awesome person, we have to do this again, pure fun with cycling chicas! So there was only Petra and me left. We said goodbye in the corridor of the fourth floor,  but not for long, ‘cause we had a date (haha, great, right?) for having breakfast together the next morning. Once I was in my room, a tiring feeling rolled over me. Though I had to put on the computer to write some stuff down, to see some pictures, videos, listen some music… I’m a maniac and a freak, I know, but I need this, to ensure myself I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t dreaming, good. 3 am… I finally fell asleep.

“Hi, I’m Andy Schleck’s lost suitcase and I have to go to Mallorca”

The next morning I woke up at 7.30 am. Early when you went to bed at 3am. I yawned. I slept good, I had a Mars bar from the minibar last night ‘cause I hadn’t much for dinner (because of the long post, you might have already forgotten). I got out of bed, jumped in the shower, dressed up, brushed my hair and went downstairs for breakfast. I need coffee… Really, a lot of coffee. I got a coffeepot, a big one. I poured out four cups of coffee. Petra grinned. “I need them to function”, I said. “You should have some coffee with Jensi”, she said. I smiled. “What an awesome day yesterday, wasn’t it?” Petra could only admit. At breakfast we talked a bit about yesterday, about things that went through our minds during the show, we laughed with the pronunciation of certain names… And we realised we would do it all over again, it was worth the nerves at the tickets release, it was worth the long travel to Luxemburg, it was worth everything. This was my very first team presentation, and I don’t feel sorry about the fact that I spent some money on it, not at all. I had a great time there in Luxemburg. And I miss it. But it was time to go back home, to my study books and my folders stuffed with notes. Gah, I would go with the boys of Leopard-Trek to their training in sunny Mallorca. I could perfectly function as the lost suitcase of Andy Schleck.
I packed my bag and closed the door of my room after I had taken some pictures of my room, traditions need to stay in traditions. I went to Petra’s room so we could check out together. “Shall I give you a lift to the train station?” she suggested. “Oh no, you don’t have to ride some extra kilometres for me”, I said. “Oh, but it’s okay for me!” I thought about it, and I agreed. Those Luxemburgish buses, their not my favourite vehicles. On our way to the station we passed at the hotel where the riders stayed at… Luxury! It looked expensive, and it is like that: €280 a night… That’s quite a lot for a poor student like me. At the train station we said goodbye with a big hug. It was nice to meet you Petra, whenever you’re in Gent, give me a call, we go shopping! Haha! We should do that, really, and at cycling races we can meet too of course!

This was a great two-days-experience and I met three of my Luxalicious angels in Luxemburg, and I had a great time with them. Without them, I would not even have been to the presentation at all! You see the good things about Twitter, you get some awesome new friends on there. And you know Road cycling season 2011 is about to begin soon. And like Andy already said: “It’s gonna be good.”

Eva D.

Notes:
Sorry for the long post, but in my excitement I wrote the whole story. It’s a good break on work/study/boredness

Links
Team Leopard-Trek Presentation RTL
My personal pictures of the presentation on Facebook
The whole team – Video