Everybody to Antwerp tonight for the derny criterium - start 19:00

and Saturday afternoon in Buggenhout.

Hi everyone!

Well today (31/7) is my first day off since the tour so I thought I'd write a few lines to thank you all for your visits to this site and for your support and messages during the tour. I'm amazed at how many hits the site had in July (nearly 1 million!!!)

I was also surprised by how international my site has become - you guys are logging in from absolutely everywhere. Sorry, but it's just impossible to respond to all of your messages - I do read them though.

So what's coming up? I'm riding some more crits over the next two weeks then I'm going to get ready for la Vuelta a Espana - the Tour of Spain. It's been an ambition of mine for a while to win stages in ALL 3 grand tours in one season. I've managed to win in the Giro and Tour in 2002  2004  2005 and 2006 but haven't yet tried to go on to the Vuelta so I reckon this is the year to try it.

It's also good to have a goal after the tour and something to build towards. I'll see how I feel after the Vuelta (half of it anyway) and then decide if I ride the worlds or not.

Again, thanks; bedankt, merci, gracias, grazie, tak, danke, obrigado, спасибо,  for all your support these last few weeks.

Thanks also to my webmaster Christoph for his great work on the site!

Robbie

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've written something with all the racing and training.

I have been home now for a couple of days from the Giro. As planned before the giro I rode 12 stages and came home with 3 stage wins (hoped for not planned).

It was a really tough first two weeks of the giro with plenty of hills and long transfers. We did have 2 rest days in that time but given the fact that we had plane transfers the nights before the restys, that meant no massage and late nights. For example after the 190km stage 10 we had a three hour bus transfer to the closest airport, a one hour flight then another 1 hr bus ride. You come up a bit dusty the next day!

Back in the real world now and after a few more days rest I'll begin my build up to the Tour de France. I say the real world because when you're riding a grand tour you tend to live in a bubble that is the race, you often don't have a clue what is going on in the world.

My next big race is the Tour de Suisse then it's two weeks until the tour.

1 more day and Belgium is open for business - racing wise anyway. The Omloop Het Volk is my first important race of the season in Europe and my preparation has been ok but a bit limited.

Still no baby yet, going on 5 days late now! After returning from Portugal on Feb 12 with a couple of wins (my third ever stage race win Bessege, Franco-Belge and now Costa Azul) I spent some quality time in the garage watching dvds and music videos while ripping into it on the home trainer. It rained here in Belgium the whole week. This week I've been able to get out on the road and did a good 5 hour training on the Het Volk course on Tuesday with Peter Van Petegem, Bert Roesems, Andreas Klier and most of the Quick Step team. (Rivals in the races but not enemies!!)

My race will depend on Angelique and the baby coz I don't want to miss the birth. Hopefully it will happen today or Sunday.

Will keep you posted. Thanks also for all the messages in the geustbook.

January was very busy with New Years crit won by Henk, the Bay Series Criteriums where I got my first win of 06, Nationals and Tour Down Under.

After having my twelve months in the National champions jersey I donated one to be auctioned at the gala dinner in Adelaide during the Tour Down Under. I'm pleased to report that my jersey with original Tour de France race number sold for $5500 which went towards the Amy Gillet Foundation.

Two days later my signed Cycling Australia podium jersey sold at another dinner auction for $3000 which was donated to the Make a Wish Foundation who do great work with sick and recovering kids.

I've just had a great recovery week on the Gold Coast and had a good dose of sun before I return to the frezzing temperatures of Belgium.

My wife Angelique is due to give birth in 3 weeks and Ewan will have a little brother or sister. I would like to thanks everyone for their messages of support in the geustbook - keep em coming!

My next race is GP International in Portugal then the next race will probably be to the hospital.

It's going to be another exciting season with many battles against my big rivals like Petacchi, Boonen and Hushovd. We have a great team and we're ready to take them on.

Greetzz

Robbie

Today I did my last long training ride before the worlds. I started out with and easy 45 minutes then met up with my motorbike man Ettiene in Oudenarde for 100km behind the scooter @ 42 - 47 km/h. Just rolling the legs out really because the objective was to ride long and steady but not intensively.

After a 5 minute coffee break and a rice tart I started on the second half of my ride. So my day ended up being 210km in 6 hours for an average of 35km/h. A perfect training and now I can rest and relax until Sunday when it's 273km.

It's important to spend a long day in the saddle a few days out from the race I feel good about how my whole preparation has gone. Even a couple of good wins to boost the morale thrown in for good measure!

I leave tomorrow afternoon and will have Friday and Saturday to check the course, get massaged and physio'd, check my equipment, shave my legs and eat a lot!

Bring it on.

Same result?? The win, yeah, but also the same 2nd and 3rd placegetters - Van Dijk and Nazon. This was two really solid days of racing, 220km Saturday and a hilly 200km Sunday. Needless to say Henk and my training ride today was short (1hr15m) and we spent just as long at my mates coffee shop in Geraardsbergen having a bru or two and pancakes!

Henk rode great yesterday in Fourmies where he was backing up from a good solid 100k on the front in P-B chasing the break till the 200km mark. After strong riding by all the team mates Nico Mattan led from 3km till 600m to go where Henk took over and pulled the sprint till 200m from the line. I couldn't have asked for more and could counter the other sprinters for a big win.

Looking forward to worlds now in two weeks in Madrid and I'll be sharpening up my form a bit more Wednesday in Wallonie and Sunday in Isbergues 18/9. I'll probably travel to Madrid on the Friday before the race.

Our Aussie team is almost definite now, though I'm hoping that Nick Gates will get a spot as he's riding a respectable Vuelta in service of the team. He's loyal teammate who'll ride till he drops. Henk and Cadel will bethere too and I know we'll have a unified and close knit team in Madrid.

Thanks to everyone who has been visiting the site and leaving messages for me.

I've read every single message that has been written and appreciate them all - thanks for your support

this year and of course especially during the Tour de France!!

I have finally learnt how to update my site (thanks Christoph) and I will try to write a few lines now and again.

The Tour is over for another year and although I'm wasted, I'm really happy with how we rode as a team and that we pulled off three stage wins and a good overall result. Thanks to my team mates - Mario Aerts, Christophe Brandt, Johan (my roomy) Van Summeren, Wim Vansevenant, Axel Merckx, Cadel Evans, Leon Van Bon and Fred Rodriguez (best sprint pilot in the biz)!

Huge thanks also to Victor Popov my physio for keeping my body together and helping all the rest of the squad. Victor put in very long hours making sure everyone was physically 100% and nearly putting himself in a body bag by working till midnight every night for three weeks.

Thanks to our sponsors Davitamon, Lotto, Brustor, Ridley, Callant, Vermarc, Specialized etc - the money isn't wasted!!

Thanks to my personal sponsors Oakley - it's like Christmas when they come to the Tour. New Thump MP3 512 Mb sunglasses, new watches, my new favourite sunnies - Riddle. SO MUCH GEAR! SIDI shoes, you may have noticed my white custom Aussie Champ Ergo 1 Carbons.  Sock Guy hooked me up with matching socks - always need plenty of clean socks.

I've ridden a couple of crits since the Tour in Aalst, Diksmuide and Peer. The crowds have been fantastic even if the weather has been ordinary. The feed layed on for the riders after Diksmuide was the best ever. I have a couple more crits next weekend 6 & 7/8 then one in France 14/8. Serious racing will start for me again in September when I start to prepare for the Worlds in Madrid.

I'm taking a few days off at the moment to try and recover a little. Just had my first post Tour BBQ at my place with my family, Gat (Nick Gates) and Dreek (Henk Vogels). Just finished up and now it's pouring again. Aaaahhh, summer in Belgium!

Till next time...