From 1996 until 2007, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (back then still Omloop Het Volk) arrived in my hometown Lokeren. The route passed about 1 kilometre from my house, so I often went to watch. I've seen guys like Museeuw, Bartoli, Vandenbroucke, Van Petegem, Gilbert and of course my teen idol Tom Boonen race close to my home.
This is a broadcast still of an almost 17 year old me and my dad cheering for him in the last of those editions, anno 2007, when Pozzato eventually won.
That same year, my dad and I stood among the immense crowd in Ghent, when the second stage of the Tour de France arrived there. We were placed 25 metres before the finish line, where Steegmans won ahead of his teammate Boonen, who on his turn grabbed the green jersey and would eventually take it home.
Later I became something of a friend with (you guessed it) Greg Van Avermaet, and I saw him on a couple of occasions at races too. He's always friendly and coming over to have a talk, even at a criterium just weeks after becoming olympic champion. If he spots you during the race, he'll give a sign of recognition as well. Very nice, down to earth kinda guy.
I mostly went to cyclocross events in the Nys-Wellens-Boom-Albert-Stybar era and a few post-Tour-criteriums. A good friend was involved with the Fidea-team and was/is close to Zdenek Stybar, who is very sympathetic as well. In recent years I went to the CX in Hamme a few times and saw both Van Aert and Van der Poel win. Last year we had them both in a CX in my hometown as well.
Some pictures I took back in those days.
To be fairly honest, for a Flemish guy that loves cycling since childhood, I went to races on too few occasions. From a geeky wanna-know-all-point of view, I mostly preferred watching on television. I wrote for cycling websites since the age of 15, so that explains something. What I regret most is never going to Paris-Roubaix during Boonen's carreer, or never witnessing a Ghent Six Days yet.
On the other hand, a really fun experience was during the 2017 reconnaissance days of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, when I followed my brother and his friend (who race both on a high amateur level) and they joined Lotto-Jumbo during their team training. Our car, together with two official Jumbo team cars on Kwaremont, Paterberg and other famous hills, in the slipstream of 10 strong riders. Very enjoyable!