Being from Norway - and having lived in Canada for many years - I haven't gotten many chances to attend professional races. When my fiancee and I were visiting her family in Holland last week we read about Frank Schleck coming to Steenwijk (tiny town close to Heerenveen) for their little criterium race.
Thought I'd share a fun little story. The announcer was interviewing some of the riders before the race started (Posthuma, Weening, Terpstra and Schleck) and after talking to the Dutch stars he interviewed Schleck:
Announcer: welcome Frank Schleck, you won here 2 years ago, how do you feel today?
Frank Schleck: No, I've never been here before, this is my first time
Announcer: Well, I think you're wrong about that but I won't argue with you
...
For the record, Steven De Jongh won 2 years ago and no, Frank Schleck has never been in Steenwijk before.
The race was won by Niki Terpstra in front of Schleck and Weening. If it hadn't started to rain towards the end I think Schleck would have won it actually: he seemed to take it a little easy when it got wet.
I was surprised there weren't more people there though, I thought more people from surrounding towns would come. (We drove all the way from Emmen.) Felt like a 3-year old though, trying to chase down Terpstra & Schleck for an autograph and a picture after the race. Of course I managed to not plan ahead at all, so I missed out on both (then again, me and my pregnant fiancee climbing and running around ... oh well, next time )