Farm Frites attended the Tour with only five riders as the Amstel Gold race was held the same weekend in the Netherlands and was very important to the sponsors. Team-mate Hanka Kupfernagel rode strongly to take the first stage but was struck by a stomach bug and was unable to finish the tour. I finished 12th in a pretty decent field, dominated by a strong German contingent who have Majorca as their second home. Following Majorca I attempted to get to the Tour of Gracia in the Czech Republic only to get stopped at the Polish border without a visa and then again on the Czech Border as we tried to get through there with my permission to ride in these countries, but no luck. As it turned out I would not have been able to do the race with only a Czech Visa as the race went into Poland anyway.
Ignorance is no excuse, all very embarrassing.
So I had a few days in Germany with my husband. D'Or in August last year after being hit by a car. Her father collected us from the airport and drove in the car behind Leontien as she raced. He was obviously carrying such a lot of sadness. There were tears as all 16 riders stood on the podium with her parents following the race, among these riders some of the best in the World.