Merckx leads world champion Freddy Maertens in pursuit of Hinault and Dierickx. The terrifying climb of the Stockeu started the Big Ball rolling. I was alongside Godefroot as he almost stopped dead in his tracks, the strength whistling out of his body. Just ahead, Jan Raas was in serious trouble, and there was obviously going to be no repeat of the Amstel Gold Race here. Even Bernard Thevenet could produce nothing to counteract the climbing prowess of the men who were finally to make the morning's headlines.
Forward movement falls to almost zero as sheer brute force takes over from athletic elegance.
If one can describe efforts such as these in facile terms, then Dietrich Thurau appeared to me to be the most at ease, but then everyone seemed to overlook the presence of Bernard Hinault as he responded to every thrashing that the Belgian Masters handed out. The Kings Men were brought back, and Thevenet and Verbeeck seen off for good. The rain, hail, and wet snow lashed down to provide a fitting, if extremely unwelcome and uncomfortable, finish to this hellish competition. 21 year old Hinault powers through the rain en route to winning his second classic in just five days. Under the deluge, Thurau took off alone, but was never allowed to stray very far, and a German victory was not on the cards any more as Andre Dierickx, an almost veteran campaigner, blasted off the front with Bernard Hinault hanging on for grim death.