What inspired me most to make this image is that the Ronde van Vlaanderen is the most important bike race in Belgium, and probably one of the most important one-day races anywhere. In Flanders that Sunday feels more like a national holiday or a festival, because practically everyone is standing along the route. So I knew I really wanted to go there to hold this phenomenon in a single image.

For the picture, Marie and I drove on the morning of the race from Utrecht, where we had been visiting a friend, to Brussels, and from there on to Oudenaarde. At first I didn't really know how we were supposed to get from there to the Oude Kwaremont, but I found out that there are shuttle buses to the important climbs of the race. So we took the shuttle to the foot of the Oude Kwaremont, because the riders go up it three times in total, and then walked up the hill to look for a good spot. It was very hard to find a place from which I could see enough of the course and the surroundings, since we were of course running a little late and everyone else had probably been at their spots since the morning. But we got lucky, and I found a position with a raised view down onto the road, where you could also see enough of how the course runs and even the banner over it. So I set up the camera and waited for the riders to come. The weather, which had been nice and sunny at first, turned quickly, but luckily it only started to rain about ten minutes after I had made the image.

This picture means a lot to me, because it is the first image where I really managed to capture the racing itself on large format, unlike in Paris, and where it actually worked, even if it was again more stressful than I wanted. It also inspired me to document more of the racing culture in Belgium, which I haven't managed to do yet, because it is something completely different from the Tour. It's almost only one-day races, and mostly in spring, when the weather is often very bad, and that is also why I'm so glad the image turned out the way it did, because for me it captures the atmosphere of this kind of race.