After Bavo’s visit to the hospital, Maarten Vangramberen pulled out his Australian animal encyclopedia just to be sure. He didn’t come across many cuddly specimens during his research…
“It is better not to dig a well on Mount Pleasant, the slope that the World Cup peloton has to climb about twelve times,” warns Maarten. “That’s because there’s the tunnel web spider, related to the black widow and incredibly deadly.”
“You have to get the antidote within fifteen minutes, otherwise you will die. That is not really a pleasant thought for the riders on Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, they do not have time to get their kicks out.”
“And then there’s also the red back spider crawling around here, which is also very dangerous. The Australians warn you to check your shoes, so I did that thoroughly this morning before running.”
Also during the bathroom breaks, the riders should not look for the tall grass, Maarten Vangramberen discovered. “During my morning run I wanted to take a beautiful road towards a vineyard, but there was a gigantic sign: “Caution, snakes”. So I just kept walking on the asphalt.”
Fortunately, Bavo and Maarten also bumped into the Australian natural beauty. “Along the coast you have rocky beaches, where they dig rock pools. A swimming pool in the rocks.”
“The Australians love it, but after a few minutes in the water you turn blue. The water in those pools is even colder than the temperature of the ocean. It does make for beautiful pictures.”
