Kuurne, baby, Kuurne: Sutton seeks two in a row

Chris Sutton wins Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2011

Chris Sutton remembers his first time doing Het Nieuwsblad in 2008. "I was so drained, from the fighting for positioning all day. I got back to the hotel, I was curled up in a ball at the end of my bed. I was aching, mentally and physically drained."



He pauses. "You sort of get used to it now."

It was the beginning of Sutton's passion for the cobbles and the cut-and-thrust racing style of Belgium. He devoured knowledge from experienced Sky teammates like Mat Hayman ("he knows every centimetre, every crack of every ditch, every concrete slab on every course") and Juan Antonio Flecha.

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