Saturday, Oct. 11, 2003

 By Bill Bean

 When the world came to Hamilton at the 2003 Road World Cycling Championships, so did the flags of the world.

 Where there are spectators along the road race route, there are flags, and flag-wavers.

 Flags from Italy and Belgium (including the flag of Flanders) were among the most common during the Men's Under-23 Road Race on Friday, Oct. 10. There were single flags and multi-tiered flags, especially along Main Street near the Start-Finish line.

 There were plenty of flags outside the Italian vice-consulate on Queen Street. Lina Raso, Nella Gabriele, Alberta Gabriele and Angela Piazza, all of Hamilton, were waving large Italian flags, and smaller Canadian ones: "We're doing a dual role," said Nella Gabriele.

 The black, yellow and red of Belgium appeared on hats, scarves and flags such as those held by Maurice Volekeriek of Antwerp. There were two-tiered versions of the Flanders' black lion rampant on a yellow field, but Rudy Vanvaerenbergh, of Waterloo, Ontario, chose to carry the one-tier version.

 Valery Schikolenko of Hamilton said that with his Germany and Russian family connections, he wanted to bring those flags to the race course, but settled for the host country flag: "I'm Canadian."

 Gloria Baron has been living in Hamilton for three years, but brought the flag of her home country, Colombia. Her six-year-old son, Nicholas Peralta, chose to wave a Toronto Maple Leafs pennant, which probably looked unfamiliar to many of the riders.

 Baptiste Nechele of Paris, wore his French flag like a cape. Nechele travels the to the worlds every year. "I'm a specialist. This is my 15th world championship."

 Betty Price of Hamilton was carrying a small flag of her birth country, Australia: "I think the championships are great for the city."

 Steve Balogh of Hamilton is backing Hungary: "I'm cheering for the whole Hungarian team."

 Others had more specific intents: the families of U.S.A. riders Saul Raisin and Shawn Milne were decked out in T-shirts, flags, scarves and seemingly anything that had the Stars and Stripes on it.

 But the most common flag on the course had an Italian connection: Liquigas, sponsor of the Italian team, was handing out small pennants at its booth, and some children were carrying handfuls of them.