Belgium

For 364 days of the year the Chemin des Chapelles climbs up the side of Mont Mosan but on Wednesday the road its renamed the Mur de Huy, the “wall of Huy”. The climb is so steep it deserves mural adjective and few races see riders cross the finish line in such obvious agony. But can the race deliver more than a three minute climax?

This year’s route includes a new climb right before the end to split up the field and the presence of several star names indicates that this mid-week race matters because because the finish is identical to Stage 3 of the Tour de France.

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What do give you a billionaire for his birthday? Katusha team owner Igor Makarov has private jets, two luxury yachts and all the trappings you’d expect of a Russian oligarch. Fortunately there are things money can’t buy no matter how many Roubles you might have. Niki Terpstra tried to spoil things up the Paterberg, forcing the pace on the vicious 20% slope but there’s no cracking Kristoff and the sprint finish in Oudenaarde was a formality for Kristoff.

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The greatest one day race in the world takes place on Sunday. Giant crowds, fierce climbs and more await. This year’s edition promises an open edition with no particular rivalries there’s a long list of contenders and pretenders.

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Luca Paolini goes solo in the final kilometres, his breakaway rivals only a murky blur behind. He was dropped over the Kemmelberg but kept chasing and eventually latched on to the small group of riders chasing Jurgen Roelandts. Hiding among giants Paolini emerged in the finish with a sneaky seated attack to catch Etixx-Quickstep out once again.

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Geraint Thomas goes solo with 4km to go. A year ago he reached Harelbeke with Peter Sagan and paid the price in the sprint. Now he went clear of Sagan and Zdeněk Štybar to win alone.

It marked a tense conclusion to a dramatic race, although the number of crashes will cast a shadow over the rest of the cobbled classics.

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It may not be the Ronde van Vlaanderen or Paris-Roubaix but chances are millions have heard about this race in recent weeks. Only for forget the Photoshopped poster because the E3 Harelbeke is a real race that’s growing in stature to become one of the finest cobbled classics of the season. Better still there’s a long list of riders and teams who really need a win starting from today.

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The cobbled classics start this weekend with Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a 200km introduction to Flanders with all the classic ingredients from bad weather to great fans. Some races are held to promote tourism but this is so grim the images must put people off visiting Belgium but the rough conditions make the race all the better.

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