Classics

The Rules of the Road Race

Can you ride on a bike path during a race? Who is to blame if riders stack up on sharp corner in the final metres of a race? Is it ok to cross a level-crossing if the gates are still open?

Some of the rules have changed for 2016 and for all the rest it’s impossible to remember all the UCI rules, they take enough enough space on a hard drive yet alone your own memory. What’s a rider to do?

Well these rules cover everything from BMX and frame design to media accreditation or World Tour team licence applications, the kind of things that no racer need worry about. So what in-race rules are there to remember if you’ve got a number on your back and your feet clipped into the pedals? Here’s a handy list of do’s and don’ts for racers…

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The Moment Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Was Won:

Luke Rowe Taaienberg

Luke Rowe and Greg Van Avermaet attacked up the Taaienberg. Normally the climb has been reserved for Tom Boonen but he and his team were absent this time and with over 55km to go the pair went clear with Tiesj Benoot and Peter Sagan joining them over the top of the climb. This was the moment the race was won.

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Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Preview

No suncream. No sand. No sheikhs. No skyscrapers. No seafront esplanades. Welcome to Belgium with its knowledgeable crowds, cold weather, cobbled tracks, betonwegs and muddy landscapes. The Omloop was one of the best races of 2015 and the hard but not harsh course makes an ideal start to the spring classics season.

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Belgian Groundhog Day

Kuurne Brussels Kuurne

Another classics season approaches and so does another chance to put lessons learned back into use again. Only each time the riders return the scenarios change and if you tried to replay each race the results would vary. The varying conditions and the random elements are an essential part of what makes the cobbled classics so compelling.

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Highlights of the Year – Part III

Three Etixx-Quickstep riders and one Team Sky rider. Of the three riders on the Belgian squad, Tom Boonen has a powerful sprint, Niki Terpstra is a master at riding away late in the race with powerful surprise attack and Stijn Vandenbergh is a strong workhorse and one of the best specialists there is. Only Ian Stannard is about to steal their lunch.

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Highlights of 2015 – Part I

I’m going to pick five moments from 2015. They are a personal choice. With any list you often omit more than you include but I’ll explain each moment. They’re presented in no particular order.

First up is Gent-Wevelgem, the spring classic that took place in a storm. Only 39 riders made it to the finish, here was a race that merited the abused adjective “epic” and it was even tiring to watch.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: Paris-Tours

Dead leaves line the side of the road and Greg Van Avermaet is left staring at his front wheel puncture. In this final classic of the season Matteo Trentin wins a two-up sprint ahead of Tosh Van der Sande.

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Paris-Tours Preview

Autumn’s here and with it, the last televised race of the year. Labelled “the sprinters’ classic”, this Sunday’s Paris-Tours might have a flat route but most of the winners in recent years have come from breakaways thanks to attacks launched late in the race. It’s this tension between the sprinters and breakaways that makes the race so thrilling.

Once a very prestigious race, Paris-Tours has slipped in status still provides a thrill worth watching. More so because it’s the last classic until the 2016 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, some 140 days away.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: Il Lombardia

Nibali dicesa descent lombardia 2015

Religion and sport combine once a year in Italy as the Tour of Lombardy passes the Ghisallo chapel. This year’s edition was a communion between Vincenzo Nibali and Italian cycling fans. With 16km to go Nibali attacks on the descent from Civiglio and uses his descending skills to distance a select group of climbers.

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Some Classic Moments

Gent-Wevelgem was the stand-out race of the 2015 spring classics campaign and a shoe-in for the highlights of 2015 after the storm made a race that was gripping for hours. Yes it was dangerous but hopefully most enjoyed watching for the long range action where for the tactical scenarios kept changing for over two hours rather than the crashes.

Other races provided plenty of action too and right from the start with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and along the way there have been revelations, confirmations and a fair-share of post-race polemics.

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