Classics

Held to Higher Standards

Cycling’s imagery means that thoughts of spring don’t always turn to blooming flowers and warmer weather but instead generate dark images of leaden skies and muddy fields, Belgium at its most dismal. Another theme is the omnipresence of the Etixx-Quickstep team. The name has changed over the years but story remains the same, a team expected to deliver big results ahead of every other team. While some squads are delighted with a podium placing this one risk being blasted for “losing” the race should a rider come second.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: Gent-Wevelgem

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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Gent-Wevelgem Preview

Gent Wevelgem

This Sunday’s race is the most sprinter-friendly of the cobbled classics and it’s World Tour race too, so we get action and a deep field. Cobbles and climbs feature but so does a long section to the finish line to suit the sprinters. Only the weather could ravage the race with very strong winds forecast.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: E3 Harelbeke

Geraint Thomas E3 Harelbeke

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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E3 Harelbeke Preview

Peter Sagan Harelbeke

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 Moment The Race Was Won: Milan-Sanremo

John Degenkolb sprints on the Via Roma. He was the fastest in the sprint but in order to contend he rode an impressive final kilometre to get into position, going in the wind to overtake several riders after a clever ride in the final kilometres, with ideal positioning on the Poggio.

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Milan-Sanremo Preview

The first Monument of the year and the last chance for the sprinters to win before more hills are added to the route. Sunday’s Milan-Sanremo is all about the tense finish, the paradox of an unpredictable race yet it’s almost always won by a one of the best riders going. Who will keep their nerve?

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You Can Ride Off-Road

Ian Stannard Varentstraat Kerkove

This time last year the UCI had brought in new rule requiring riders to stick to the road. This time last year the peloton ignored it. The result is that the UCI changed the rule and riders can use paths as long as it’s safe to do so.

Also Ian Stannard appears 10 times harder than the rest in the image above. But he ended up on the cobbles by accident, briefly missing a move adopted by everyone else.

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Kuurne – Brussels – Kuurne Preview

Often called the “revenge race”, today’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne offers teams a chance to correct mistakes made in yesterday’s Omloop. However if you enjoyed the Omloop then today’s contest is probably not going to match it, it’s more of a sprinter’s classic even if the wind threatens to chop up the race. Here’s a quick preview.

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