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.
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.
Katusha have quit the MPCC grouping of teams, following Orica-Greendge’s departure too. Teams rushed to join this group when they needed the political cover and most bail the moment they have to uphold its strict rules.
The exodus is a blow to the group but at the same time the MPCC’s work is almost done as most of the ideas it promoted have now been adopted by the UCI and the ones that aren’t yet are under review.
Launched with a bold “game changer” headline and a series of co-ordinated press releases, tweets and pre-arranged interviews Velon have announced something. Quite what this means for cycling fans isn’t clear despite the extensive coverage today.
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.
What’s new this season? With disc brakes almost rare as motors one novelty for 2016 is the general use of race radios across all pro events. Previously reserved for the World Tour, and even threatened with extinction, radios are now in general use across all major pro races, male and female, for example at the Tour of Oman as modelled by reigning Belgian champion Preben Van Hecke. Will it make a difference? Maybe but perhaps not as we think.
Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp
A big deal in the Netherlands, Ventoux was made into a film and now it’s been translated into English. Good timing with the mountain is set to feature in Paris-Nice and the Tour de France. But is this a cycling book?
The UCI’s recent ruling on the Katusha team was an illustration of how any rules a sport makes have to fit in the wider world and comply with national and international law. Because Luca Paolini’s provisional suspension relates to a claimed “recreational” use in the UCI’s view it would have been disproportionate to suspend the whole team. It suggests there are two rulebooks, the WADA one with its black and white text and another with additional rules and a sort of grey zone where an athlete like Paolini is suspended on a doping related matter but his team are not. Similarly to explore another topical subject, any sanction on Femke van den Driessche will have to reflect the fact that, as reported, she didn’t actually use a motor in the cyclo-cross worlds.
It’s still there. Mont Faron used to be a fixture on the cycling calendar, and often the first summit finish of the year, but the demise of several races mean it’s no longer used in racing and now belongs on a list of forgotten climbs… more of which below.
The racing has gone but this mountain remains as an attractive climb and a good test, plus it’s revealed a few names in recent years, including Chris Froome’s first noticeable result.
Everyone wants to win and pressure mounts on teams that have yet to win. Do early season victories matter? Does getting off to a good start in the season help a team’s results through the rest of the year and does having a poor start mean the rest of the year is going to suffer? Here’s a statistical analysis and some thoughts on the matter.