The Tour of Romandie has taken on a bit of a Groundhog Day feel in recent years, with Froome, Spilak and Costa finishing 1-2-3 for two years running. Froome and Spilak in both cases escaped in the mountains with Spilak taking the sprints, before Froome turned the tables in the final stage TT to clinch the overall victory. Costa is actually going for his fourth year in a row of finishing 3rd here, and the non-GC stages are normally dominated by one climby sprinter, last year it was Albasini, who took 3 wins, the previous edition it was Gianni Meersman with 2 wins and a third. Will it be a case of deja vu, a glitch in the Matrix or Bill Murray trying to escape a timeloop? Or will we see something new from this race?
'La Doyenne' is here, and the most prestigious of the Ardennes classics will be up for grabs in what looks like the most open race in a few years. Last year was essentially a very select bunch sprint, but a more traditional Liege-Bastogne-Liege sees a lot of attacks and only a few of the strongest riders arriving at the finish together. We should see a reversion to that style of racing here, with a lot of teams hoping to break the dominance of the climbing sprinters, Valverde and Kwiatkowski.
In case you are wondering what all these races with 'Fleche' are about, 'Fleche' means arrow in French, and generally refers to the straight nature of the course. Like a lot of races, the Fleche Wallone is a 'Fleche' in name only and now comprises of a few circuits of varying length. There's still the opportunity for a rider to hit a bullseye here, and even a longshot could get up.
Surely there are other races named after a beer, but I can't think of any at the moment. Simon Gerrans surprised many with his tee-totalling sip on the podium last year, but his commitment to post-race nutrition paid off with a later victory in LBL. Phillipe Gilbert is no stranger to the winner's pint, and he will be trying for his 4th celebratory podium skull.
Over 250 kms of pain, dust and shuddering are in store for the riders in the Queen of the Classics. It is a very specialised type of racing where the contenders aren't necessarily the ones we've seen even on the Flandrian, and they won't have many races that they can win after. In that respect Roubaix really acts as the grand final for all those who have ambitions to do well in the cobbled races. Luck plays a big factor in determining the winner, in past years inattentive fans (Vandenbergh and Stybar in 2013), hitting a pothole (Van Avermaet in 2014), getting caught behind a crash (too many to name) and punctures (far too many to name) have spelled the end to the hopes of many potential winners.
It's unofficially known as the sprinter's world championship, but the field is pretty depleted this year, without the three fastest men in the world present (Kittel, Cavendish and Greipel). In their absence, we have the red-hot Kristoff, who will be favoured to add to his very impressive recent form with a win here. Read on for the Scheldeprijs-view!
It's not just cobbled monuments at this time of year, there are also some crazy cycling fans in the Basque region of Spain who need placating with major races. Whilst it's frittes, beer and cobbles in Belgium, we're talking about paella, wine and hills in the Basque region. Nairo Quintana will be coming back to the scene of his first major stage race triumph, and he is the big favourite to take the win.
Arguably the biggest day on the cycling calendar is now upon us, with no one sure who will emerge as the conqueror of the hellingen. Recent champions Cancellara and Boonen are out, and a result Stijn Devolder will be the only rider present on the startline who has won the race before. It looks to be a very open race, with the lead-up classics proving very unpredicatable, with a number of surprise winners.
|
AuthorI'm Jamie Finch-Penninger, better known as Fishy, the best DS to ever sit a couch. Anything which I don't cover for a bigger site will be up here. Archives
October 2015
CategoriesCome here for the previews of all the World Tour races this season, plus any Pro Continental/NRS/tricycle races that take my fancy. Along as it's pro cycling I'll have some sort of opinion on it. I'm Australian, so be prepared for a healthy Orica-Greenedge bias. Please feel free to request any changes or previews, and stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.
|