# The Classics are coming, the Classics are coming!



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Great promo ad... Peter Sagan, look closely. Fun stuff! 

Peter Sagan rides high in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne poster - News Shorts | Cyclingnews.com


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

End of March and then April. We're getting closer. Best time of the year.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

_End of _March?

Strade Bianche is 3/3!


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Ok beginning of March. For some reason I thought Strade Bianche was a bit later in March.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Ref. OP: One week earlier it's Openingsweekend i Belgium, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. Hey! Only three weeks to go!
*The Classics are coming, the Classics are coming! 
*And Milano-Sanremo is on 17/3. It's a busy six weeks, the proper classics season. Downhill after Roubaix, I'm afraid. The Ardennes classics have become so conform.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Well, it's going to be awhile before Valverde retires. Guess with how he's racing we can just hand him the trophy now for Fleche Wallone and let everyone else race for 2nd. LOL. From the way he's started the season, don't expect him to retire anytime soon either, so expect the Ardennes to continue to have expected finishes.

We do have one day races in Spain in January (Mallorca) along with February.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)




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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Ah, OHN and KBK and Omloop van het Hageland all delivered what I've been missing. Love this shot:


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

kbwh said:


> Ah, OHN and KBK and Omloop van het Hageland all delivered what I've been missing. Love this shot:


Agreed. The Classics are the best man. Did you hear that Boonen signed on to work for Lotto Soudal instead of QS? Lefevre has to be pretty ticked off....

Tom Boonen signs on as advisor with Lotto Soudal | Cyclingnews.com


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

kbwh said:


> Ah, OHN and KBK and Omloop van het Hageland all delivered what I've been missing. Love this shot:


Absolutely! And that shot sticks it, you have to be so pumped for this young rider! He has a 2nd in the Tour of Flanders I think so not out of nowhere, but a feel good win. That long sprint, it looked like he caught everybody off guard and left them standing still. Fantastic move! And KBK, they let the riders out front late well past the last KM! I thought they would hold that and they got blown over meters out! Fabulous!


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

So nice for classics season to have started. Strade Bianche is next week. Apparently the forecast is for some bad weather. Apparently the bad weather is likely to keep Valverde from showing up there. Also looks like no Sagan. It should be a fun race regardless of who shows up.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

PBL450 said:


> Absolutely! And that shot sticks it, you have to be so pumped for this young rider! He has a 2nd in the Tour of Flanders I think so not out of nowhere, but a feel good win. That long sprint, it looked like he caught everybody off guard and left them standing still. Fantastic move! And KBK, they let the riders out front late well past the last KM! I thought they would hold that and they got blown over meters out! Fabulous!


2nd in Amstel Gold not Flanders, but had a strong youth career as well. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Valgren


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

KoroninK said:


> So nice for classics season to have started. Strade Bianche is next week. Apparently the forecast is for some bad weather. Apparently the bad weather is likely to keep Valverde from showing up there. Also looks like no Sagan. It should be a fun race regardless of who shows up.


I expect a strong showing from Kwiatkowski and the usual suspects (GVA, etc.). Can’t wait!


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Rashadabd said:


> 2nd in Amstel Gold not Flanders, but had a strong youth career as well.
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Valgren


THANK YOU!!!! Appreciate the correction. My memory is meh, haha.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

PBL450 said:


> THANK YOU!!!! Appreciate the correction. My memory is meh, haha.


Mine too. No problem.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

KoroninK said:


> So nice for classics season to have started. Strade Bianche is next week. Apparently the forecast is for some bad weather.


Mmm. Single digit (C) temperatures and rain could give a repeat of *that* Giro stage in 2010. They'd have to rename the race to Brown Roads. We'll see (glued to the screen). Last year the weather turned out better than forecast.

--

Tommeke could't reach an agreement with QSF I read somewhere. Also his dad has a position with Ridley IIRC, and Ridley delivers bikes to the lovely Puck and the boys as well.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Rashadabd said:


> I expect a strong showing from Kwiatkowski and the usual suspects (GVA, etc.). Can’t wait!


Bora just announced Sagan is going. Along with Kwiatkowski, GVA, etc it's going to be good. Movistar apparently isn't making any decisions until possibly last minute on this one. If we get rain or snow it's going to make this race even crazier than it usually is. I'm looking forward to it and it's going to be a very nice reward to watch after a long week of work this week.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Movistar just released their lineup for Strade Bianche. Yes very late actually on their part. Valverde is racing. Apparently he spent the last several days convincing the team to let him go as he wasn't supposed to racing Strade Bianche this year. The team has ever actually come out and said he was not on any of their rider line ups for this race, but he was voicing his opinion that he really wanted to go to virtually anyone who would listen to him.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

I'm with Greg....

Riders shower Strade Bianche with praise | VeloNews.com


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Rashadabd said:


> I'm with Greg....
> 
> Riders shower Strade Bianche with praise | VeloNews.com


I think a lot of people agree with Greg on this one. May not be your absolute favorite race, but definitely one of them.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Strade Bianche is so lovely. 

Back in 2010 I had heard about it and seen some evocative photos (the first edition was in 2007, and social media was not a thing yet), so on holiday in Chianti I tried some of the sterrata on my road bike and fell in love. Back in "the Tuscany of the north" I thought why not try this at home. 
In 2011 we made a club race and called it Gylne Gutuer (Golden Gates, literally. Gutu is dialect for gate, which means a road leading to a town or farm gate. Our gravel roads are tan, or golden if you like your poetry). 
In 2013 we opened it for participants from other clubs. 
In 2014, on request from the Norwegian Cycling Federation, we put it on the national calender as a ranking race.
Since 2015 it's been THE race on the Norwegian Cup Calendar.
This year it's also a UCI 1.2 race on the Europe Tour. https://www.udw.no






All thanks to a vacation in Strade Bianche country.

But what I really wanted to say is that I'm stoked for tomorrow!


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

kbwh said:


> Strade Bianche is so lovely.
> 
> “the Tuscany of the north”


That’s a great story. Thanks for sharing!


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

What a great story. Congratulations on getting the race on the national and UCI calendars.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Strade Bianche anyone??? 

Warning...spoiler alert





Awesome race today! Great to see Benoot finally break through with a win. Bardet and Van Aert in the mix as well. I'm hoping Wout has some form left at Paris-Roubaix and that it's a wet one. In any case, this race should be a must watch for any cycling fan. Benoot was a very deserving winner today.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

burgrat said:


> Strade Bianche anyone???
> 
> Warning...spoiler alert
> 
> ...


It was a lot of fun, a classic example of what the Classics are all about. I love that you can't predict who will win these things! Happy for Van der Breggen as well. She won on a disc equipped Tarmac it looks like.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Crazy race. Bardet got the podium the only way he possibly could. Getting away from anyone who could out sprint him. Considering Alejandro's travel debacle (which according to Natalia) was worse than the media reported, I'd say 4th was very impressive. Overbook flight, changed flight to Rome with a 6 hour (which is what they were told, not a 3 hour) bus ride to the team hotel. Ended up paying for another much later flight to Florence to avoid the buy ride and still didn't get to the hotel until after midnight and basically spent the entire day at the airport. No proper pre-race meal, not enough rest or sleep. Probably highly stressed as well as he would have had at least 2 if not all 4 of his kids with him as well.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

kbwh said:


> Strade Bianche is so lovely.
> 
> Back in 2010 I had heard about it and seen some evocative photos (the first edition was in 2007, and social media was not a thing yet), so on holiday in Chianti I tried some of the sterrata on my road bike and fell in love. Back in "the Tuscany of the north" I thought why not try this at home.
> In 2011 we made a club race and called it Gylne Gutuer (Golden Gates, literally. Gutu is dialect for gate, which means a road leading to a town or farm gate. Our gravel roads are tan, or golden if you like your poetry).
> ...


Thats totally awesome!


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Rashadabd said:


> It was a lot of fun, a classic example of what the Classics are all about. I love that you can't predict who will win these things! Happy for Van der Breggen as well. She won on a disc equipped Tarmac it looks like.


It was a great race! Who’d have thought Bardet would be on the podium! Nice to see Benoot make the attack stick. Valverde in a top 10 first race back. Very exciting. I’m going to watch the women’s race next.


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## Wetworks (Aug 10, 2012)

Not trying to take away from the riders who did well today, but I got the sense this was more of a feeling out race for the real Spring Classic contenders, hence their "poor" showings. Tactically it makes a lot of sense. Anyone else have that impression?


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Wetworks said:


> Not trying to take away from the riders who did well today, but I got the sense this was more of a feeling out race for the real Spring Classic contenders, hence their "poor" showings. Tactically it makes a lot of sense. Anyone else have that impression?


Maybe some of them, but a tired Valverde showed up to race and Stybar did look like he was there to race.

Or maybe a picture or two speak a 1000 words.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

Benoot was a total stud today...Caught the leaders, recovered for a bit then took off on his own.
What a great race but like Wetworks said, think this was a little bit of a feeler.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

I'm surprised that not a lot of the leading guys at Bianchi used disc. In fact, I did not see a disc bike at the front. I was under the impression that 2018 is THE year that pros go disc.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Wetworks said:


> Not trying to take away from the riders who did well today, but I got the sense this was more of a feeling out race for the real Spring Classic contenders, hence their "poor" showings. Tactically it makes a lot of sense. Anyone else have that impression?


Using SB as a "feeling out race" is sacrilege. The big boys know that, and they all want to win it. Seems to me that the only big boys to try were Valverde and Sagan, who actually had a team for a change. But then it was too late. Weather can have played Kwiato and Van Avermaet and others. 
Benoot was a monster. First the bridge, then the attack. Rather funny that this was his first victory as a pro. He'll win more classics, and van Aert will win classics too if the doesn't ride them at the front from 60 km out. Of course his aggression can have played a part in what looked like a truce in the favourites group as they came off Monte Sante Marie.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

kbwh said:


> Using SB as a "feeling out race" is sacrilege. The big boys know that, and they all want to win it. Seems to me that the only big boys to try were Valverde and Sagan, who actually had a team for a change. But then it was too late. Weather can have played Kwiato and Van Avermaet and others.
> Benoot was a monster. First the bridge, then the attack. Rather funny that this was his first victory as a pro. He'll win more classics, and van Aert will win classics too if the doesn't ride them at the front from 60 km out. Of course his aggression can have played a part in what looked like a truce in the favourites group as they came off Monte Sante Marie.



Stybar was one of the favorites and he was there. He and Valverde also worked together to bring back many of the riders who in front of them back. So I'd say Stybar also showed up. I'm of the opinion that Gilbert was working for Stybar so not surprised he wasn't there at the end.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

You're absolutely right. To my defense I should say it was difficult to quite get who was where after the race exploded on Monte Sante Marie.

After Strade Bianche it's almost just as well that there's two weeks to recover before the always hair raising final 40 km of Milano-Sanremo.


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