Nicely, the 2024 spring Classics are formally underway after the boys’s and girls’s pelotons hit the cobbles and hills of Flanders to tackle the boys’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and the ladies’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Omloop van het Hageland.
We should still be a while away from the largest meets of the cobbled Classics marketing campaign, with races resembling Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix mendacity weeks forward, however there was nonetheless lots to get pleasure from and focus on on the daybreak of a brand new Classics season.
The quartet of races provided up few solutions to questions on who would possibly triumph at these all-important Monuments in early April, however there was a lot to digest regardless.
On the boys’s aspect, ‘Are Visma-Lease a Bike unstoppable?’ stays the principle query going ahead, whereas that very same query posed in regards to the often dominant ladies’s group, SD Worx-Protime, has simply been answered. Elsewhere, we witnessed the continuation of the development to begin the attacking motion from a protracted, great distance out, in addition to some high quality efforts and outcomes outdoors the ‘huge two’ tremendous groups.
For all that evaluation and extra, plus one other elevating of the ever-more acquainted query ‘Are QuickStep OK?’, learn on courtesy of our reporter on the bottom in Flanders, Daniel Ostanek, and our distant consultants Kirsten Frattini and Simone Giuliani.
An unbeatable Visma-Lease A Bike
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The Dutch males’s group headed into Opening Weekend with the strongest squad on paper as soon as once more, with Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle, Edoardo Affini, Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Jorgenson, and Jan Tratnik to rely on.
Most groups had been fortunate to depend one potential race winner amongst their ranks on the begins in Gent and Kortrijk, however Visma-Lease a Bike might look to 5 – 6 males for a outcome throughout the weekend. It was no shock, then, that they got here away from Opening Weekend with a 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win in a row alongside back-to-back Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne victories.
Each outcomes got here after the group blew up the race a great distance from house – with 130km to go at Omloop, and 90km out at Kuurne – with the aftermath of each strikes being much-reduced entrance teams filled with yellow Visma jerseys.
On Saturday, the group all the time had the numerical benefit, sending Matteo Jorgenson up the highway over the Muur van Geraardsbergen earlier than then giving Jan Tratnik the go-ahead inside the ultimate 10km after the lead teams had re-merged.
Sunday’s race noticed 4 Visma riders within the lead after their transfer on Le Bourliquet, with Van Aert leaping away quickly after to search out himself the sooner man left in a three-rider group that went to the end.
As many had predicted beforehand, following the group’s command of a lot of the cobbled Classics season final spring, Visma-Lease a Bike proved the dominant power as soon as once more.
Extra title defences – on the Basic Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Basic, Gent-Wevelgem, and Dwars door Vlaanderen – lie forward subsequent month, however the largest problem stays doing the identical on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the place the aura of invincibility light final April. (DO)
SD Worx not invincible in any case
Very like the Visma-Lease A Bike males’s squad, SD Worx-Protime got here into Opening Weekend with a latest historical past of cobbled Classics dominance and, on paper, had been by far the strongest squad in Belgium.
Final season the powerhouse group snapped up wins at… await it… Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Omloop van het Hageland, the Ronde van Drenthe, Nokere Koerse, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs, and the Ardennes triple.
Their superstars – Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes, Demi Vollering, and Marlen Reusser doled out the victories amongst themselves as their rivals fought over scraps for a lot of the spring.
However this time round, they go away Opening Weekend with a pair of second locations moderately than a pair of wins, with Kopecky and European Champion Mischa Bredewold bested by a sooner finisher in Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and a shocking soloist in Kristen Faulkner (EF Schooling-Cannondale). Second is nothing to smell at, after all, however it’s not fairly the absurdly excessive commonplace most of us had been anticipating.
There have been some extenuating circumstances, after all. Reusser was absent from the motion after contracting a virus throughout the week, whereas Vollering continues to be wanting her finest after a difficult winter, mentioned group DS Anna van der Breggen.
This ‘dropping streak’, if one had been to be harsh, will not proceed this spring – the group has gained seven instances already in 2024 – however Opening Weekend has proven that the seemingly infallible group, aren’t. (DO)
Soudal-QuickStep stay within the doldrums
As soon as upon a time – within the not-too-distant previous – Soudal-QuickStep had been the dominant power of the spring Classics season. Since its founding in 2003, they’ve racked up 13 wins at Opening Weekend, 14 on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and an extra 20 within the numerous cobbled Classics in between.
However now, after a second barren Opening Weekend in a row, Fabio Jakobsen’s 2022 dash win in Kuurne stands because the Belgian squad’s sole cobbled Classics victory courting again to April 2021.
Following a pair of high 10s at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne final spring, the group comes away from the 2024 races with twenty first and seventh locations to point out for his or her efforts. Not nice.
Whereas Mapei dominated the cobbles within the Nineteen Nineties and QuickStep did the identical during the last 20 years, the 2020s have thus far been the last decade of Visma-Lease a Bike. The Dutch squad proved dominant as soon as once more this Opening Weekend, making each races and coming away with a pair of wins, very similar to final 12 months.
Soudal-QuickStep, in the meantime, positioned Kasper Asgreen and Gianni Moscon within the lead break up at Omloop earlier than each dropped away after which noticed two males – Asgreen and Julian Alaphilippe – crash out of the chase group that ultimately got here again to the entrance of the race.
At Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the group solely had Alaphilippe within the lead break up provoked by Visma, with the Frenchman unable to hitch Van Aert’s successful transfer with 87km to go on Mont Saint Laurent.
Neo-pro Luke Lamperti salvaged one thing, sprinting to a high 10 within the peloton, however the group which has cobbles in its DNA will as soon as once more be hoping Opening Weekend is not an indication of issues to come back later within the spring. (DO)
Marianne Vos again with full power
It’s uncommon when Marianne Vos traces up at a race the place she hasn’t gained earlier than, not to mention competed in, however for the rider who usually kicks off the highway season in March given her cyclocross commitments, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was one such occasion. It was a recent begin for the Dutch rider in some ways as this was not solely a race debut but additionally her first Ladies’s WorldTour race since surgical procedure in August of 2023, with the rider having had ongoing iliac artery points in recent times, the newest inflicting worsening ache final season and an absence of energy in her left leg.
The problem’s influence on Vos appeared evident in her outcomes of 2023, as though it was not a nasty 12 months by most riders’ requirements, the 2 highway stage wins definitely weren’t consistent with the standard tally of a rider with now 249 professional victories. Her season opener on the 2.Professional Setmana Ciclista-Volta Comunitat Valenciana Fèmines, nonetheless, confirmed promise that that surgical procedure and rebuild had put Vos again on monitor, with two second locations within the first two levels. Saturday’s efforts then confirmed that the unhindered, and at instances seemingly unbeatable, model of Vos is again.
The 36-year-old headed to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad end line in a lead group of 4, having completely tracked all the important thing strikes by the race. Then as soon as the ultimate dash was launched she moved up alongside the in-form 2023 winner, world champion Lotte Kopecky, earlier than powering previous with time to have fun on the road. Profitable could also be one thing Vos has skilled greater than anybody, however it was clear that the primary time throwing her fingers up in celebration on the highway since Might was a second to be savoured.
It was additionally unassailable proof of the conclusion already hinted at within the Spanish season begin – the supreme bike dealing with abilities, tactical nous and unimaginable drive of the Dutch rider had been as soon as once more – after the August surgical procedure – folded in with the facility to beat all challengers on the finish of a tough race.
The game of ladies’s biking has modified and developed dramatically since Vos gained her first elite highway race title on the World Championships as a 19-year-old, however the Visma-Lease a Bike rider has proven a exceptional means to evolve, overcome obstacles and proceed to reign supreme. The already staggering outcomes tally simply retains rising and the rider usually known as the G.O.A.T (best of all time), now seems set to proceed constructing a legacy that retains getting larger. (SG)
UAE and Lidl-Trek one of the best of the remaining
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Whereas Visma-Lease A Bike deservedly took the headlines for dominating each males’s races this weekend and taking half of the obtainable podium spots, too, it was UAE Crew Emirates who ended the boys’s Opening Weekend because the second-best squad.
They positioned second at each races, first with new signing Nils Politt already displaying his value as a Classics power, getting away in Omloop together with eventual winner Jan Tratnik earlier than succumbing within the two-up dash.
Subsequent up it was Tim Wellens’ flip as he took the runner-up spot behind the unbeatable Van Aert in Kuurne. The Belgian has solely been with the group for a 12 months and appears a worthwhile addition to a spring squad that has been given an overhaul in latest seasons.
He and Politt are latest additions, whereas 4 different UAE males who took half on the weekend have additionally joined previously two seasons. Former U23 world champion Filippo Baroncini was deployed within the domestique function together with 2023 signing Michael Vink whereas promising neo-pro Antonio Morgado impressed with a powerful journey at Omloop. Growth group rider Gibbe Staes was additionally known as up in a single day after Rui Oliveira broke his arm in a crash on Saturday.
UAE Crew Emirates are well-renowned as a stage racing power deep with expertise, however even when they don’t seem to be filled with top-level Classics stars like sure different groups, they’ve proven that they could be a power all through the rest of spring. Watch this area.
On the ladies’s aspect, there was equally promising racing from Lidl-Trek, who got here away with third and fourth spots at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in addition to a high 10 at Omloop van het Hageland.
Lauretta Hansen was eighth among the many chasing group on the latter, whereas Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij confirmed themselves as a part of the race’s strongest group on the former.
It was a pity for the pair that they’d go to the road with two higher sprinters in Vos and Kopecky, however the techniques and the energy had been there, and that is with out Elisa Balsamo and Lizzie Deignan not on high kind, too.
They’re going to definitely be among the many high contenders later this spring. As Longo Borghini mentioned on Saturday, “We’re not right here boiling eggs – we’re doing stuff.” (DO)
New EF ladies’s group already a power
What a begin to the season for the brand new ladies’s group EF Schooling-Cannondale. In its first 12 months as a Continental outfit, the group has already racked up a collection of victories and it is solely February.
In what’s arguably the group’s strongest efficiency thus far, Kristen Faulkner rolled the cube in a 50km solo breakaway and gained Omloop van het Hageland, claiming the squad’s fourth win.
Within the 129km hilly race, from Aarschot to Tielt-Winge, Faulkner wasted no time making her successful transfer. She admitted that she hoped extra riders would be part of her within the breakaway, however ending up solo did not deter her.
A powerful time trialist, Faulkner powered over the ultimate 50km, gaining three minutes and holding onto a 1:41 margin on the end line. Faulkner mentioned it was a victory she was even shocked by.
“That is what occurs while you don’t anticipate it, you’re extra relaxed. I believe that since this race usually wouldn’t swimsuit me, I got here in feeling actually relaxed and I used to be completely prepared to take a danger. I took a danger, and it labored.”
EF Schooling-Cannondale has a star-studded group in its inaugural season, together with Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson, Veronica Ewers, Lotta Henttala and Coryn Labecki.
The group gained the primary two races of their season, with Noemi Rüegg successful Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi and Magdeleine Vallieres successful Trofeo Palma Femina whereas Kim Cadzow additionally gained the New Zealand time trial title.
When the group made their first bulletins forward of this season, Supervisor Esra Tromp acknowledged that the riders employed to the roster all had a standard aim; “they don’t seem to be scared” they usually “suppose outdoors the field”. The no-fear strategy to racing is what Tromp believes is the successful technique, and that has confirmed true so far. It bodes nicely for the remaining Spring Classics. (KF)
Lengthy-range ‘finals’
Within the trendy period of biking, we’re nicely used to the idea of races erupting a protracted, great distance from the end line.
Whether or not that comes by a group pushing the tempo within the crosswinds or detonating the peloton over the hills, or by way of famous person riders launching large solo efforts, these sights are way more normalised than they had been even 10 years in the past.
That did not change at Opening Weekend the place all races, barring maybe the ladies’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, had been detonated a protracted, great distance from the end.
There, it was Elisa Longo Borghini who kicked off the massive strikes at a nonetheless sizeable 32km from the end, however over within the males’s race Visma-Lease a Bike went nuclear at over 130km out and solely stored attacking because the race went on.
The following day it was the identical story as they blew up the peloton with an enormous effort at 92km to go, in the midst of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne’s ‘hill zone’. On the opposite aspect of Brussels, it was Faulkner who blew the race aside, attacking solo with over 50km to go earlier than utilizing her time trial abilities to transform the transfer right into a well-known win.
Large strikes like these imply viewers get much more racing than they used to – there’s not often a lot in the way in which of slowly whittling down the peloton forward of the ultimate difficulties anymore. That is typically a constructive factor, even when thrillers like Saturday’s races could be balanced by Kuurne’s remaining, which was all however determined 60km out as Wout Van Aert discovered himself main alongside two non-sprinters.
The ‘long-range remaining’ is right here to remain. (DO)
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