With spring comes one of the most exciting times on the cycling calendar: the Spring Classics season. For those whose cycling vocabulary extends only to the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong, you are in for a treat.
The Classics of cycling are a handful of brutally long one-day races held mostly in the month of April. In addition to the three Grand Tours, the Classics are some of the most prestigious races on the calendar due in part to their extreme difficulty and also to their storied histories, as many of them have been running for over a century.
The Spring Classics are held predominantly in Belgium, but Italy, France and the Netherlands each play host to a race of its own as well, with the first true Classic of the year, Milan-Sanremo, held in Italy at the end of March.
The final three races, collectively known as the "Ardennes Classics," are characterized by countless short but steep climbs. The Netherland's Amstel-Gold race, for instance, features 31 climbs on the course, shattering the hopes of most sprinters to stay with the lead group.
It is at the beginning of April, however, that a single week sends the peloton over the worst roads imaginable. Starting off with Ronde van Vlaanderen, the racers take a few days' rest before toeing the line at Ghent-Wevelgem and then finally ending their week with the "Queen of the Classics" -- Paris-Roubaix. Together, these three races make up the "Cobbled Classics."
The cobbled races send participants over some of the oldest and worst maintained cobbled roads that Belgium and Northern France have to offer. The roads would be better suited for an ATV -- or at least a mountain bike -- but racers slog their way over the cobbles, often through rain and thick mud, on their standard road bikes. Paris-Roubaix is the most feared of all the Classics and has been aptly dubbed "The Hell of the North" for the 28 cobbled sectors that stand between the racers and the finish line 259 kilometers later.
The skill set needed to win one of these storied races is very different from that needed for a Grand Tour, and although some of cycling's all-time greats like Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx brought home multiple victories in both types of races, they are more the exception than the rule. It is the sprinters and one-day specialists who most often shine in the Classics season, and the list of favorites is markedly different than before the Tour.
With the semi-classics like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne already underway, those favorites are beginning to show their faces and hint at who may have the early-season form needed to take home one of the year's biggest prizes. Here are a few riders to keep an eye on this year:
The Sure Thing: When it comes to one-day races and time trials, two-time World Time Trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland is always a safe bet. Cancellara has already proven himself by riding to solo victories in Paris-Roubaix in 2006 and Milan-Sanremo in 2008, and he made the winning three-man move in last year's Roubaix as well before being out-kicked at the line. With a win in the Amgen Tour of California prologue already under his belt in 2009, Cancellara is bound to win something this spring.
The Home-Wrecker: If there is one person not to get into a breakaway with, it is Tom Boonen. The Belgian former World Road Race champion claimed his second Paris-Roubaix cobblestone trophy last year by outsprinting Cancellara and Italy's Alessandro Ballan, and he has already proven himself this year with the overall win at the Tour of Qatar and at Sunday's semi-classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Generally known as a sprinter when the month of July rolls around, Boonen possesses one of the strongest finishing kicks in the pro peloton. Unlike other sprinters, Boonen has the staying power to make the final selection on a long, difficult day, and if his rivals don't drop him before the finale, they better get used to fighting for second place.
The Ace in the Hole: One rider who's definitely on the rise is France's Sylvain Chavanel. Winner of semi-classics Dwars door Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl last year, as well as a stage of the Tour de France, Chavanel had his best ever season in 2008. Now on the Belgian Quick Step team along with the likes of Tom Boonen, Chavanel will have many more opportunities and much more support in his quest for a win in the Classics. If nothing else, his ultra-aggressive style of racing is one of the most entertaining in the peloton.
The Double Threat: Belgian Philippe Gilbert is a rare breed of rider that is an equally potent threat to win solo or take a bunch sprint. Gilbert first proved his capabilities in 2006 by riding to the win at the semi-classic Omloop Het Volk (now Omloop Het Nieuwsblad), and then did it again last year with a courageous 50-kilometer solo breakaway. Capping off the 2008 campaign with a win at the historic Paris-Tours, Gilbert has only gotten better over the past few seasons, and with his recent transfer to the Belgian Silence-Lotto team, he is sure to have all the help he needs on his 2009 campaign.
Whether any of these four will find success in this year's editions of the Classics or if another star or hidden talent will take the prize is still a mystery. The foul weather that often accompanies these races makes luck as much of a factor as anything else, making predictions a near impossibility. But assuming that all the racers suffer their fair share of crashes and mechanicals, one of these four is bound to bag at least one win.
