Well sort of… not quite the classics just yet, but this weekend is the first of the events with the big ones coming up soon.

Anyone else looking forward to them ?

oh yes

best part of the year for road racing, by miles

“big boys” are keeping their powder dry for Strada Bianca the weekend after this, though Tom “wall of death on a tt bike” Piddock is riding Nieuwsblad (sp) Saturday.

Looking forward to it. Went over to Oudenaarde last Sept for a long weekend of riding so will be interesting to watch them again this year knowing just what the roads and climbs are like.

The only downside to Spring Classics is having to make sure I get all my riding done during the week so I can fester in front of the telly all weekend with Belgian beer.

The only downside to Spring Classics is having to make sure I get all my riding done during the week so I can fester in front of the telly all weekend with Belgian beer.

Definitely this

I’m going to miss most of the racing live… so it’s either highlights or recorded versions for the whole of them really. I don’t think there’s a weekend we’re about for 1 day, let alone both.

Where can we get the races, or highlights? Is it just Eurosport or GCN?

Where can we get the races, or highlights? Is it just Eurosport or GCN?

cyclingfans.com used to be great for links to all the races, but often they are georestricted and in the end it was just much easier to sign up for GCN

It’s the only part of the road racing season I really look forward to.

We’re going to be in Bruges this weekend so I might have to see how easy it is to get across to Ghent for the start of the race.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/omloop-het-nieuwsblad/2023/startlist

Jumbo Visma with a strong squad.. Laporte ?
Quick Step of course taking a strong one too.

Maybe the boy wonder Pidcock ? All of the old favourites playing, Stuyven, Van Avermat, Asgreen, Sagan, Vanmarke etc…

Looking at the startlist for Omloop, most teams have at least one rider who could be interesting. Even Movistar.

Really hope that Intermarché and EF continue to race the way they have been in the earlier races – they’ve been great fun to watch.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Stefan Kung fanclub:

Küng Küng Küng Stefan Küng Küng Stefan Stefan Küng pic.twitter.com/7brYpmqrPe

— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) April 1, 2022

Yeah, the Men’s race could be any one of about 15-20 riders! 10 Brits in there too. Would love to see Tom Pidcock and Fred Wright up there.

[Incorrect link removed – Mods]
Elynor Backstedt in there for Trek Segafredo.
AvV but no Vos – she had an injury over winter cos I know she didn’t race the CX Worlds as a result of it so maybe still recovering.

@crazy-legs
That’s the 2022 start list.

This should be this years race:
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/omloop-het-nieuwsblad-we/2023/startlist

Bugger! Was on my phone, just copied the wrong link. Thanks for the correction!
/embarrassed face

Women’s start list is here:
https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/2022-omloop-het-nieuwsblad-women-start-list/

No Cecilia Ludwig – queen of the post-race interview 🙁

No Cecilia Ludwig

She is if you look at the correct link.

As for the men, Kasper Asgreen is looking good.

Annameik va Vleuten is just back from a couple of months training in Colombia. She’ll probably manage to win on a single sea-level breath.

Quick mention this morning to Mrs Crossed about it being Omloop this weekend, her response was…

“well we’re already in Bruges so might as well got the train to Ghent for the start, it’s only 30 minutes each way and £20 return”

Happy days!!

Bargain… Last year i went to the E3 Herelbeke and the Gent Wevelgem, both were absolutely brilliant days..beers, laughs, chats, banter…. awesome time.

Not just the best part of the cycling year, best part of the entire sporting year. I have a good supply of Belgian beer laid in for the eight week “who will beat Quick-Step” fest.

Well i’d assume both Jumbo and Alpecin will be doing just that.

I have a good supply of Belgian beer laid in for the eight week “who will beat Quick-Step” fest.

We may well be stocking up on the drive back to Calais on Sunday!

Well I took a little tumble yesterday hopping my bike over a fallen tree and have cracked a few ribs, so will be making full use of my eurosport subscription for a few weeks. Happy days! 😁

Jumbo’s classics squad looking ridiculous now that they have van Baarle. The start list for this weekend looks great and that’s with WVA still to come in.

De Lie is bookies favourite for Omloop..

Is there usually a STW velogames for the classics?

Is there usually a STW velogames for the classics?

@NBT is usually the one for Velogames stuff, he seems to be the forum regular for the grand tour ones anyway!

Victor Campenaerts set to use Classified hub and monster chainring at Opening Weekend https://t.co/KJsa8BDbqS

— Cyclingnews (@Cyclingnewsfeed) February 22, 2023

he was racing in the Zwift world champs recently too… he’s a crazy boy.

Victor Campenaerts set to use Classified hub and monster chainring at Opening Weekend
A 62T chainring, narrow bars, Classified gearing and wide tyres are just part of his unusual Classics setup

What happens if he punctures? Stuck in a 62T chainring if gets a regular new wheel?

Right I’m just popping out to get the beers in.

What happens if he punctures? Stuck in a 62T chainring if gets a regular new wheel?

My guess would be that there’s a spare bike with a more regular set-up, the mechanics can take the whole bike and potentially change the wheel or fix the puncture (I assume he’s running tubeless…?) in a slightly less stressed situation then swap him back to it later.

Maybe there’s even a second bike with the same set-up…

Those Classified hubs aren’t cheap though.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow! Early road ride for me, back in time for the last couple of hours of racing. 🙂

No spoilers on rest of forum please. I’ll stay out of this thread until Monday.

been a few showers knocking around today but dry tomorrow with a bit of an “edgey” northerly 10-11 mile an hourer. Can’t wait though riding early morning tomorrow means regressing back too nearly full winter kit 🙁

Preview here from the ever reliable Inrng:

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Preview

And the Women’s Race preview:

https://procyclinguk.com/omloop-het-nieuwsblad-women-2023-race-preview/

Pidcock then, can’t help but think INEOS must be thinking it’s time for him to shit or get off the pot as far as classics are concerned. I would expect they want him to be a grand tour rider long term, if he wants to be a classics rider like an Alaphileppe type it’s time to start getting results.

The idea of him racing down the Poggio is making my sphincters twitch already

I dunno. I think Pidcock’s already won today:

Pre-race snugs 🐾@tompidcock #OHN pic.twitter.com/ISitD6t2XY

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) February 25, 2023

Just back from my ride, settling in with EuroSport for the afternoon. 🙂

rusty peleton 🙁

Settling in with GCN+….