Couldn’t see a thread for the “official” start of the road racing season (in spite of the fact that most riders have already done Tour Down Under or Volta ao Algarve.

I’m travelling today so not watching anything live but it’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad today and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne tomorrow.

Then the races come thick and fast for the rest of the month up to Paris-Roubaix.
Guide to everything here:
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-classics-monuments-cobbles

Live text coverage on cyclingnews and it’ll be on EuroSport.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/omloop-het-nieuwsblad-2024/elite-men/live-report/

Without a doubt the best time of the year for road racing, I don’t watch any sport on TV apart form the Classics.

There’s a load of contenders for the big races this year with WvA and MvdP both looking good. I really hope this is the breakthrough year for Arnaud De Lie, he could be something special.

Yep, looking forward to it.

I’ve left subscribing to Discovery/Eurosport till today to minimise the cost now GCN+ has gone. It’ll have to be a couple of months though to cover all the Classics and early Monuments.

Fingers crossed Julian Alaphilippe returns to form, can’t wait to see him livening things up.

Visma aren’t pissing about….

1. Dylan van Baarle (Ned); 2. Wout van Aert; 3. Christophe Laporte (Fra); 4. Tiesj Benoot; 5. Jan Tratnik (Sln); 6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA); 7. Edoardo Affini (Ita)

There’s a load of contenders for the big races this year with WvA and MvdP both looking good

No MvdP today – in fact he’s not racing until Milan – San Remo.

Be interesting to see if the dynamic in the Women’s field has changed now that AvV has retired.

Be interesting to see if the dynamic in the Women’s field has changed now that AvV has retired.

I predict SD Worx to take the top 6 positions in the Omloop. Have you seen their roster?

I predict SD Worx to take the top 6 positions in the Omloop. Have you seen their roster?

Yep, pretty stacked!

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/omloop-het-nieuwsblad-women-2024/elite-women/live-report/

No MvdP today – in fact he’s not racing until Milan – San Remo.

Giving everyone else a chance, having seen his form in CX this year!

wish who ever is directing the coverage would get a grip…. 😕

ffs what is this  rubbish?

looks like Alaphillipe has been over the bars into a muddy ditch!

Too much alcohol and partying. 😉

Julian is down again!

Pretty cool to see Toms Skujiņš in the mix today. Seeing how good he was at Worlds in Glasgow last year he’s been my sneaky pick for a good classics result.

Jumbo-not-jumbo-any-more have played a blinder thus far (unsurprisingly) but there’s still plenty of scope for them to Quickstep this up.

As soon as I finished typing the peloton ate up Wout and Laporte. RACE TIME.

I was in Ghent this week. The folk we were working with were getting very excited, both for domestic and bigger races. They were all off to watch one this weekend.

Well, visma seemed to fluff their numerical advantage only to then elverage their numerical advantage in a different way. Obviously I’m always going to root for a non-visma underdog but you have to and it to them – they don’t make thir dominance look boring.

Womens race on now. Puck Peiterse has my stamp of approval for this one.

Just caught up on the women’s race.
Great result for Vos, looks like she’s getting back to her best.

I think Puck Pieterse will bag one of the big races this year.

Well neither of those went as I expected. What happened to SD Worx? Why hadn’t they smashed the race into pieces before the coverage started? Delighted to see Vos win. Good effort by Lidl Trek too.

Just caught up with both races.
Visma-Lease a Bike had a good day out!

Delighted to see Vos win

Vos is amazing, it’s always great to see her win.

Right on to Kuurne – Brussels – Kuurne then!
Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) won last year and starts with #1 for the same but rebranded team, Visma-LeaseABike. The interesting bit of the race is actually the beginning where it uses cobbled climbs – the last 40-odd miles is a flat finale for the sprinters.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/kuurne-brussel-kuurne/2024/startlist

I wonder how long it will take the commentators to stop automatically saying “Jumbo” and not “lease-a-bike”? I do feel for them since I’ll be saying “Jumbo” until about July.

Great race OHN. Super unpredictable. Just when you thought one group had is in the bag they were caught and another group formed.

oh and advertising works. I looked up Lease-a-bike.nl and it looks like a business to business scheme.

In a fairly predictable finish, WvA got it from a 3-up “sprint” (in as much as any of them had anything left to sprint – the poor Movistar rider Oier Lazkano attempted to sprint but he was so wrecked it amounted to little more than a token effort).

The 3-up group behind got caught by the bunch before a small crash disrupted the bunch sprint. Fred Wright was well up there.

Here’s a cartoon from the Belgian press today:

https://x.com/inrng/status/1762048322443903461?s=20

I don’t mind their dominance when it looks like the Omloops (Chaos in mens, Vos in womens) but KBK was less exciting.

Still, the cast of characters and nature of the racing looks set to evolve in the next few weeks so there’s still plenty of scope for more ciclismo to occur.

In a fairly predictable finish…

Maybe but Wout tearing the race to bits so far out was mighty impressive.

Good thread!
And my fave this weekend – Strade Bianche. Both the white roads and the Siena finish are so iconic.
Would love to go and do the sportive. I’ve done Paris-Roubaix and SB is definitely next on the list.

Le Samyn tomorrow – I’m at work sadly (actually in the office) otherwise I’d have had it on in the background while WFH. One of the more underrated races of the year, often a chance to see some of the “lesser” names take centre stage for once.

But yes, really looking forward to Strade Bianche at the weekend. 🙂

And my fave this weekend – Strade Bianche. Both the white roads and the Siena finish are so iconic.
Would love to go and do the sportive. I’ve done Paris-Roubaix and SB is definitely next on the list.

Some mates did it last year, it was awesome apparently, some are going again this year…I am very jealous.

Siena has to be the most incredible place for a finish. The rest of the race is pretty cool too.

Le Samyn tomorrow

seems strange theres no Quickstep, not quite the same without the wolf pack 😕

De Lie only himself to blame wants to fight everyone ! 🙂

dropping like flies 🙁

Siena has to be the most incredible place for a finish. The rest of the race is pretty cool too.

Was researching the route for one reason or another, that brutal final climb is usually a one way downhill, think you could only ride it for real during an event (or a sneaky early morning raid, as required if you want to cycle UP Lombard St. 😎 ).

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/everything-you-need-for-strade-bianche-route-start-list-riders-to-watch

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/strade-bianche-all-you-need-to-know

Couple of links to this weekend’s is it/isn’t it a Monument, Strade Bianche.

Longer race this year with an extra loop of a couple of the gravel sectors.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/strade-bianche-2024-analysing-the-contenders/

Quick look through the contenders, past winners etc for tomorrow’s race.
And the startlists are here;

Men: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/strade-bianche/2024/startlist
Women: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/strade-bianche-donne/2024/startlist

Looking forward to this one. The weather here looks rubbish so I’ll be happy on a sofa for half the day!

Looking forward to the race but gutted that I’m at work and I’ll be stuck somewhere that there’s no wifi and no decent mobile coverage.

Hopefully Discovery have some highlights.

I do, however, have holiday booked for Flanders and Roubaix weekends and the collection of Belgian beers is slowly growing. Luckily for me, my good lady likes the Classics as well so it’ll be a couple of days of beers and Moules-frites in our house!

Last 25km of the Women’s race now – break of 3 have 15″ ahead of a chasing group consisting of all the favourites currently being lead by Lizzie Deignan. Weather looks a bit grey and damp but Siena still manages to look stunning.

Womens race was good from what I saw

Was brilliant, yes. Very attacking, a real war of attrition.

Men’s race on now and the peloton has already been absolutely shredded. UAE Team Emirates drilling it.

Pog has nicked G’s sunglasses !

Alaphillipe has abandoned and it’s absolutely chucking it down!

Yep, that’s torrential rain! They’re not white roads any more…

This is allegedly the bit where Pog said he’d attack. It’s also the stretch where Top Pidcock attacked when he won.
Jens Voight on the moto is ace, he’s so deadpan.