After the ten thousand or so words it seems as though I've typed over the past couple weeks, this week's Bikey will be a little shorter. But there are still a few big stories to cover and I'll try and get through without getting carried away...
I know that some people probably get confused when you mention one-day classics or Spring Classics in pro cycling parlance. For example, last weekend had the E3 Prijs-Vlaanderen (Saturday), Gent-Wevelgem (Sunday) and the Criterium Internationale (3 stages over Saturday and Sunday). So many spring "classics" races! But I think I've figured out that the "true" classics (which are also known as the Monuments of Cycling) are as follows:
- Milan-San Remo (held March 20) - won by Oscar Freire
- Tour of Flanders (this Sunday, April 4) -
- Paris- Roubaix (Sunday, April 11)
- Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Sunday, April 25)
- Giro di Lombordia (held in October)
So we are really getting into big race season, starting with Sunday's Tour of Flanders race, in which most of the biggest names in cycling will be participating. Lance Armstrong will be racing in Flanders, coming off his participation in the Criterium Internationale where the showdown between him and Alberto Contador fizzled out (cyclingnews.com called it "firing blanks) in the last five miles of Saturday's stage as neither of them could hold on to the wheel of the leaders. The lead group on the final climb included Contador, Samuel Sanchez, and Cadel Evans, but rather than attacking, Contador just dropped, leaving Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox) as the man who made the decisive move and the victory. The 11 seconds he won the stage by were enough to leave him in the GC lead through the two races on Sunday, giving him the overall victory. Contador finished second in the final time trial to end up 15th overall, while Lance could only manage a 15th place in the TT and 47th overall. Should we start being worrying about Lance? He's not worried, so let's hope he can get fitter in the next few month...
The other pre-Flanders weekend races were in Belgium, where Fabian Cancellara made his mark on Saturday as he outkicked Tom Boonen and Juan Antonio Flecha as this elite 3-man group got away from the peloton with 40 km to go, and the three of them dueled for the title of E3 Prijs-Vlaanderen. Sunday's race (Gent-Wevelgem) featured a sprint finish among a small group that included George Hincapie but his ex-teammate Bernhard Eisel (Team Columbia) outraced him. Cancellara and Boonen are among the favorites for Flanders, along with Boonen's teammate Stijn Devolder, who has taken advantage of everyone of watching Boonen to escape the last two years to win the race. As usual, Flanders is long (263 km), hilly (15 hills, mostly near the end), and bumpy (25 cobblestone sections). Throw in a 70 percent chance of rain and cool temperatures, and it should be at it epic toughest.
Check out the video below of one of the cobbled climbs....it includes pros walking their bikes!!!
Johan Bruyneel took some pictures of Lance and the team training on the cobblestones this week. Here are a few...
More cycling news - the Tour de France announced the teams it has invited to this year's Tour - the 16 ProTour teams were guaranteed entry, but the 6 wildcard teams contain many of the biggest names - Garmin, RadioShack, BMC, Cervelo,Katusha and Team Sky - have all been awarded spots. This allows George Hincapie, Cadel Evans, Lance, Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushovd, Bradley Wiggins, among others, the guarantee to participate in this year's event. Teams left out for 2010 include Skil-Shimano and Vacansoleil who are perhaps competitive but did not have the big star power and are thus on the sidelines this year.
I know I have promised more triathlon news, but this will have to wait til next week!
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