If you’re a cycling fan, you wait for April all year. While the month of July often steals headlines here in the States because of the Tour de France, April is loaded with classic, notorious single day races. These are not races for the faint of heart, and most of the grand tour riders avoid them completely for fear of wrecking of their seasons with a single slip. The parcours take the racers over centuries old cobbled wagon paths, some barely big enough for the support vehicles to navigate. Add to this the brutal spring weather in Northern Europe–cold, wind, rain, and even sometimes snow–and you have races like no others. But the racers, especially the Belgians and French, covet these racers and seek to add good results to their palmares. For them, the season revolves around this month.
The fun began today in Belgium with the Tour of Flanders (better known as the Ronde van Vlaanderen). The race begins with a long, flat stretch near the western shore. The road, while generally smooth, is buffeted by heavy winds, and today, rain. This leads to a rollercoaster ride over some of the worst hills of the spring. These glorified cattle paths, like the Paterberg and the Koppenberg often force the racers to push their bikes in effort to get over them.
The favorite for today’s race was Tom Booen, who won the Ronde last year, and has already racked up eleven wins in the young season. It was up to the usual round of classic suspects to stop Boonen, but it wasn’t to be. Boonen and his QuickStep team shattered the peleton over the hills, and in the end, only Discovery Channel’s Leif Hoste could stay with Boonen. Hoste could not outsprint Boonen at the line, however, and Boonen defended his Ronde title. Discovery’s George Hincapie won the sprint for third among the chase group. Hincapie is likely disappointed by the result, though Disco should content to have riders on the podium–Hincapie has been the bridesmaid year after year in the classics, and this could be his last year to break through before he sets his sights on the grand tours.
The suffering continues next weekend, with Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, better known as the Hell of the North. Flatter than the Ronde, it is likely harder simply because there are more cobbles. Some of the nastier sections have been removed from the parcours (and for good reason–the roads have become little more than strips of dirt in the forest), but it is still a terribly hard race. Hincapie will look to shed his role as classics bridesmaid (he finished second there last year), and Boonen will be the favorite to score the Ronde-Roubaix double again this season.
Posted on 2 April 2006