Britains Flemish Classic run off in epic conditions…
Tag: beer
2023 Tour of Flanders review
The Tour of Flanders 2023 was a ‘Pog’ fest. There was nothing that could stop it. And you knew that it was coming. But it made the race probably now a little bit less of a standout for me.
I wanted a good race, but I also wanted a different winner than the man who is dominating racing in this season.
That’s not to say Tadej Pogacar didn’t deserve it. That’s not to say he wasn’t the best rider. It’s just to say I would have chosen a different outcome.
Don’t get me wrong. come July I’ll probably be rooting for Pogacar on the roads of France.
But April is the domain of the Vans… Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel.
And if they don’t win, the biggest classic of the mall you wonder what the future holds.
The race itself was packed with the usual amount of drama. Although we’ll probably be remembered for a bunny hop that went wrong causing most of the peloton to crash.
The big climbs themselves saw what bombs dropped by the big three. Although Van Aert and Thomas Pidcock faded a little bit sooner than anticipated.
When Pogacar attacked on the Oude Kwaremont on the penultimate lap he looked pretty dominant but that was brought back by a combination of riders.
On the last ascent he was gone, and he was gone for good.
You look at his Strava times on the last two climbs, and even though they’re less than two miles in length, he put nearly 10 minutes into my best efforts.
Now I’m not the best rider in the world. and he is but that is a massive gap. It won’t be long before questions start being asked about his dominance.
In fact, you only have to look at social media to see they already are.
But for now, let’s enjoy what was a brilliant occasion with a frothy beer and a bag of chips and look forward to the second instalment of Holy Week when Paris-Roubaix hits the road this weekend.
The true “classic” of the opening week of the Flemish season
I know its a controversial viewpoint, but instead of focusing on the opening weekend of the classics season, I like to stretch it out to a full week. Well, until the Tuesday at least.
Trust me, I have nothing against Omloop Het Nieuwsblad or Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, but its Le Samyn all the way for me in these early Belgian exchanges.
But why?
Well first off the opening two races come with the sort of excess hype that a Premiership football match has nowadays.
I get that the end of the last road season (despite a lot of Spanish, Southern French and Middle Eastern racing) was a long time ago, but, for me, the Oude Kwaremont matters in the Ronde. We don’t need hours of coverage diluting the excitement of the big climbs when April arrives.
Any other race it features in is just a tune up for the real thing.
Kuurne struggles from the climbs being a bit too infrequent or too far out. Although it does have the Muur to upweight it.
No for me Le Samyn has a true uniqueness despite being a spring cobbled classic.
It has a different shape and feel about it, and I love it all the more for that.
Every edition I have seen has had those wonderfully Belgian slate grey skies. And whilst quite often opening weekend is dry (and sometimes unseasonably warm), Le Samyn always seems to be muddy, rainy and windswept.
There is the wonderfully named finishing town of Dour with its uniform housing and perma-shut looking shops which just add to the brooding atmosphere around the race.
I also love the finishing circuit (and people don’t say that about too many races do they?) with that little climb up around a village green past a gothic building house a bar. A bar you just know serves wonderful frothy beers in elaborate glasses.
Throw in the section past the police station before heading back to the finish on one of those block concrete roads so typical of Belgium and this race has absolutely everything.
Sure, enjoy the gun to flag tv coverage of some of the bigger name races this spring, but please do not shun this one. It’s guaranteed to be good.
A fond farewell to Cyclo Cross season 2022/2023
It’s been a good one !
I have been captivated from the moment Eli Iserbyt got off to a fast start in the opening rounds of all of the main competitions.
I loved Laurens Sweeck settling into his new team post transfer and starting to lay gloves on Pauwels Sauzen.
Sadly, from a British perspective, I will remember Tom Pidcock’s season for his last lap crash in the GP Sven Nys as much as the wins. A lesson learnt about showboating for Tom.
In the womens division Shirin Van Anrooij show most a clean pair of wheels looking on occasion good enough to lap the entire field.
Namur and Koksijde were my favourite races once again but for optics Val de Sole (even if some riders don’t take to the ice that well) was the most scenic.
Let’s enjoy the break and the road season before getting started again in the autumn!
Charity shop wins…
I was trawling the local charity shop Friday evening, ideally looking for some ornaments for my daughters room.
My eyes however were drawn to a shelf in the corner and some beer glasses on a shelf.
I snapped up two ornate looking Westmalle Trappist glasses for £3 in total and went home beaming.
Keep an eye on your local charity shops and you might cop a bargain.
One hit with little wonder…
It’s a very different me who is sitting down to evaluate my 2022 cycling season. Read my personal 2021 review here.
Work, travel and things opening back up post covid 19 mean that I have attached a number to my jersey and bike only once in the whole year.
That’s still a bigger total than some campaigns when I had tiny children or was moving house. But’s its still less than both of the lockdown seasons where I at least managed to get five or six socially distanced club 10s in (see below in April 2021)
The training has been the same, if not harder and better. But the time to make it just 6 miles down the road to join up with Fenland Clarion on a Wednesday just hasn’t been there.
That might change in 2023. We will just have to see.
The positive news for this year came back in May.
Knowing that my midweek trips to Leeds would last most if not all of the midweek racing season I took the plunge and entered the ‘Rutland Border Epique’ sportive.
This is neither the time, nor the place, to debate the definition of sportive. For me though its a mass participation timed event.
So for some the time matters and, like me on the day, riders will look to get around the course as quickly as possible.
That I did, as you can see from the picture above closing in on the 100km mark.
Rutland is not terrain you can just go hard at from the first metre although I sure as hell tried. The suffering you can see above is the manifestation of that after over three and a quarter hours in the saddle.
I loved it though. It was a proper days riding in proper hills and with great riders round me pushing my level up.
I blew spectacularly on a 20% climb just after this picture was taken and coasted in (but with the 11th fastest time ;0) ) before heading home for a well earned pint of something Belgian.
I have written on my website in the past about how my riding should be best targeted. This is the chart that I keep coming back to..
Ride what you want when you want and somewhere in the middle of the mix you will find your cycling self!
So in short 2022…
Weather – Glorious
Riding – Brilliant and challenging
Competitive events- not enough but the one I did was great
Outlook – More time trials and sportives to come
Can’t wait.
Worlds a world away
After the proximity of the 2021 worlds in Belgium, I have to say that so far this years vintage in Australia has yet to fire for me.
We have seen close finishes and crashes but… well its not Julian Alaphillippe outside the Stella brewery is it?
This is no disrespect to Aussies or their base for the championship. I have a really close friend who lives close to the course, but I would phase this as a development event rather than a championships based in one of the sports heartlands.
Maybe the Qatar event is still affecting my viewpoint and over the weekend I will be engrossed in a Tadej Pogacar vs. Wout van Aert classic…
Let’s see.
Ineos show their classic mettle in Hell
After a midweek of Magnus Sheffield winning and team dominance, along with an Amstel Gold success, Ineos Grenadiers had showed they were truly on the road to being a classics squad by taking the big one.
| Rnk | Rider | Team | UCI | Pnt | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 500 | 275 | 5:37:00 | |
| 2 | VAN AERT Wout | Jumbo-Visma | 400 | 200 | 1:47 | |
| 3 | KÜNG Stefan | Groupama – FDJ | 325 | 150 | ,, | |
| 4 | DEVRIENDT Tom | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 275 | 120 | ,, | |
| 5 | MOHORIČ Matej | Bahrain – Victorious | 225 | 100 | ,, | |
| 6 | PETIT Adrien | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 175 | 90 | 2:27 | |
| 7 | STUYVEN Jasper | Trek – Segafredo | 150 | 80 | ,, | |
| 8 | PICHON Laurent | Team Arkéa Samsic | 125 | 70 | ,, | |
| 9 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | Alpecin-Fenix | 100 | 60 | 2:34 | |
| 10 | LAMPAERT Yves | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 85 | 50 | 2:59 |
Dylan Van Baarle proved that three attacks is too many but two just enough when he made his way across to the 2nd threatening break of the day and dropped them to head into Roubaix with a hefty winning margin.
The truth is that this was a win set up nearer the start than the finish of the race. In a slight crosswind his team put all 7 riders into a move that took until the 2nd sector of cobbles to pull back. Pre-race favourites Mathieu Van de Poel and Wout Van Aert had to use more riders than they would have hoped in getting it back.
This left the Grenadiers with plenty of riders on the front foot and at the head of the race. In their old more defensive style of riding, the travails of Fillipo Ganna would have been enough to derail their plan, but whilst it was bad news for the Italian, the mechanicals that had him dropped and having to chase alone didn’t affect the strategy. They had riders in abundance.
There were, however, riders clear at the key point in Arenberg forest and Milan San-Remo winner Matej Mohoric was proving to be no one trick pony in forcing the pace at the front. But with Ben Turner pushing on behind in the group of favourites and keeping things in check, Ineos didn’t panic.
Mohoric came back to them when hW Hs a puncture and Van Baarle made his first move driving the final selection away. This was despite the spirited Tom Devrient remaining clear from the initial breakaway.
The second Van Baarle attack was clinical and final with only Van Aert trying to respond, the rest were on their knees at this point.
But despite having Devrient, Stefan Kung and Mohoric back after his mechanical, they couldn’t get close to the Dutchman whose lead grew all the way through the final sectors and on into Roubaix.
Seeing Sir Dave Brailsford and Van Baarle embrace in the famous velodrome at the end of the race showed that despite having won Amstel and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (with Wout Poels) this was the one they wanted. And it was worth the 12 year wait to get it.
The fact that Quickstep continued their nightmare spring might have added a bit of gloss to the win and the feelings of joy perhaps? who knows?
But with the Ardennes coming up it will be interesting to see if that drought can end for the Belgian super team.
Was Scheldeprijs the best cobbled classic of 2022?
Alexander Kristoff produced a great escape from an elite group of sprinters and escape specialists to win this rainy classic.
There was a lot of pressure on Quickstep ahead of this one so it was surprising that they managed to miss the big crosswind split (it went near that tunnel you drive through on the way to Amsterdam!).
There was a bit of a chase but with some considerable distance to race there were some commitment issues in the group behind meaning Fabio Jakobsen was stranded and the mini Quickstep classics drought was set to go on.
Sam Bennett of Bora now looked a nailed on for the win but started to drift off the back as the cold and wet started to set in. His team mates tried to rally him but as with last years Gent-Wevelgem, when Bennett was tired, he was dropped.
The onus moved on to Alpecin who had managed to get both of their days sprinters, Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier in the move but with an attacking run in (maybe due to the riders wanting to get in from the cold!) it was Kristoff who made his acceleration stick.
There was a pursuit of sorts but the breakaway starting to fold in on their self and the Norwegian was away.
It was a brilliantly executed moment and his celebratory ride down the finishing straight was the Kristoff of old. It was brilliant.
So with all the new guard winning left, right and centre, this was a moment for us oldies.
Chapeau Alexander!
| Rnk | Rider | Team | UCI | Pnt | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 200 | 125 | 4:06:02 | |
| 2 | VAN POPPEL Danny | BORA – hansgrohe | 150 | 85 | 0:24 | |
| 3 | WELSFORD Sam | Team DSM | 125 | 60 | ,, | |
| 4 | VAN UDEN Casper | Team DSM | 100 | 50 | 0:26 | |
| 5 | THEUNS Edward | Trek – Segafredo | 85 | 45 | ,, | |
| 6 | VANBILSEN Kenneth | Cofidis | 70 | 40 | 0:28 | |
| 7 | MCLAY Daniel | Team Arkéa Samsic | 60 | 35 | ,, | |
| 8 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | Alpecin-Fenix | 50 | 30 | ,, | |
| 9 | MERLIER Tim | Alpecin-Fenix | 40 | 26 | ,, | |
| 10 | MULLEN Ryan | BORA – hansgrohe | 35 | 22 | ,, |
Tour of Flanders 2022 – The world vs Pogacar
With almost a week now to digest the race and craft my post, the first thing I want to say about RVV2022 was that it was a culturual triumph.
After what feels a lot longer than 3 disrupted seasons it was really emotional ( even watching on tv) to see packed kerbsides full of fans watching “their race” go by in a celebration of Flemish culture.
Its something that never leaves you as an experience. Its 6 years since I saw the race in the flesh but on Flanders Sunday I always wear my (now tatty) yellow lion socks for training.
It becomes part of you.
The race was one for the fans to savour. In my view the absence of Wout Van Aert through Covid 19 opened up the race and whilst the early breakaway always felt within catching distance the counter attack that was clear before the 2nd time up the Oude Kwaremont had enough quality in it to make you think.
Ben Turner was the Brit in pole position for a while, before the Paterberg saw Fred Wright power off the front. From a domestic point of view, this attacking kept us engaged as Tom Pidcock didn’t seem to be back to his best.
Tadej Pogacar made one decisive attack which managed to merge a group he created with that front group but on the climbs in the run in it was clear that he and Mathieu Van der Poel were head and shoulders above the rest.
They finally shook off the remaining breakaway riders on the final climb of the Kwaremont. The 2-up they rode up until the final kilometre was one us club riders dream of being able to sit on the back of!
In the final KM though their co-operation broke down with both freewheeling and neither wanting to open up the sprint.
This opened the door for Dylan Van Baarle and Valentin Madouas to zoom up to them and start the sprint. Pogacar wasn’t happy and waved his arms in disgust. Van der Poel concentrated on his sprting and landed his second win in some style and in a race with some finish.
| Rnk | Rider | Team | UCI | Pnt | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | Alpecin-Fenix | 500 | 275 | 6:18:30 | |
| 2 | VAN BAARLE Dylan | INEOS Grenadiers | 400 | 200 | ,, | |
| 3 | MADOUAS Valentin | Groupama – FDJ | 325 | 150 | ,, | |
| 4 | POGAČAR Tadej | UAE Team Emirates | 275 | 120 | ,, | |
| 5 | KÜNG Stefan | Groupama – FDJ | 225 | 100 | 0:02 | |
| 6 | TEUNS Dylan | Bahrain – Victorious | 175 | 90 | ,, | |
| 7 | WRIGHT Fred | Bahrain – Victorious | 150 | 80 | 0:11 | |
| 8 | PEDERSEN Mads | Trek – Segafredo | 125 | 70 | 0:48 | |
| 9 | LAPORTE Christophe | Jumbo-Visma | 100 | 60 | ,, | |
| 10 | KRISTOFF Alexander | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 85 | 50 |
Fendrien 