Classic Week!
Friday, April 6th, 2007
A week of super classic racing kicks off this Sunday with De Ronde, the Tour of Flanders. The 257km (160 miles) race, known in Belgium as De Ronde, starts in the two thousand year old city of Brugge, proceeds due west to the English Channel city of Oostende before doubling back towards the southeast. At 138km the riders will hit the first climb of the Flemish Ardennes, the Grotenberge. This is the first of 18 climbs that the race will cover before the finish in Meerbeke. Some of these climbs are asphalt, some are paved with cobble stones, but all of the climbs are quite steep. However, the Tour of Flanders is not a race for a climber. Typically the older, and more experienced members of the professional racing community do well at this race. Knowing the course, having the strength to get over the climbs with the leaders but also having the power to stay at the front of the race on the flat sections between the climbs, being at the right place at the right time is critical for success in De Ronde.
Gent-Wevelgem follows on Wednesday. Gent-Wevelgem does not have the long, cobblestone sections that make Paris-Roubaix unique nor does it have the numerous climbs of the Tour of Flanders. The race will climb over the Monteberg and then tackle the cobbled and steep ascent of the Kemmelberg. The course will then loop back upon itself and route the race back over the Kemmelberg a second time. It’s a long drag up to the top of the climb, which is marked by large monument honoring those killed in the fields of Flanders during World War I. It’s then a bone shaking descent back onto the flat road leading into the finish at Wevelgem.
Finally, the following Sunday, the Queen of the Classics takes place, Paris-Roubaix. there is no other race on earth quite like Paris-Roubaix. At 261 kilometers (162 miles), it’s not the longest race in the World Cup series, but it is the most grueling. No longer actually starting in Paris, the race starts in the northern French city of Compiegne. The course proceeds on a north eastern course on the flat terrain through the city of St. Quentin (59km). At the 99 kilometer point the race starts to get interesting as the riders encounter the first of the cobblestone sections. These cobblestones sections, called pavé, are between 100 meters and 3700 meters long and are extremely punishing to both the rider and his equipment. Crashes, flat tires, broken spokes and rims, broken handlebars and saddles, not to mention the extreme vibration fatigue that can suck the life out of a riders legs; all of these obstacles have to be beaten in an average Paris-Roubaix. But if the weather is bad, and the pavé is wet and muddy, the racing conditions will resemble your local ice skating rink and racing over stones the size of bread loafs without incident is impossible. Paul Sherwen once said that “Paris-Roubaix is not a race where you hope to have good luck, it’s a race where you hope not to have any bad luck.” Having stated this, there is a group of riders that will show up for this race Sunday morning having looked forward to the event every single day since they raced it the previous year. Some riders are just made for Paris-Roubaix. They are usually larger, stronger, older, and more experienced riders who know the course and know what to expect during the six hours of racing. Paris-Roubaix has the most beautiful finish of all World Cup races. Coming off a final section of pavé, the course sweeps through the streets of Roubaix and into the Roubaix velodrome for one and a half laps of the velodrome track. It’s the dream of all who start Paris-Roubaix to ride solo into the velodrome and be greeted by the thunderous cheers and applause of the fans lining the bleachers around the track.
Here are my picks for the week:
Tour of Flanders – Alessandro Ballan, Lampre: He was 5th in the race last year and 3rd in Paris-Roubaix. He’s clearly got the talent to be up front when the going gets tough. He was injured earlier in the year but his victory in the Driedaagse van De Panne this week proves that he is back on form.
Gent-Wevelgem – Allan Davis, Discovery: I think the race is going to come down to a sprint and I think Davis is as good a choice as any to be fast when it counts. Discovery is super motivated for success in 2007.
Paris-Roubaix – Juan Antonio Flecha, Rabobank: 12th in Flanders last year, 4th in Paris-Roubaix, the Spaniard loves these races but has not had the big victory as of yet. I think his number will be up this year in Roubaix.
We shall see how right I am.
