Spring classics 2026
Moderator: englishmods
Re: Spring classics 2026
It seems something went wrong with the inscription for 21h... I was signed up for the race and now I see that I am not in the race... Now my riders don't know what to do in Siena on a Saturday evening. Any advice where to go to forget about all of this?
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Still argh...
Donkey was painting a masterpiece, came along well, then he dropped his coffee cup all over the canvas. Argh. 64-76 with 76.9 leader, yes, Aurélien Bonjour, Ousland no 1, a bit of pointless misinformation and more importantly a little reward for him, he was our best rider in Omloop.
Plan was clear, and for once it went exactly as it did in our dreams (well, Omloop too, but there the plan was just do nothing forever, then a little bit) In my dreams I saw Aurélien sucking in a 3-5 man group as weakest climber, then winning. Preparation really went perfectly. Almost at least. Very early, unexpected sieb by Narren, wasn't too happy at first, 6 riders in front, but only one early helper... so Kagge on Aurélien, rest free. Narren with 9 then gave up, by then I had started to like the situation very much, after my planned sieb then not one group, but 2 behind, even better!! But Narren gave up and wasn't heard of anymore until the last km... So Donkey sieb km 66, Winzenried, 23 riders, 2 Donkeys ride back up, that's it, 25 riders, Vigni rides (plan was Kotibaruly first, but since Vigni rode a km to come back...)By the end of the sector advantage of almost 2' over one big group in the back (all 9 Narren there, he should have continued and then chased ahead of the slow last peloton with the 80-70) Still 1'19" when Winzenried went in again, at 102, 20 riders in front, Vigni gone, 4 Donkeys, 4 Sprees (but clearly fighting each time) 3 WZF, 3 Schnuggeritos, 3 BB Breakers 97, the latter 3 teams with classics, thus the favorites in that group. Kotibaruly, my last contribution to the group brought up the advantage to just over 3', normally then with Lambert's help, BB Breakers, after Monte Sante Marie still at 2'40" since he waited for Kotibaruly, ok, he kept riding a bit longer then, original plan was to stop after that sector, or more likely be dropped there. IMO would have made sense for the 3 guys with classics to go in there together... 3 guys in together can hold off the still slow peloton easily for 50+ km, risk of attacks is minimal, some people have a leader and helpers, some only helpless leaders...but of course they were reluctant, rather did it the more difficult way. At around 2' advantage Donkey out, Schnuggeritos in, drops Lambert soon, then despite already riding a few km drops 2 Sprees, that had been fighting a lot on Winzenried I guess, 16 riders left in front., still 2', very strong Cramer. Km 167 peloton finally accelerated, on a 6 a classic, in front WZF joined, but possibly too late to hope to keep the peloton away with the helpers I guess, so earlier action with leaders probably needed. Only 31" left before the second Colle Pinzuto, Mandyczewski goes in, 3 riders left, Bonjour at 5". And fighting off. DAMN. Would have had exactly my dreamscenario, +/- 20 km left, I'm the weakest, can suck. Would Bonjour have stayed with fighting? I was confident, but of course don't know. 8 more mountain, 0.4 more pavé, more energy (in the front group Bonjour always had 2 helpers, but before not, and with less flat costs more)... could be dropped, but assuming same form, somehow still think could have held on, with fighting. What happens then, we don't know. I probably would have ridden a bit too much, even if less than Schnuggeritos and Spree probably would have joined the first 2 km or so to get it going, then out, in my dreams already prepared the statement "I rode enough to give me a chance, not going to throw away it by riding more"... but yeah, probably as the over-optimistic Donkey would have ridden a bit too much and got 2nd or 3rd. Or maybe the group would have been caught, Donkey out more than half the km would have freaked out the later winner. The guy even let Schiffbauer ride the 3** alone. Imagine Donkey not riding 2 km pretty soon after!! Group not working big chance too. Or maybe I would have managed to be out enough and actually win it, who knows.. but more likely probably riding just a bit too much, follow but lose the sprint or something like that. All these scenarios would have been ok, from dropping while fighting, from riding too much, being dropped at Le Tolfe with 5** (very wary of those..), group doesn't work... but like this? Forget to put fighting in. At least I think I did, I sort of thought of putting it in, now counts, but probably didn't, because after being dropped saw the fighting at no...Such a basic mistake after riding it almost perfectly until then, after being in exactly the position I wanted to be, putting myself there. But well, 5" back, waited for the BB who was 3" further back, 15", but 3 vs 2, more flat in front, lost more and more, on Le Tolfe 5** though we kept the distance, well Aurélien did, Dubois didn't manage to get in tempo. IMO showed that if Rehberg and the 753rd generation Schiffbauer can stay there... and fight and slow down M on Le Tolfe, Aurélien there would be pretty ok. Maybe should have continued alone after being dropped, but wouldn't have come back anyway... In front Schiffbauer then took 8 km off, second last in again, IMO a mistake, but probably changed little. A bit more was needed, of the 18km Donkey probably would have tried to miss at least half, ride downhill, cover Le Tolfe, let the others out, but ride the first 2 or so km with them... But well, no fighting, dropped, all "could have". Frustrating after creating exactly what I wanted, doing exactly what I needed to do... In principle 4th with Aurélien is a good result, just that I took away the chance for more by being stupid.
In the back Lüthi then was an amazing 5th.. Never expected that, so 10th in the race... but guess that without the siebs, there would have been later anti 80-70 siebs and Lüthi with 70.6 pavé would have been in the siebed part... hm, that's what I assumed, looking at the peloton now.... he holds up pretty well against other classics. But hadn't really bothered with checking the opponents too closely, what for, I knew that for Aurélien I had to do what I had to do (but forgot about this fighting feature to put on later it seems), pretty regardless of what other teams have. And Lüthi simply didn't seem to have a way to the victory, much better chances for a placement, but win... still don't see how actually. For Aurélien yes, a tiny chance, but thought it was there, and if I had put fighting in it would have been there, still not huge, but.. So pretty happy with how I rode, but frustrating to make that mistake (would prefer to put fighting in and just be too weak, much better)
Anyway, next is Sanremo, well, Milano-Torino first, have to check if they kept the Superga version or went back to a sprint version, whichever it is, ready to win, if I overperfom (and 4th with Aurélien is overperforming, despite the frustrating end) like here, can't be beaten there! And then Kebede for Sanremo. IN the meantime we go and hang out a bit in France, but our heart stays in Italy
Donkey was painting a masterpiece, came along well, then he dropped his coffee cup all over the canvas. Argh. 64-76 with 76.9 leader, yes, Aurélien Bonjour, Ousland no 1, a bit of pointless misinformation and more importantly a little reward for him, he was our best rider in Omloop.
Plan was clear, and for once it went exactly as it did in our dreams (well, Omloop too, but there the plan was just do nothing forever, then a little bit) In my dreams I saw Aurélien sucking in a 3-5 man group as weakest climber, then winning. Preparation really went perfectly. Almost at least. Very early, unexpected sieb by Narren, wasn't too happy at first, 6 riders in front, but only one early helper... so Kagge on Aurélien, rest free. Narren with 9 then gave up, by then I had started to like the situation very much, after my planned sieb then not one group, but 2 behind, even better!! But Narren gave up and wasn't heard of anymore until the last km... So Donkey sieb km 66, Winzenried, 23 riders, 2 Donkeys ride back up, that's it, 25 riders, Vigni rides (plan was Kotibaruly first, but since Vigni rode a km to come back...)By the end of the sector advantage of almost 2' over one big group in the back (all 9 Narren there, he should have continued and then chased ahead of the slow last peloton with the 80-70) Still 1'19" when Winzenried went in again, at 102, 20 riders in front, Vigni gone, 4 Donkeys, 4 Sprees (but clearly fighting each time) 3 WZF, 3 Schnuggeritos, 3 BB Breakers 97, the latter 3 teams with classics, thus the favorites in that group. Kotibaruly, my last contribution to the group brought up the advantage to just over 3', normally then with Lambert's help, BB Breakers, after Monte Sante Marie still at 2'40" since he waited for Kotibaruly, ok, he kept riding a bit longer then, original plan was to stop after that sector, or more likely be dropped there. IMO would have made sense for the 3 guys with classics to go in there together... 3 guys in together can hold off the still slow peloton easily for 50+ km, risk of attacks is minimal, some people have a leader and helpers, some only helpless leaders...but of course they were reluctant, rather did it the more difficult way. At around 2' advantage Donkey out, Schnuggeritos in, drops Lambert soon, then despite already riding a few km drops 2 Sprees, that had been fighting a lot on Winzenried I guess, 16 riders left in front., still 2', very strong Cramer. Km 167 peloton finally accelerated, on a 6 a classic, in front WZF joined, but possibly too late to hope to keep the peloton away with the helpers I guess, so earlier action with leaders probably needed. Only 31" left before the second Colle Pinzuto, Mandyczewski goes in, 3 riders left, Bonjour at 5". And fighting off. DAMN. Would have had exactly my dreamscenario, +/- 20 km left, I'm the weakest, can suck. Would Bonjour have stayed with fighting? I was confident, but of course don't know. 8 more mountain, 0.4 more pavé, more energy (in the front group Bonjour always had 2 helpers, but before not, and with less flat costs more)... could be dropped, but assuming same form, somehow still think could have held on, with fighting. What happens then, we don't know. I probably would have ridden a bit too much, even if less than Schnuggeritos and Spree probably would have joined the first 2 km or so to get it going, then out, in my dreams already prepared the statement "I rode enough to give me a chance, not going to throw away it by riding more"... but yeah, probably as the over-optimistic Donkey would have ridden a bit too much and got 2nd or 3rd. Or maybe the group would have been caught, Donkey out more than half the km would have freaked out the later winner. The guy even let Schiffbauer ride the 3** alone. Imagine Donkey not riding 2 km pretty soon after!! Group not working big chance too. Or maybe I would have managed to be out enough and actually win it, who knows.. but more likely probably riding just a bit too much, follow but lose the sprint or something like that. All these scenarios would have been ok, from dropping while fighting, from riding too much, being dropped at Le Tolfe with 5** (very wary of those..), group doesn't work... but like this? Forget to put fighting in. At least I think I did, I sort of thought of putting it in, now counts, but probably didn't, because after being dropped saw the fighting at no...Such a basic mistake after riding it almost perfectly until then, after being in exactly the position I wanted to be, putting myself there. But well, 5" back, waited for the BB who was 3" further back, 15", but 3 vs 2, more flat in front, lost more and more, on Le Tolfe 5** though we kept the distance, well Aurélien did, Dubois didn't manage to get in tempo. IMO showed that if Rehberg and the 753rd generation Schiffbauer can stay there... and fight and slow down M on Le Tolfe, Aurélien there would be pretty ok. Maybe should have continued alone after being dropped, but wouldn't have come back anyway... In front Schiffbauer then took 8 km off, second last in again, IMO a mistake, but probably changed little. A bit more was needed, of the 18km Donkey probably would have tried to miss at least half, ride downhill, cover Le Tolfe, let the others out, but ride the first 2 or so km with them... But well, no fighting, dropped, all "could have". Frustrating after creating exactly what I wanted, doing exactly what I needed to do... In principle 4th with Aurélien is a good result, just that I took away the chance for more by being stupid.
In the back Lüthi then was an amazing 5th.. Never expected that, so 10th in the race... but guess that without the siebs, there would have been later anti 80-70 siebs and Lüthi with 70.6 pavé would have been in the siebed part... hm, that's what I assumed, looking at the peloton now.... he holds up pretty well against other classics. But hadn't really bothered with checking the opponents too closely, what for, I knew that for Aurélien I had to do what I had to do (but forgot about this fighting feature to put on later it seems), pretty regardless of what other teams have. And Lüthi simply didn't seem to have a way to the victory, much better chances for a placement, but win... still don't see how actually. For Aurélien yes, a tiny chance, but thought it was there, and if I had put fighting in it would have been there, still not huge, but.. So pretty happy with how I rode, but frustrating to make that mistake (would prefer to put fighting in and just be too weak, much better)
Anyway, next is Sanremo, well, Milano-Torino first, have to check if they kept the Superga version or went back to a sprint version, whichever it is, ready to win, if I overperfom (and 4th with Aurélien is overperforming, despite the frustrating end) like here, can't be beaten there! And then Kebede for Sanremo. IN the meantime we go and hang out a bit in France, but our heart stays in Italy
Kraftsystemrevision! Include the distance!
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Thanks to Alkworld, the Team FL riders were able to start in Siena, right on time. In the end, 2 secs were missing for the Fürst to garnish it, while Uchiha and his team mates showed, how it's done. Very interesting edition, very deserved winner at 21h.
Here the full list of winners for this year's Strade Bianche:
Here the full list of winners for this year's Strade Bianche:
07.03.2026: Strade Bianche (Cat. 5)
09h - Leonid Pavlenko (NoMoreLulz)
14h - Eusebius Mandyczewski (Wiener Zentralfriedhof RV)
18h - David Martinez (stevens)
21h - Sasuke Uchiha (Uomo Nero)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Next race: Milano - Torino, Wednesday 18 March 2026
Milano - Torino is called a "semi"-classic in the internet. Well, it's not part of the World Tour which leads to that description I guess. But it's part of the UCI ProSeries. And more important: Milano - Torino is the oldest classic race in the world, first raced in 1876. Interesting fact: The race was not run (or cycled) between the spring of 2007 and the autumn of 2012.
Until 1987, Milano - Torino was always one week before Milano - SanRemo and was seen as a preparation for La Primavera. However, in 1987 Milano–Torino was switched to a date in October just before the Giro di Lombardia because the race organisers were not happy with the weather conditions in early March in northern Italy. In 2005 Milan–Torino returned to its traditional date in early March until it was again put in October in 2008 exchanging dates with the Monte Paschi Eroica race (Strade Bianchi, remember?) which is now run in March. Because of all that switcheroo, the race got ill and was not held until 2012, when it was placed back to October. Since 2022, it's placed in the spring again.
So, Milano - Torino is not only the oldes classic race, its history and positioing in the calendar is quite bumpy. Which leads to profile: May I say that the evolution of its profile is similar to its history, like a roller coaster? Being a sprinters race from 2020 on, the profile changed back to a climber's race in 2025 with a finish after a steep climb up the Colle di Superga after passing the Bivio di Superga and a flat warm up for around 150 kms. Last year's winner was a climber again consequently. Isaac del Toro finished first after 174 kms.
This year's edition is exactly the same as last year, so a climber win is very likely again, also in C4F. But let's see who won the race last year in your beloved game (which isn't a game according to Gipfelstuermer, let alone fun). Anyway, the winners were: Yuta Okkotsu (Pokemonogatari), Enno Oper (Falcor), Owen Onley (bergwerk), Mekhti Abdulatipov (Team Dagestan) and Baptiste Firiam (Wiener Zentralfriedhof RV).
Who are the favourites you ask? Read you lazy bastard! Or think... but that's too much asked for some players. The answer: Climbers. Preferably with a decent flat skill not to lose to much power during the warm up. If it's a fast race. But be aware. Baptiste Firiam for example messed up the Giro after winning Milano - Torino. So a win could be a bad sign, maybe even a curse! We need more conspiracy theories in the game... which is yours?
Milano - Torino is called a "semi"-classic in the internet. Well, it's not part of the World Tour which leads to that description I guess. But it's part of the UCI ProSeries. And more important: Milano - Torino is the oldest classic race in the world, first raced in 1876. Interesting fact: The race was not run (or cycled) between the spring of 2007 and the autumn of 2012.
Until 1987, Milano - Torino was always one week before Milano - SanRemo and was seen as a preparation for La Primavera. However, in 1987 Milano–Torino was switched to a date in October just before the Giro di Lombardia because the race organisers were not happy with the weather conditions in early March in northern Italy. In 2005 Milan–Torino returned to its traditional date in early March until it was again put in October in 2008 exchanging dates with the Monte Paschi Eroica race (Strade Bianchi, remember?) which is now run in March. Because of all that switcheroo, the race got ill and was not held until 2012, when it was placed back to October. Since 2022, it's placed in the spring again.
So, Milano - Torino is not only the oldes classic race, its history and positioing in the calendar is quite bumpy. Which leads to profile: May I say that the evolution of its profile is similar to its history, like a roller coaster? Being a sprinters race from 2020 on, the profile changed back to a climber's race in 2025 with a finish after a steep climb up the Colle di Superga after passing the Bivio di Superga and a flat warm up for around 150 kms. Last year's winner was a climber again consequently. Isaac del Toro finished first after 174 kms.
This year's edition is exactly the same as last year, so a climber win is very likely again, also in C4F. But let's see who won the race last year in your beloved game (which isn't a game according to Gipfelstuermer, let alone fun). Anyway, the winners were: Yuta Okkotsu (Pokemonogatari), Enno Oper (Falcor), Owen Onley (bergwerk), Mekhti Abdulatipov (Team Dagestan) and Baptiste Firiam (Wiener Zentralfriedhof RV).
Who are the favourites you ask? Read you lazy bastard! Or think... but that's too much asked for some players. The answer: Climbers. Preferably with a decent flat skill not to lose to much power during the warm up. If it's a fast race. But be aware. Baptiste Firiam for example messed up the Giro after winning Milano - Torino. So a win could be a bad sign, maybe even a curse! We need more conspiracy theories in the game... which is yours?
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
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flockmastoR
- Posts: 3808
- Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:42 pm
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Re: Spring classics 2026
Really appreciate your historic comments about the classics.team fl wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2026 4:01 pmNext race: Milano - Torino, Wednesday 18 March 2026
Milano - Torino is called a "semi"-classic in the internet. Well, it's not part of the World Tour which leads to that description I guess. But it's part of the UCI ProSeries. And more important: Milano - Torino is the oldest classic race in the world, first raced in 1876. Interesting fact: The race was not run (or cycled) between the spring of 2007 and the autumn of 2012.
Until 1987, Milano - Torino was always one week before Milano - SanRemo and was seen as a preparation for La Primavera. However, in 1987 Milano–Torino was switched to a date in October just before the Giro di Lombardia because the race organisers were not happy with the weather conditions in early March in northern Italy. In 2005 Milan–Torino returned to its traditional date in early March until it was again put in October in 2008 exchanging dates with the Monte Paschi Eroica race (Strade Bianchi, remember?) which is now run in March. Because of all that switcheroo, the race got ill and was not held until 2012, when it was placed back to October. Since 2022, it's placed in the spring again.
So, Milano - Torino is not only the oldes classic race, its history and positioing in the calendar is quite bumpy. Which leads to profile: May I say that the evolution of its profile is similar to its history, like a roller coaster? Being a sprinters race from 2020 on, the profile changed back to a climber's race in 2025 with a finish after a steep climb up the Colle di Superga after passing the Bivio di Superga and a flat warm up for around 150 kms. Last year's winner was a climber again consequently. Isaac del Toro finished first after 174 kms.
This year's edition is exactly the same as last year, so a climber win is very likely again, also in C4F. But let's see who won the race last year in your beloved game (which isn't a game according to Gipfelstuermer, let alone fun). Anyway, the winners were: Yuta Okkotsu (Pokemonogatari), Enno Oper (Falcor), Owen Onley (bergwerk), Mekhti Abdulatipov (Team Dagestan) and Baptiste Firiam (Wiener Zentralfriedhof RV).
WZF this year will not play a big role, Falco best climber with only 74 mountain. So we will try our luck in an early escape or not ride at all.
Who are the favourites you ask? Read you lazy bastard! Or think... but that's too much asked for some players. The answer: Climbers. Preferably with a decent flat skill not to lose to much power during the warm up. If it's a fast race. But be aware. Baptiste Firiam for example messed up the Giro after winning Milano - Torino. So a win could be a bad sign, maybe even a curse! We need more conspiracy theories in the game... which is yours?
A good climber is needed but also a strong team. The 2 climbs finish with just little flat in between is dangerous and Okkotu showed last year how to win attacking on the first climb and support from the early escape group. As for Baptiste, he won this classic for Alive And Dead, not for Wiener Zentralfriedhof RV. And he was cursed for sure, already at AAD but even more in his later team at the GIRO, he still had a good carreer all together
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not
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flockmastoR
- Posts: 3808
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Re: Spring classics 2026
Milano - Torino: Morning edition
Due to some short term work appointment in the afternoon, WZF started in the morning. With a rather new team having a 89 climber (Oswaldo Mosquera) and besides that weak support, it didn't look too bad also for chances out of a group first. Many other teams thought the same, especially those who wanted to bring helpers over the first Superga passage. A big group was formed with 15 riders from 9 teams, including co-favorite and later winner team SV Furpach and co-favorite and later third place Dreizehn. Many good 60-80s with strong downhill skills, so a big potential danger to the favorites. r FCSL did chase hardly from the beginning, and so there was never really a chance to go for the stage but the gap was 2:30 on foot of the first climb and therefore could be used for attacks. WZF with our best classic Hölzel just climbing up on 75 mountain in training recently and topform for Milano - Torino hoped to be part of a 80-70/young climber double attack (we figured out Bugatti was the one to hang) and to surprisingly win on the climb later. But the attack was done without the Bugatti riders, the 80-70s of Dreizehn, Allagen, Furpach and OBK attacked and reached the top 47s behind the 3 escape riders (Adams, Miller, Liebgott) while Dreizehns Pauls already waited his leader Barbosa. So attacking one km earlier was possible for them. Instead of attacking himself, Bugatti's Lompo did ride in the back leaving just a small gap of 10s between the 80-70 attack and the peloton.
Here our big mistake happened, instead of think about where to hang for the rest with Hölzel, we wanted to force it, attack and wait with Adams and easily being carried by the 80-70 group. But we ended up behind them, Hölzel needed to ride a lot of downhill kms and the downhill, the attack from behind (Allagens + Bugattis + all support classics of the guys in front) got together with the early 80-70 group. Problem was that Oswaldo was also there. But the group pushed and attacked Oswaldo on the last flat km before the final climb having 28s now on the peloton with r FSCL riding with his helper climber. Due to the multiple attacks, the 80-70s were weaker and lost too much time against the 84 climber helper. Hölzel could still stay in the 80-70 group even with wasting a lot of energy (red attack on 3, 5 km tempo) that finally wasnt necessary. He was in the top group until the very last km were he was dropped by the climbers and finished on place 13.
In peloton, Leick attacked on the 11 with Liu Bei being able to follow. But it was perfectly blocked by Ansach and could only gain 2s. Leick and Bei with no final attack were overtook by the attacks of Carlos Noriega and Gregor Großmann. While Großmann pushed Noriega out of tempo on the block 11 km, Großmann was stronger on the final km and took the win. Leick, whos team did 90% of the work only finished 4th even behind Leick.
With 75-78, our chances were not even small, but with a good following a top 5 place would be reachable. Without the panic attack right after the climb, Falco has more energy for the final climb, but I don't see anybody that would then land behind him, just 80-70s in front of him.
Due to some short term work appointment in the afternoon, WZF started in the morning. With a rather new team having a 89 climber (Oswaldo Mosquera) and besides that weak support, it didn't look too bad also for chances out of a group first. Many other teams thought the same, especially those who wanted to bring helpers over the first Superga passage. A big group was formed with 15 riders from 9 teams, including co-favorite and later winner team SV Furpach and co-favorite and later third place Dreizehn. Many good 60-80s with strong downhill skills, so a big potential danger to the favorites. r FCSL did chase hardly from the beginning, and so there was never really a chance to go for the stage but the gap was 2:30 on foot of the first climb and therefore could be used for attacks. WZF with our best classic Hölzel just climbing up on 75 mountain in training recently and topform for Milano - Torino hoped to be part of a 80-70/young climber double attack (we figured out Bugatti was the one to hang) and to surprisingly win on the climb later. But the attack was done without the Bugatti riders, the 80-70s of Dreizehn, Allagen, Furpach and OBK attacked and reached the top 47s behind the 3 escape riders (Adams, Miller, Liebgott) while Dreizehns Pauls already waited his leader Barbosa. So attacking one km earlier was possible for them. Instead of attacking himself, Bugatti's Lompo did ride in the back leaving just a small gap of 10s between the 80-70 attack and the peloton.
Here our big mistake happened, instead of think about where to hang for the rest with Hölzel, we wanted to force it, attack and wait with Adams and easily being carried by the 80-70 group. But we ended up behind them, Hölzel needed to ride a lot of downhill kms and the downhill, the attack from behind (Allagens + Bugattis + all support classics of the guys in front) got together with the early 80-70 group. Problem was that Oswaldo was also there. But the group pushed and attacked Oswaldo on the last flat km before the final climb having 28s now on the peloton with r FSCL riding with his helper climber. Due to the multiple attacks, the 80-70s were weaker and lost too much time against the 84 climber helper. Hölzel could still stay in the 80-70 group even with wasting a lot of energy (red attack on 3, 5 km tempo) that finally wasnt necessary. He was in the top group until the very last km were he was dropped by the climbers and finished on place 13.
In peloton, Leick attacked on the 11 with Liu Bei being able to follow. But it was perfectly blocked by Ansach and could only gain 2s. Leick and Bei with no final attack were overtook by the attacks of Carlos Noriega and Gregor Großmann. While Großmann pushed Noriega out of tempo on the block 11 km, Großmann was stronger on the final km and took the win. Leick, whos team did 90% of the work only finished 4th even behind Leick.
With 75-78, our chances were not even small, but with a good following a top 5 place would be reachable. Without the panic attack right after the climb, Falco has more energy for the final climb, but I don't see anybody that would then land behind him, just 80-70s in front of him.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not
Re: Spring classics 2026
Thanks for the detailed morning report. Here are all winners of this year's Milano - Torino edition:
Next up: MSR18.03.2026: Milano - Torino (Cat. 4)
10h Carlos Noriega (SV Furpach)
15h Michael Redrocks (Falcor)
19h Kamila Zuk (Schappy)
22h Santonio Holmes (RSV Gera)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Si avvicina il primo grande appuntamento dell'anno: La Classica di primavera, La Classicissima, La Primavera! È la prima delle cinque Classiche del ciclismo dell'anno e una delle gare ciclistiche di un giorno più prestigiose al mondo. Milano-Sanremo è anche, con i suoi 298 chilometri, la gara di un giorno più lunga del ciclismo moderno. Si è disputata per la prima volta nel 1907.
Ma non è solo la gara in sé ad essere prestigiosa, bensì anche l’elenco dei vincitori. Harald Mühlenberg, Stefano Benni, Alex Aleilefaleula, solo per citarne tre. Naturalmente ci sono anche vincitori meno importanti come Eddie Merckx, Gino Bartali o Erik Zabel. Nel 2025 il vincitore è stato Mathieu van der Poel, che anche quest'anno figura tra i favoriti.
A vincere la gara non sono stati solo corridori con una buona potenza, ma anche velocisti che se la cavano bene in salita (Philippsen, Cavendish, ecc.), bravi discesisti (Nibali, Mohoric) o specialisti delle classiche come van Aert o Cancellara. Questo è ciò che rende la gara così estremamente interessante. Di solito la verità si svela dopo la Cipressa, quando si sale e si scende dal Poggio verso il rettilineo finale verso Sanremo. Prima di vedere chi sono i favoriti di quest'anno, diamo un'occhiata ai vincitori dell'anno scorso:
2025: Roy Louis (Bugatti), Egon Esswein (Bahrain-Merida), Issa Sangaré (Jokers), Alex Alailefaleula (Team FL)
Velocisti, velocisti a prova di salita, fuggitivi, velocisti. Quindi nessun specialista delle classiche l'anno scorso. Vediamo se quest'anno ce la farà qualcuno. I favoriti sono molti. Chi vedi in testa?
Ma non è solo la gara in sé ad essere prestigiosa, bensì anche l’elenco dei vincitori. Harald Mühlenberg, Stefano Benni, Alex Aleilefaleula, solo per citarne tre. Naturalmente ci sono anche vincitori meno importanti come Eddie Merckx, Gino Bartali o Erik Zabel. Nel 2025 il vincitore è stato Mathieu van der Poel, che anche quest'anno figura tra i favoriti.
A vincere la gara non sono stati solo corridori con una buona potenza, ma anche velocisti che se la cavano bene in salita (Philippsen, Cavendish, ecc.), bravi discesisti (Nibali, Mohoric) o specialisti delle classiche come van Aert o Cancellara. Questo è ciò che rende la gara così estremamente interessante. Di solito la verità si svela dopo la Cipressa, quando si sale e si scende dal Poggio verso il rettilineo finale verso Sanremo. Prima di vedere chi sono i favoriti di quest'anno, diamo un'occhiata ai vincitori dell'anno scorso:
2025: Roy Louis (Bugatti), Egon Esswein (Bahrain-Merida), Issa Sangaré (Jokers), Alex Alailefaleula (Team FL)
Velocisti, velocisti a prova di salita, fuggitivi, velocisti. Quindi nessun specialista delle classiche l'anno scorso. Vediamo se quest'anno ce la farà qualcuno. I favoriti sono molti. Chi vedi in testa?
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Milano-Torino done, Donkey failed, the tactic of course do nothing, if critical try to help prevent relais stations, then second Superga, block n' go. Well, failed at that, lost patience, but how am I to resist a slow 80 going up, attack, 8" gained, caught, 6th. Of course block n'go wouldn't have worked for the win either most likely, 11-8, block 11, 85 vs 87 Block 11, I don't get back at 8 normally, only works if they go earlier, so I would have been in for the block 1 km earlier too... Anyway, doesn't matter, even with patience would have fought for 3rd/4th, now sixth, ok.
But more important:
MILANO-SANREMO
Bad news. The Donkey doesn't feel it this year. Right now he lacks the necessary hate for his opponents, the disgust at their low skills, their cowardice in choosing their field not by time but which opponents fit best, lacks the general sense of superiority over all you useless peasants. And that's what you need to win in Sanremo. Hate! Aggressiveness! Not for other races, but somehow can't find it right now. This competitive anger that brings you wins in Via Roma. Let's see if I find it in the next 6 hours.
Despite that, we start of course:
The team:
DS in first car: P. Taiaroa
Second car: R. Henri
1 D. Kebede: Leader, 66 with 78 sprint, he's a bit unhappy with management, he's been told that only Sanremo counts for him, and now his support team is rather weak, embarrassingly weak.
His comment: I'll try to win, if the team and hopefully others bring me in position, you can count on me.
2 A. Bongiorno: 50 mountain, 86 sprint, our second sprinter. In case the hill sprinters are caught, very likely if it depends on my heroic team, we have Arcadio. He's very enthusiastic about this sort of surprise nomination, we are much less convinced it makes sense. After all it's likely he'll end up behind most other flat sprinters on the Cipressa.
I've been told that I maybe won't ride the Giro, despite the promise when I signed here. So riding Sanremo makes up for that, winning Sanremo is like winning 3 Giro stages! And who knows, a win here might convince the Donkey to take me to the Giro after all
3 A. Bonjour: 66-76, helper for Kebede. Good for downhill, not much else really with 76 flat. Unlikely to get his own chance, apart from the missing flat he has too little sprint as well.
Sanremo, good preparation for the other spring monuments I guess. Flanders, Roubaix, Liège, that's my races, here... I don't know, what do they expect me to do?
4 P. Gallego: 74-79. Yes, he's still alive, first race since Oman. And here he's our best helper, 74-79, that's good for Kebede. Cipressa and Poggio his terrain.
I'm ready, of course I'm in good shape, I trained, if we fail, it won't be because of me. I'm more than ready.
5. B. Gjeldens: 50-77-79 with reg, so clearly a helper for the early part. Bring bottles, navigate the peloton for the rider he has to protect.
My first really big race, seems I'll ride almost all big races for the team this year. Good, look forward to this here, if I can help, I'm ready. Tempo, I like doing tempo, can start whenever the DS tells me.
6 T. Onkelinx: 58-81, he was at 84 flat 7 trainings ago, when he turned 33... While with him at 83 or 84 the team still wouldn't be good, at least a bit better. Helper for after the Cipressa, well, the original plan, as it stands he's useless there. His role will be decided after we see the opponents. From still helped for Kebede to helped for Bongiorno to helper from km 1, all is possible.
I'm sorry Donkey! He didn't actually say that, but it's the only statement we accept from that downtrainer.
7 E. Ousland: 60-83, decent enough helper for Kebede. More mountain would have helped. Maybe an advanced hacking course would make it possible for us to exchange him for his younger win brother...that would help Kebede immensely. But Erling is ok too, limited usefulness if we have to wait for him, since we lose a few seconds that Kebede probably is ahead, but then in the flat part before the Cipressa he can help.
Of course I'll give everything for Kebede, that's why I'm here. Donkey claiming my brother is better? Well, Björn sure has made big progress lately, we were pretty equal when we turned pro, but he was always a better in the mountains, so.... if the Donkey wanted my brother he could have signed him...
8 F. Vigni: Helper, early helper, probably for Bongiorno, unless we give up on him from the start.
No need to worry about Arcadio, I'll keep him fit till the Cipressa, after that it's up to him. But until then, I'm experienced enough to make sure that he won't suffer.
9 L. Winzenried: 89 flat, good to have if we need fast tempo at some point. Well, at some point before the Cipressa. Keeping him fit for Arcadio makes little sense since if Arcadio is in the sprinters group, flat mass to be expected. If he's behind, the flat mass will keep Lukas behind too.
My grandfather Anton Hasler was in escape here from km 1 or 2 till the Poggio! He keeps telling me to do the same, I just might. The Donkey and Taiaroa are not too confident due to the team that is not fitting the parcours so well? Then let me have a go! I can bring the an escape to the end, just to show my grandfather that I'm as good as he was! Better!
But more important:
MILANO-SANREMO
Bad news. The Donkey doesn't feel it this year. Right now he lacks the necessary hate for his opponents, the disgust at their low skills, their cowardice in choosing their field not by time but which opponents fit best, lacks the general sense of superiority over all you useless peasants. And that's what you need to win in Sanremo. Hate! Aggressiveness! Not for other races, but somehow can't find it right now. This competitive anger that brings you wins in Via Roma. Let's see if I find it in the next 6 hours.
Despite that, we start of course:
The team:
DS in first car: P. Taiaroa
Second car: R. Henri
1 D. Kebede: Leader, 66 with 78 sprint, he's a bit unhappy with management, he's been told that only Sanremo counts for him, and now his support team is rather weak, embarrassingly weak.
His comment: I'll try to win, if the team and hopefully others bring me in position, you can count on me.
2 A. Bongiorno: 50 mountain, 86 sprint, our second sprinter. In case the hill sprinters are caught, very likely if it depends on my heroic team, we have Arcadio. He's very enthusiastic about this sort of surprise nomination, we are much less convinced it makes sense. After all it's likely he'll end up behind most other flat sprinters on the Cipressa.
I've been told that I maybe won't ride the Giro, despite the promise when I signed here. So riding Sanremo makes up for that, winning Sanremo is like winning 3 Giro stages! And who knows, a win here might convince the Donkey to take me to the Giro after all
3 A. Bonjour: 66-76, helper for Kebede. Good for downhill, not much else really with 76 flat. Unlikely to get his own chance, apart from the missing flat he has too little sprint as well.
Sanremo, good preparation for the other spring monuments I guess. Flanders, Roubaix, Liège, that's my races, here... I don't know, what do they expect me to do?
4 P. Gallego: 74-79. Yes, he's still alive, first race since Oman. And here he's our best helper, 74-79, that's good for Kebede. Cipressa and Poggio his terrain.
I'm ready, of course I'm in good shape, I trained, if we fail, it won't be because of me. I'm more than ready.
5. B. Gjeldens: 50-77-79 with reg, so clearly a helper for the early part. Bring bottles, navigate the peloton for the rider he has to protect.
My first really big race, seems I'll ride almost all big races for the team this year. Good, look forward to this here, if I can help, I'm ready. Tempo, I like doing tempo, can start whenever the DS tells me.
6 T. Onkelinx: 58-81, he was at 84 flat 7 trainings ago, when he turned 33... While with him at 83 or 84 the team still wouldn't be good, at least a bit better. Helper for after the Cipressa, well, the original plan, as it stands he's useless there. His role will be decided after we see the opponents. From still helped for Kebede to helped for Bongiorno to helper from km 1, all is possible.
I'm sorry Donkey! He didn't actually say that, but it's the only statement we accept from that downtrainer.
7 E. Ousland: 60-83, decent enough helper for Kebede. More mountain would have helped. Maybe an advanced hacking course would make it possible for us to exchange him for his younger win brother...that would help Kebede immensely. But Erling is ok too, limited usefulness if we have to wait for him, since we lose a few seconds that Kebede probably is ahead, but then in the flat part before the Cipressa he can help.
Of course I'll give everything for Kebede, that's why I'm here. Donkey claiming my brother is better? Well, Björn sure has made big progress lately, we were pretty equal when we turned pro, but he was always a better in the mountains, so.... if the Donkey wanted my brother he could have signed him...
8 F. Vigni: Helper, early helper, probably for Bongiorno, unless we give up on him from the start.
No need to worry about Arcadio, I'll keep him fit till the Cipressa, after that it's up to him. But until then, I'm experienced enough to make sure that he won't suffer.
9 L. Winzenried: 89 flat, good to have if we need fast tempo at some point. Well, at some point before the Cipressa. Keeping him fit for Arcadio makes little sense since if Arcadio is in the sprinters group, flat mass to be expected. If he's behind, the flat mass will keep Lukas behind too.
My grandfather Anton Hasler was in escape here from km 1 or 2 till the Poggio! He keeps telling me to do the same, I just might. The Donkey and Taiaroa are not too confident due to the team that is not fitting the parcours so well? Then let me have a go! I can bring the an escape to the end, just to show my grandfather that I'm as good as he was! Better!
Kraftsystemrevision! Include the distance!
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
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Tukhtahuaev
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Re: Spring classics 2026
After 4 podiums in the past it is finally over. Artem Palamarchuk wins MSR in a sprint of a somewhat reduced group. Pretty uneventful race until Cipressa. There Palamarchuk 1s ahead of Schreyvogel. Thought I should just wait for him to do the end together, but somehow got tempted into trying without him to get an easy win. Tested a few km, but then chickened out again. Would have been much better to just commit to waiting immediately. In the end it didn't hurt much, since neither sprinters nor classics were anywhere close to being strong enough. A late Rehberg attack looked dangerous, but with only 71 downhill he could not stay ahead.
In the sprint then difficult decisions to make. Unibet Rose Rockets with the sole competitive train, Zelinka from WZF hanging, followed by Palamarchuk and Schreyvogel. Nothing happening until 200m to go when Schreyvogel loses his cool and goes early. Asegedech from Unibet goes on his wheel, with Palamarchuk right behind. 100m to go Palamarchuk goes and it is enough for the win. Surprisingly Asegedech also manages to beat Schreyvogel to secure second place.
Extremely happy to have finally won this one. By far the most exhausting race eventhough almost nothing happens for 2 hours
In the sprint then difficult decisions to make. Unibet Rose Rockets with the sole competitive train, Zelinka from WZF hanging, followed by Palamarchuk and Schreyvogel. Nothing happening until 200m to go when Schreyvogel loses his cool and goes early. Asegedech from Unibet goes on his wheel, with Palamarchuk right behind. 100m to go Palamarchuk goes and it is enough for the win. Surprisingly Asegedech also manages to beat Schreyvogel to secure second place.
Extremely happy to have finally won this one. By far the most exhausting race eventhough almost nothing happens for 2 hours
Re: Spring classics 2026
GW!
Team FL will try its luck at 15h. And a lot of luck will be needed... line up is easy. A sprinter (too young), two classics (too little sprint) and 6 helper that don't suit the profile very well. A worthy challenge
Team FL will try its luck at 15h. And a lot of luck will be needed... line up is easy. A sprinter (too young), two classics (too little sprint) and 6 helper that don't suit the profile very well. A worthy challenge
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
15 h was a pretty horrible race. But as usual in MSR the finale makes up for a lot of it, this time all, kind of. Was still pretty horrible overall.
First glance, ok, forget Kebede. Shitloads of classics, no other hill sprinter that can help, No way I get back with Ousland, Gallego and Aurélien. Sprinters strong, no way I keep them away. Short 8 minute walk to buy a soft drink, get even fatter and clear my head.. ok, once back the plan was clear. Winzenried-Kebede-Bongiorno train, those are kept fit, Gallego too, need for the Cipressa and then hopefully Poggio, Ousland and Bonjour part of the early 6 fit riders attempt (so much for nothing o do for 2 hours, changing helper settings all the time...) Gave up after a while, after all didn't really need Bonjour for my new plan, just the 4 helped, OUsland free.
First impression was also: This might be a classic win. Next thought, no, they never ride, it's the escape. Ok, Gjeldnes on a BW, thought a safe bet for the attack, wasn't. Dammit.
Race: Group goes, nobody does anything. Of course with Black star and Vikings 2 of the classic favorites ahead (but then they both were dropped by Hoyos on the Cipressa). Then. Nothing happens. For the Donkey very clear, Bugatti is the biggest favorite. It's not a clear win, it never is, but with 54-67 and 89 sprint, he's assured to be in any flat sprinters group. He can even try to go it almost alone, without most others, Toornstra 58-69 with 87 will be there, the rest can be behind. But since the classic armada looks strong, despite 2 classics (only 73) Pinder (55-89-77, perfect guy for MillerUibo) Christie and Miller, 2 fit classics plus Pinder and MillerUibo, or 1 fit classic plus Christie, occasional Miller helping to keep him ahead too for some downhilling maybe) not sure to get them, then he still can wait for the next group, SWP, Gipfel, shouldn't be too far have helpful riders for the chase... He is there for the sprint, possibly with the strongest sprinter. The 92 guy was never going to survive the Poggio, never coming back, and offline, never came on. The 90 with 49-68, ok, but was offline for a long time, became pretty clear he would be already weakened... Obviously Bugatti the first one that needs to ride of the sprinters. He didn't. Group stops, then goes again, at 13', 46km Alpacas goes in. Kudos to him, he believed in his classic chances, worked for it. Advantage grows to 18', second rider in. 17' on top of Turchino, ok, surely Bugatti helps now, might be too late already, but maybe he was scared of an early classics sieb, drop some sprinters, have them chase already a first time (sort of would have even made sense for once, usually the annoying Turchino siebs are completely for nothing) NOthing from Bugatti. Lulz goes in. Kudos to him too, he tried. At km 190 in front the leaders go in with 14' advantage, in the back the first sprinter, Gipfel. Finally. But shouldn't have been Gipfel, should have been Bugatti. But good work by Gipfel too. Originally I had thought that if Bugatti, then probably Romoc and Gipfel ride, I would add Gjeldnes as well, show goodwill, Donkey shows goodwill too. But like this, group can have it, with Kebede who can only be in a flat sprint, Arcadio who is very critical with his 50-60... despite then being the only one with train (I assume by then most thought I would try for that, Kebede after all made no sense) still only 86 leader and more importantly very unsure to be there. But well, no Bugatti, the question of riding didn't even come up in that case. 50 km later, thanks to Gipfel-Alpacas-Lulz advantage down to exactly 10'. Group is still through, all too late. Km 243 finally Bugatti in. Laughable, way too late anyway, the front still with 9'37"... go blue, red, easy. Some offlining and out of tempo by SWP, nothing tragic, he has no sprint there anyway, but at km 257, before the Cipressa, advantage is down to 7'17", losing 8" per km... no idea why they didn't change to blue. Yes, it's not very evenly distributed in front, but talk, SWP and Black Stars maybe can convince the others to do it blue blue blue green green for a while.
Capo Berta, Battistella doing the second km red, very good work by Gipfel, he started before Bugatti, of course late, but why not, in the end better to let the sucker suck and try to win than just giving it away with Delpierre. Of course with Del Piero would have been better, Italians overperform, see Arcadio. Or at least communicate, but well, communication with Gipfel, good luck with that. He'll accuse you of wanting to destroy the game, so maybe better he didn't attempt any communication with Bugatti. In front still green, just under 5' at the start of the Cipressa... until there basically good cooperation, but still going green a bit risky, they were sure to go through if they went blue, red, energy can't have been a problem. There they started going out, only from the 6 red. After the 5 advantage under 3' a bit under 20km to go, this is risky, even going red now, the back is close, They really lost it before the Cipressa I think, didn't help themselves later, but IMO here more important.
Back to the back, Hoyos siebs a bit form dependent, but 71 basically gone, rest fights and stays.
Sprinters:
Kebede at 9"
Toornstra at 14" of course without any helpers with him...
Miller Uibo at 16"
Delpierre at 18"
Verwimp, Bongiorno and Humes, 81 Poke at 20" Very lucky for me to be with Verwimp, if I'm without him... Winzenried waits the next km but vs the FL machine...
AFter the 5, 18" for the classics, replay says a classic rode, not Hoyos anymore, so same pace as Gipfel, Bugatti waited immediately, not wrong. Gallego and Lautaro still 2" behind, carrying their leaders, while Poke seemed to break (had to put yes alone in....) UP to 4 vs Pinder the next km, Bugatti though waiting for the firepower behind, only SWP riding, who kept it at 4" on the 1. Here not waiting might have made sense for Bugatti. IF he then commits to the chase fully with the ones he has there. The classic group? AS could be feared, they didn't collaborate, only 13" ahead of Bugatti, Alpacas and Lulz with 66-65 the best sprinters, but RFM with 3 guys, 60+62 sprint, didn't think of riding for his chances until after the downhill. Just ride, once he went in they lost 3" per km, if he goes in earlier, they don't lose time in downhill, they are faster on top... Downhill, we don't get much closer, to Bugatti, then SWP goes out too and waits. The front now rides, well 3 of them. The low sprint guys didn't. In the flat in the classic group Lulz joined, no downhill, so ok, but still no RfM, buy now of course too late. 284 the sprinters are back, now in mass, of course once again Bugatti needed convincing to put in a second rider, he seemed more intent of minimizing his chances than maximizing...
In front now they completly stop collaborating, taking turns going out.. that was ok if they had gone blue earlier, like this? Weird. 1'16" bottom of Poggio, Hoyos back in, Donkey scrambling to take all help of Bongiorno... high tempo, probably fighting on the 5 on the Cipressa, was pretty doubtful he would survive that, he did, but 40 energy gone. Group split, attack, but was too late. No chance anymore
Ok, sprint
Donkey convinced to have Bugatti and many others on the wheel.. .so thought, ok, slow train, Gallego, still pretty fit actually, over 800 first, then Winzenried, to be able to go it slow. Other trains, still can try to jump there, and if not go with Winzenried early. NO other sprinter on me... dammit, why Gallego??? Winzenried goes, keeps the pace of the POketrain, that's good. But went at 350 with Kebede anyway, Kebede gets in front, but then at 250 MillerUibo changes to Sopoaga, the 68 in my wheel. probably should have gone there, but only thought of it after the race. Still, the Donkey wife to blame, she insisted that I tell her good night right then, told her to wait 5 minutes she yelled NO, so off we run, when back, MillerUibo is there. Perfect change for MillerUibo possible there, maybe acually staying in front of the screen would have seen it and risked it? Humes 81 Poke then goes, Bongiorno goes to him, then at 150 needs to go, so does Miller, hoped for some blockage, there was some , but nowhere near enough, already less than 1 bike length. Going at 250 better, or maybe at 200, maybe MillerUibo was still on Sopoaga? Then he is dropped with him.. hoped for that at 150 a bit, but seemed likely he goes anyway, had to, and if not hang on me directly. Delpierre went at 150 too, that possibly cost him the win? Would have been way more deserved than MillerUibo.. .yes, he won, so he did everything right... actually from the sprinter faction it was Gipfel who did everything right if anything. followed by FL and Donkey. We of course could do little wrong, being at risk, riding early made little sense (only to keep the tempo slower, but well, that's only an option if Bugatti works early) FL then way back in the sprinter line, then unlucky blocking losses. Romoc did basically nothing, except telling us he rode.. 4km before going out again. Then came back in for another 3 km... FL fully in, Donkey out in downhills, once it was clear we would be there, we rode full power... (I'm still not sure if it made sense for the ones in front to let us back though, have the feeling it didn't, they had enough power without us, not sure why, maybe to ahve trains, Poke and Donks?) The rest? Gipfel very very good, also with classics in early hills, very important. Alpacas and Lulz tried for their chance, didn't get the timely help they should have later, then maybe the classics have a little chance, maybe Hoyos for the 5 to would have been even better though.
IN the end an uninspiring winner, how can you refuse tempo for 240 km when you have the safest bet for a sprint? Which yes, doesn't guarantee a win, but except Romoc, nobody else was assured of being in the first sprinters group. And one doesn't ride for 240 km, the other one starts for 7 km after the Cipressa? People, do something... keep Donks-FL-Poke away, even that better than doing nothign at all. Ride for your chances, maximize them. That's what Gipfel did, going all out for Delpierre once he decided that he had to do it himself, couldn't wait for the 2 jokers with better chances. Use Batistella early, drop classic sprint dark horse Bougault for Delpierre, ride. Excellent race, only thing that maybe was better the same as the rest, why let the Donkey and FL back? Ok, having more guys that ride, not bad, having trains, gives structure, but maybe hang on Bugatti without much structure better? Waiting can be ok, I just personally like the non-waiting more in Sanremo, never let opponents back (unless you need them, which I don't really think they did). Didn't use Bigovic at all it seems. Strong race, sprint at 150 was bad though. Bugatti on the other hand did a very good sprint, nothing to say there.
Donkey, first moment, did what I could, nowin retrospect... just try at 250, seemed clear that Bugatti changes. Go, get an advantage, he then is probably beaten, can try to go back to Humes, can try to catch me, but then Delpierre will get him. Had a real chance there, grrr. blame the wife!!! Or maybe go at 200 hoping MillerUibo is still on the Sopoanga...
Ah well, fourth, not bad, but yes, with the present of having nobody in my wheel, Gallego start (but that probably not decisive, just can go 50 later with Kebede, but MillerUibo still can change I guess?).. .250.. 200, that was it. Oh well... tried, with a 50-60, was limit that I reached it, once tempo went up he really started losing energy, got 2 helpers pretty immediately, now 68 less energy than Kebede with max 1 helper (although towards the end it got messy, possible I had it all wrong at times) while sprinting 200 meters less? So 108 less energy at the start of the sprint? He suffered, fighting was 40... still should have gone at 250 though, that was the moment, enough or not, who knows, but that was the moment.
First glance, ok, forget Kebede. Shitloads of classics, no other hill sprinter that can help, No way I get back with Ousland, Gallego and Aurélien. Sprinters strong, no way I keep them away. Short 8 minute walk to buy a soft drink, get even fatter and clear my head.. ok, once back the plan was clear. Winzenried-Kebede-Bongiorno train, those are kept fit, Gallego too, need for the Cipressa and then hopefully Poggio, Ousland and Bonjour part of the early 6 fit riders attempt (so much for nothing o do for 2 hours, changing helper settings all the time...) Gave up after a while, after all didn't really need Bonjour for my new plan, just the 4 helped, OUsland free.
First impression was also: This might be a classic win. Next thought, no, they never ride, it's the escape. Ok, Gjeldnes on a BW, thought a safe bet for the attack, wasn't. Dammit.
Race: Group goes, nobody does anything. Of course with Black star and Vikings 2 of the classic favorites ahead (but then they both were dropped by Hoyos on the Cipressa). Then. Nothing happens. For the Donkey very clear, Bugatti is the biggest favorite. It's not a clear win, it never is, but with 54-67 and 89 sprint, he's assured to be in any flat sprinters group. He can even try to go it almost alone, without most others, Toornstra 58-69 with 87 will be there, the rest can be behind. But since the classic armada looks strong, despite 2 classics (only 73) Pinder (55-89-77, perfect guy for MillerUibo) Christie and Miller, 2 fit classics plus Pinder and MillerUibo, or 1 fit classic plus Christie, occasional Miller helping to keep him ahead too for some downhilling maybe) not sure to get them, then he still can wait for the next group, SWP, Gipfel, shouldn't be too far have helpful riders for the chase... He is there for the sprint, possibly with the strongest sprinter. The 92 guy was never going to survive the Poggio, never coming back, and offline, never came on. The 90 with 49-68, ok, but was offline for a long time, became pretty clear he would be already weakened... Obviously Bugatti the first one that needs to ride of the sprinters. He didn't. Group stops, then goes again, at 13', 46km Alpacas goes in. Kudos to him, he believed in his classic chances, worked for it. Advantage grows to 18', second rider in. 17' on top of Turchino, ok, surely Bugatti helps now, might be too late already, but maybe he was scared of an early classics sieb, drop some sprinters, have them chase already a first time (sort of would have even made sense for once, usually the annoying Turchino siebs are completely for nothing) NOthing from Bugatti. Lulz goes in. Kudos to him too, he tried. At km 190 in front the leaders go in with 14' advantage, in the back the first sprinter, Gipfel. Finally. But shouldn't have been Gipfel, should have been Bugatti. But good work by Gipfel too. Originally I had thought that if Bugatti, then probably Romoc and Gipfel ride, I would add Gjeldnes as well, show goodwill, Donkey shows goodwill too. But like this, group can have it, with Kebede who can only be in a flat sprint, Arcadio who is very critical with his 50-60... despite then being the only one with train (I assume by then most thought I would try for that, Kebede after all made no sense) still only 86 leader and more importantly very unsure to be there. But well, no Bugatti, the question of riding didn't even come up in that case. 50 km later, thanks to Gipfel-Alpacas-Lulz advantage down to exactly 10'. Group is still through, all too late. Km 243 finally Bugatti in. Laughable, way too late anyway, the front still with 9'37"... go blue, red, easy. Some offlining and out of tempo by SWP, nothing tragic, he has no sprint there anyway, but at km 257, before the Cipressa, advantage is down to 7'17", losing 8" per km... no idea why they didn't change to blue. Yes, it's not very evenly distributed in front, but talk, SWP and Black Stars maybe can convince the others to do it blue blue blue green green for a while.
Capo Berta, Battistella doing the second km red, very good work by Gipfel, he started before Bugatti, of course late, but why not, in the end better to let the sucker suck and try to win than just giving it away with Delpierre. Of course with Del Piero would have been better, Italians overperform, see Arcadio. Or at least communicate, but well, communication with Gipfel, good luck with that. He'll accuse you of wanting to destroy the game, so maybe better he didn't attempt any communication with Bugatti. In front still green, just under 5' at the start of the Cipressa... until there basically good cooperation, but still going green a bit risky, they were sure to go through if they went blue, red, energy can't have been a problem. There they started going out, only from the 6 red. After the 5 advantage under 3' a bit under 20km to go, this is risky, even going red now, the back is close, They really lost it before the Cipressa I think, didn't help themselves later, but IMO here more important.
Back to the back, Hoyos siebs a bit form dependent, but 71 basically gone, rest fights and stays.
Sprinters:
Kebede at 9"
Toornstra at 14" of course without any helpers with him...
Miller Uibo at 16"
Delpierre at 18"
Verwimp, Bongiorno and Humes, 81 Poke at 20" Very lucky for me to be with Verwimp, if I'm without him... Winzenried waits the next km but vs the FL machine...
AFter the 5, 18" for the classics, replay says a classic rode, not Hoyos anymore, so same pace as Gipfel, Bugatti waited immediately, not wrong. Gallego and Lautaro still 2" behind, carrying their leaders, while Poke seemed to break (had to put yes alone in....) UP to 4 vs Pinder the next km, Bugatti though waiting for the firepower behind, only SWP riding, who kept it at 4" on the 1. Here not waiting might have made sense for Bugatti. IF he then commits to the chase fully with the ones he has there. The classic group? AS could be feared, they didn't collaborate, only 13" ahead of Bugatti, Alpacas and Lulz with 66-65 the best sprinters, but RFM with 3 guys, 60+62 sprint, didn't think of riding for his chances until after the downhill. Just ride, once he went in they lost 3" per km, if he goes in earlier, they don't lose time in downhill, they are faster on top... Downhill, we don't get much closer, to Bugatti, then SWP goes out too and waits. The front now rides, well 3 of them. The low sprint guys didn't. In the flat in the classic group Lulz joined, no downhill, so ok, but still no RfM, buy now of course too late. 284 the sprinters are back, now in mass, of course once again Bugatti needed convincing to put in a second rider, he seemed more intent of minimizing his chances than maximizing...
In front now they completly stop collaborating, taking turns going out.. that was ok if they had gone blue earlier, like this? Weird. 1'16" bottom of Poggio, Hoyos back in, Donkey scrambling to take all help of Bongiorno... high tempo, probably fighting on the 5 on the Cipressa, was pretty doubtful he would survive that, he did, but 40 energy gone. Group split, attack, but was too late. No chance anymore
Ok, sprint
Donkey convinced to have Bugatti and many others on the wheel.. .so thought, ok, slow train, Gallego, still pretty fit actually, over 800 first, then Winzenried, to be able to go it slow. Other trains, still can try to jump there, and if not go with Winzenried early. NO other sprinter on me... dammit, why Gallego??? Winzenried goes, keeps the pace of the POketrain, that's good. But went at 350 with Kebede anyway, Kebede gets in front, but then at 250 MillerUibo changes to Sopoaga, the 68 in my wheel. probably should have gone there, but only thought of it after the race. Still, the Donkey wife to blame, she insisted that I tell her good night right then, told her to wait 5 minutes she yelled NO, so off we run, when back, MillerUibo is there. Perfect change for MillerUibo possible there, maybe acually staying in front of the screen would have seen it and risked it? Humes 81 Poke then goes, Bongiorno goes to him, then at 150 needs to go, so does Miller, hoped for some blockage, there was some , but nowhere near enough, already less than 1 bike length. Going at 250 better, or maybe at 200, maybe MillerUibo was still on Sopoaga? Then he is dropped with him.. hoped for that at 150 a bit, but seemed likely he goes anyway, had to, and if not hang on me directly. Delpierre went at 150 too, that possibly cost him the win? Would have been way more deserved than MillerUibo.. .yes, he won, so he did everything right... actually from the sprinter faction it was Gipfel who did everything right if anything. followed by FL and Donkey. We of course could do little wrong, being at risk, riding early made little sense (only to keep the tempo slower, but well, that's only an option if Bugatti works early) FL then way back in the sprinter line, then unlucky blocking losses. Romoc did basically nothing, except telling us he rode.. 4km before going out again. Then came back in for another 3 km... FL fully in, Donkey out in downhills, once it was clear we would be there, we rode full power... (I'm still not sure if it made sense for the ones in front to let us back though, have the feeling it didn't, they had enough power without us, not sure why, maybe to ahve trains, Poke and Donks?) The rest? Gipfel very very good, also with classics in early hills, very important. Alpacas and Lulz tried for their chance, didn't get the timely help they should have later, then maybe the classics have a little chance, maybe Hoyos for the 5 to would have been even better though.
IN the end an uninspiring winner, how can you refuse tempo for 240 km when you have the safest bet for a sprint? Which yes, doesn't guarantee a win, but except Romoc, nobody else was assured of being in the first sprinters group. And one doesn't ride for 240 km, the other one starts for 7 km after the Cipressa? People, do something... keep Donks-FL-Poke away, even that better than doing nothign at all. Ride for your chances, maximize them. That's what Gipfel did, going all out for Delpierre once he decided that he had to do it himself, couldn't wait for the 2 jokers with better chances. Use Batistella early, drop classic sprint dark horse Bougault for Delpierre, ride. Excellent race, only thing that maybe was better the same as the rest, why let the Donkey and FL back? Ok, having more guys that ride, not bad, having trains, gives structure, but maybe hang on Bugatti without much structure better? Waiting can be ok, I just personally like the non-waiting more in Sanremo, never let opponents back (unless you need them, which I don't really think they did). Didn't use Bigovic at all it seems. Strong race, sprint at 150 was bad though. Bugatti on the other hand did a very good sprint, nothing to say there.
Donkey, first moment, did what I could, nowin retrospect... just try at 250, seemed clear that Bugatti changes. Go, get an advantage, he then is probably beaten, can try to go back to Humes, can try to catch me, but then Delpierre will get him. Had a real chance there, grrr. blame the wife!!! Or maybe go at 200 hoping MillerUibo is still on the Sopoanga...
Ah well, fourth, not bad, but yes, with the present of having nobody in my wheel, Gallego start (but that probably not decisive, just can go 50 later with Kebede, but MillerUibo still can change I guess?).. .250.. 200, that was it. Oh well... tried, with a 50-60, was limit that I reached it, once tempo went up he really started losing energy, got 2 helpers pretty immediately, now 68 less energy than Kebede with max 1 helper (although towards the end it got messy, possible I had it all wrong at times) while sprinting 200 meters less? So 108 less energy at the start of the sprint? He suffered, fighting was 40... still should have gone at 250 though, that was the moment, enough or not, who knows, but that was the moment.
Kraftsystemrevision! Include the distance!
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Re: Spring classics 2026
First monument winners of 2026:
21.03.2026: Milano - San Remo (Cat. 6)
10h Artem Palamarchuk (Tukhtahuaev)
15h Shaunae MillerUibo (Bugatti)
19h Mehmed Elmas (Uomo Nero)
22h Vince Vincente (Carrera Blue Jeans)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Next up: Double Trouble in Flanders
On Friday and Sunday, we have the Flanders duo E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem. These two races herald the Flemish Cycling Week that cumulates in the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
These two races have a troublesome past (as some players here, apparently). In 2010 the UCI decided to position Gent-Wevelgem ond day after E3 Harelbeke, causing a dispute between the two races. In 2012, when Harelbeke was updated to World Tour status as well, the organizers decided to put it on Friday to meet the demands of UCI, having at least one rest day between two World Tour events. Since then, the two races have a great relationship again. Solution: Keeping some distance (this could help some players here as well). But now more about the two races:
The best fun fact about E3 Harelbeke is that E3 does not refer to a sponsor when it was renamed in the early 1960s, but to the former European rout E03, a series of European highways from Lisbon to Stockholm. The Belgian part of the E3 is now called E17 btw. - and connects Antwerp and Kortrijk, close to Harelbeke.
Anyway, E3 Harelbeke has the reputation as the final rehearsal for the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Albeit shorter and not as hard, E3 adresses many of the same roads an hills of the Flemish Ardennes. It was first raced in 1958, then called Helbeke-Antwerp-Harelbeke, as the route was from Harelbeke to Antwerp and back (who could have guessed). Since then, the race had many names besides its first one: E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, E3 Harelbeke and my favourite: E3 BinckBank Classic. What an abomination. Currently it's called E3 Saxo Classic, but to me it's E3 Harelbeke. Record winner still is Tom Boonen with 5 victories.
Gent-Wevelgem has not to offer that many names, although it had some changes as well. Won't go through all of that, but this year, it's called "In Flanders Field - From Middelkerke to Wevelgem" for the first time. Fun fact about that name "In Flanders Fields" refers to the iconic war poem by John McCrae. But more about wars later. Which reminds me on some players "wars" again... ufff...
The race has been held annually since 1934 and has been part of the UCI ProTour since 2005 and since 2011 in its succesor the UCI World Tour. Since 2011, it's organized by Flanders Classics (other then Harelbeke). It has been originally run be the newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen. The race's finish town Wevelgem was selected because it was the home town of the event's first owner. It's origin is a tribute to Gaston Rebry, a native of Wevelgem, who was one of the stars of cycling in Belgium in the 1930s.
The race itself was long seen as a sprinters' classics, which is supported by its winner's list. Depending on the weather conditions and also due to the instruction of the Kemmelberg in 1955, not every edition was made for sprinters. The Kemmelberg may be seen (not only because it's the highest point in the region) as the emotional centrepiece of the race. Named after Camulos, Celtic god of war (this topic again), its summit lies atop a thickly wooded ridge which was the scene of the Battle of the Lys in April 1918, in which more than 200'000 soldiers died. The climb has been controversial in the past because of several severe crashes in its decent. Luckily, there are not crashes in C4F...
Unlike most of the Flemish spring classics, Gent-Wevelgem - since 2003 starting from Deinze - leads around 250km into West Flanders and Northern France and has fewer hills, providing it with a different character and making it more suitable for sprinters. Hence, it's not surprising that there are lots of strong sprinters among the seven riders that share the record of victories with three wins: Robert van Eenaeme, Rik van Looy, Eddy Merckx, Tom Boonen, Mario Cipollini, Peter Sagan and Mads Pedersen. Well, Team FL has five wins, ha! (Only one in Harelbeke though...)
So will we see the favourites for RVV this year also dominating in Harelbeke already? Can the sprinters survive the Kemmelberg and sprint for the win at Gent-Wevelgem? Or will there be a small and reduced group after 250km? Anyway, it's Flanders time, one of the best times to have
On Friday and Sunday, we have the Flanders duo E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem. These two races herald the Flemish Cycling Week that cumulates in the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
These two races have a troublesome past (as some players here, apparently). In 2010 the UCI decided to position Gent-Wevelgem ond day after E3 Harelbeke, causing a dispute between the two races. In 2012, when Harelbeke was updated to World Tour status as well, the organizers decided to put it on Friday to meet the demands of UCI, having at least one rest day between two World Tour events. Since then, the two races have a great relationship again. Solution: Keeping some distance (this could help some players here as well). But now more about the two races:
The best fun fact about E3 Harelbeke is that E3 does not refer to a sponsor when it was renamed in the early 1960s, but to the former European rout E03, a series of European highways from Lisbon to Stockholm. The Belgian part of the E3 is now called E17 btw. - and connects Antwerp and Kortrijk, close to Harelbeke.
Anyway, E3 Harelbeke has the reputation as the final rehearsal for the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Albeit shorter and not as hard, E3 adresses many of the same roads an hills of the Flemish Ardennes. It was first raced in 1958, then called Helbeke-Antwerp-Harelbeke, as the route was from Harelbeke to Antwerp and back (who could have guessed). Since then, the race had many names besides its first one: E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, E3 Harelbeke and my favourite: E3 BinckBank Classic. What an abomination. Currently it's called E3 Saxo Classic, but to me it's E3 Harelbeke. Record winner still is Tom Boonen with 5 victories.
Gent-Wevelgem has not to offer that many names, although it had some changes as well. Won't go through all of that, but this year, it's called "In Flanders Field - From Middelkerke to Wevelgem" for the first time. Fun fact about that name "In Flanders Fields" refers to the iconic war poem by John McCrae. But more about wars later. Which reminds me on some players "wars" again... ufff...
The race has been held annually since 1934 and has been part of the UCI ProTour since 2005 and since 2011 in its succesor the UCI World Tour. Since 2011, it's organized by Flanders Classics (other then Harelbeke). It has been originally run be the newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen. The race's finish town Wevelgem was selected because it was the home town of the event's first owner. It's origin is a tribute to Gaston Rebry, a native of Wevelgem, who was one of the stars of cycling in Belgium in the 1930s.
The race itself was long seen as a sprinters' classics, which is supported by its winner's list. Depending on the weather conditions and also due to the instruction of the Kemmelberg in 1955, not every edition was made for sprinters. The Kemmelberg may be seen (not only because it's the highest point in the region) as the emotional centrepiece of the race. Named after Camulos, Celtic god of war (this topic again), its summit lies atop a thickly wooded ridge which was the scene of the Battle of the Lys in April 1918, in which more than 200'000 soldiers died. The climb has been controversial in the past because of several severe crashes in its decent. Luckily, there are not crashes in C4F...
Unlike most of the Flemish spring classics, Gent-Wevelgem - since 2003 starting from Deinze - leads around 250km into West Flanders and Northern France and has fewer hills, providing it with a different character and making it more suitable for sprinters. Hence, it's not surprising that there are lots of strong sprinters among the seven riders that share the record of victories with three wins: Robert van Eenaeme, Rik van Looy, Eddy Merckx, Tom Boonen, Mario Cipollini, Peter Sagan and Mads Pedersen. Well, Team FL has five wins, ha! (Only one in Harelbeke though...)
So will we see the favourites for RVV this year also dominating in Harelbeke already? Can the sprinters survive the Kemmelberg and sprint for the win at Gent-Wevelgem? Or will there be a small and reduced group after 250km? Anyway, it's Flanders time, one of the best times to have
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
And then there is this thing called Ronde van Brugge, former Classic Brugge-De Panne, fromer Driedaagse van De Panne. It's flat. Nuff said. And apparently still not designed for the calender, although it's tomorrow.
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
E3, Donkey afternoon, of course.
1. W. Ganambarr
2 A. Bonjour
3 B. Gjeldnes
4 R. Kagge
5 B. Kotibaruly
6 M. Lanfredini
7 T. Onkelinx
8 E. Ousland
9 L. Winzenried
Ganambarr, winner 25, of course with the 1, even if we're not too optimistic about the title defence.
Rest... where is Gallego, thought I had him here... but now I have nebulous memories about preferring to go cheap, since Gallego would only manage to get place 15 out of 15 in a front group anyway... Probably that? If he even is in a front group.
So leaders Bonjour, Ousland with there mountains, and probably will end up wasting riders for Lukas too. But too many non-pavé climbs for him here normally. So just Bonjour-Ousland for the win I guess.
1. W. Ganambarr
2 A. Bonjour
3 B. Gjeldnes
4 R. Kagge
5 B. Kotibaruly
6 M. Lanfredini
7 T. Onkelinx
8 E. Ousland
9 L. Winzenried
Ganambarr, winner 25, of course with the 1, even if we're not too optimistic about the title defence.
Rest... where is Gallego, thought I had him here... but now I have nebulous memories about preferring to go cheap, since Gallego would only manage to get place 15 out of 15 in a front group anyway... Probably that? If he even is in a front group.
So leaders Bonjour, Ousland with there mountains, and probably will end up wasting riders for Lukas too. But too many non-pavé climbs for him here normally. So just Bonjour-Ousland for the win I guess.
Kraftsystemrevision! Include the distance!
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Basics reform: Give blue a chance!
Don't punish bugusers. We all have to use bugs, since most of them are declared as "features"!
Got a carrot from FL. But they threaten to take it away now.
Re: Spring classics 2026
March 2026 is almost over and so are the Ronde van Brugge, E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem. So, here are the winners:
Regarding teams, we have Tukhtahuaev with three wins and five teams with two wins so far: Elaska, Falcor, NoMoreLuulz, Pokemonogatari, and Uomo Nero.
The spring classics campaign this year hasn't had one dominating rider. The only two riders that were able to win two races were Seijuro Aakshi from Pokemonogatari and Zhansultan Dosmagambetov from Tukhtahuaev who both won Omloop and E3.25.03.2026: Ronde Van Brugge (Cat. 4, former Brugge - De Panne)
10h Mioru Drugawa (Giotti Victoria)
15h Finje Goossens (Vikings Berlin)
19h EdwardLouis Vedder (Felsenland)
22h Tahar Sfar (Elaska)
27.03.2026: Harelbeke (Cat. 5)
08h Jacques Tilly (Alkworld)
14h Andrea Buccarini (Gipfelstuermer)
18h Zhansultan Dosmagambetov (Tukhtahuaev)
21h Seijuro Akashi (Pokemonogatari)
29.03.2026: Gent - Wevelgem (Cat. 5)
11h Nikita Viitanen (NoMoreLulz)
14h Domingo Cruz (Falcor)
18h Ricardo Rocha (Team FL)
22h Gianfranco Lolli (Medical Service)
Regarding teams, we have Tukhtahuaev with three wins and five teams with two wins so far: Elaska, Falcor, NoMoreLuulz, Pokemonogatari, and Uomo Nero.
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Tuks Dosmagambetov also won both of those and added a P2 in Wevelgem as well!
Felix Gall #1 fan
Re: Spring classics 2026
Ha, you're right. Then we have two riders with two wins
Just wanted to avoid butchering this name
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Next up: Dwars door Vlaanderen ("Across Flanders")
DdV is held annually since 1945, called Dwars door Beligë from Sint-Truiden to Waregem until 1999. Today, the race starts in Roeselare (since 2000, obviously, also when the name change happend) and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is part of the UCI World Tour. Interestingly, from 1946 to 1964, the race was run as a stage race over two days, except 1948. Ever since 1965 (and the exception in 1948) it's been a one day race.
Traditionally Dwars door Vlaanderen was held four days after Milan–San Remo and a week and a half before the Ronde van Vlaanderen (RVV) and marked the start of the Flemish Cycling Week (everybody who has read my fantastic stuff here should know that it's the Ronde van Brugge now). As from 2018, the race moved up one week on the international calendar and is now contested on the Wednesday before RVV. As many races that take place in spring in Flanders, DdV is organised by Flanders Classics.
The route of DdV includes many of the well known hills or climbs of the Flemish Ardennes. But in 2018, the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg were cut from the race. And so was the length, from 200 to 180 km. The first 80 kms are mainly flat then followed by several pavé parts and climbs like the Taaienberg, Kruisberg or the Côte de Trieu. But one of the most decisive climbs will be set 11 kms before the finish line, the Nokereberg (not in C4F though, as it's only 4% witout cobbles).
The first winner is a houshold name in the Belgian cycling history: Rik van Steenbergern. The last Belgian winner was Yves Lampert in 2018. During the last five years (2020 was no race due to Covid-19) the winners were Dylan van Baarle, Mathieu van der Poel, Christophe Laporte, Matteo Jorgenson and Neilson Powless. Interestingly, no rider has more than two wins, which could change this year, if Mathieu van der Poel or Yves Lampert finish first.
In C4F, we had five winners last year: Jamey Stegmaier (Schnuggeritos, early escapee), John Hopfield (Alive And Dead, sprinter with good flat and pavé), Gino Degreef (Romoc Riders, same as Hopfield), Taylor Hawkins (Felsenland, strong flat rider with good sprint) and Bob Iliev (Vikings Berlin, another Hopfield type rider). Team FL won it three times (Perluigi Piano, Iwan Frank and Fran Peterlin when it was only cat. 3).
This year, the route looks a tiny bit more difficult than in 2025, but the finish looks pretty much the same. As Omloop or E3 or GW, the race offers a lot of outcomes, depending on teams participation and how the race will be ridden. A good race for a final test before the Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday!
DdV is held annually since 1945, called Dwars door Beligë from Sint-Truiden to Waregem until 1999. Today, the race starts in Roeselare (since 2000, obviously, also when the name change happend) and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is part of the UCI World Tour. Interestingly, from 1946 to 1964, the race was run as a stage race over two days, except 1948. Ever since 1965 (and the exception in 1948) it's been a one day race.
Traditionally Dwars door Vlaanderen was held four days after Milan–San Remo and a week and a half before the Ronde van Vlaanderen (RVV) and marked the start of the Flemish Cycling Week (everybody who has read my fantastic stuff here should know that it's the Ronde van Brugge now). As from 2018, the race moved up one week on the international calendar and is now contested on the Wednesday before RVV. As many races that take place in spring in Flanders, DdV is organised by Flanders Classics.
The route of DdV includes many of the well known hills or climbs of the Flemish Ardennes. But in 2018, the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg were cut from the race. And so was the length, from 200 to 180 km. The first 80 kms are mainly flat then followed by several pavé parts and climbs like the Taaienberg, Kruisberg or the Côte de Trieu. But one of the most decisive climbs will be set 11 kms before the finish line, the Nokereberg (not in C4F though, as it's only 4% witout cobbles).
The first winner is a houshold name in the Belgian cycling history: Rik van Steenbergern. The last Belgian winner was Yves Lampert in 2018. During the last five years (2020 was no race due to Covid-19) the winners were Dylan van Baarle, Mathieu van der Poel, Christophe Laporte, Matteo Jorgenson and Neilson Powless. Interestingly, no rider has more than two wins, which could change this year, if Mathieu van der Poel or Yves Lampert finish first.
In C4F, we had five winners last year: Jamey Stegmaier (Schnuggeritos, early escapee), John Hopfield (Alive And Dead, sprinter with good flat and pavé), Gino Degreef (Romoc Riders, same as Hopfield), Taylor Hawkins (Felsenland, strong flat rider with good sprint) and Bob Iliev (Vikings Berlin, another Hopfield type rider). Team FL won it three times (Perluigi Piano, Iwan Frank and Fran Peterlin when it was only cat. 3).
This year, the route looks a tiny bit more difficult than in 2025, but the finish looks pretty much the same. As Omloop or E3 or GW, the race offers a lot of outcomes, depending on teams participation and how the race will be ridden. A good race for a final test before the Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday!
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
For the first time in quite a while, we had a split! So the 22h edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen had 2 groups. Which means more winners .
. 01.04.2026: Dwars door Vlaanderen (Cat. 4)
08h Arman Orazbayev (SouthWest Packers)Hákon Thórðarson (Bugatti)
10h Hákon Thórðarson (Bugatti)
14h Andrea Buccarini (Gipfelstuermer)
19h Myron Scholes (Radunion)
22h-1 Urs Unterberger (Ansach)
22h-2 Torsten Nyqvist (Team Australia)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
Re: Spring classics 2026
Next up is Vlaanderens Mooiste: De Ronde van Vlaanderen
To make it short: It's the most important race in Flanders, it's Flanders finest, it's around Flanders. It's the highlight and the finish of the Flanders Cycling Week. And it's the second monument in the cycling season after Milano - Sanremo and before Paris - Roubaix.
Okay, you got me, the text will be a bit longer. So, where to beginn...
... with politics of course!
The Ronde van Vlaanderen, established in 1913, is deeply intertwined with Flemish nationalism and the political ambition to emancipate the Dutch-speaking Flemish population from the French-speaking elite that dominated Belgium at the time. Conceived by Karel Van Wijnendaele and Leon Van den Haute, the race was explicitly designed as a political tool to promote Flemish identity, culture, and language through cycling, acting as a direct counter-movement to Walloon cultural influence. Hence, the founders of the race aimed to "liberate" the Flemish people by organizing a race that crossed every major Flemish city, asserting regional identity. The race was intended to provide the working-class Flemish population with their own sporting heroes (the "Flandriens"), mirroring the national pride fostered by French and Italian races.The initiative was linked with Sportwereld, a Dutch-language newspaper aimed at empowering Flemish speakers, who were striving for recognition in a largely French-speaking government.
Speaking of nationalism: The Ronde van Vlaanderen is the only classic to have been held on German-occupied territory during World War II and in full agreement with the German command. The Germans not only allowed and enjoyed the race but helped police the route as well. Following World War II, Sportwereld was accused of collaboration, and the race's identity was strongly linked with a more conservative, regionalist nationalism. However, this also cemented the race as a fierce symbol of Flemish resilience, separating its identity from the rest of Belgium. Van Wijnendaele himself was forbidden to work as a journalist for life – a ban lifted when he produced a letter of support from General Montgomery, confirming that he had hidden downed British pilots during the war and had protected them in his house.
But enough of politics, let's get to the sportive part of the race:
The Tour of Flanders has started in four different cities – Ghent, Sint-Niklaas, Bruges and Antwerp, which is the current starting point. The start of the inaugural event in 1913 was on the Korenmarkt in Ghent's historic city center. Funny stuff: After 6 years starting in Antwerp, the race alternates starting locations between Antwerp and Bruges from the 2023 edition onwards. So while this year the Ronde will start in Antwerp, next year it will be Bruges again, etc.
As the start locations changed over time, so did the finish: The finish in 1913 was on the velodrome of Mariakerke, part of greater Ghent. Only one year later, it changed to Evergem, then to Wetteren from 1928 to 1961. From 1962 to 1972 the finish was in a residential neighbourhood in nearby Gentbrugge and until 2011 in Meerbeke on the Halsesteenweg, with a finishing straight of 400 m going slightly uphill in the final meters. After that, Oudenaarde has been the chosen as the host city for the finish by the new race organisation Flanders Classics. As you can imagine, all those changes have not been taken well by everybody.
Anyway, the route this year is set. And it features the main elements of the race that have been there for years. Following a flat run-in of 100 km (62 mi) during which the race passes the towns of Sint-Niklaas, Aalst, Zottegem, and passes the Paddestraat, the racers reach the town of Oudenaarde with the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen and shortly thereafter the village of Berchem, where the decisive part of the race starts. The second (and decisive) part of the race consists of three loops in the Flemish Ardennes with a finish in Oudenaarde. These take place in the southern part of East Flanders, with short forays into the provinces of West Flanders and Hainaut. These loops consist of a succession of hellingen and a few flat sections of cobbled roads, which determine the nature of the race.
The Oude Kwaremont is the first and longest climb at 2.2 km: an atypical hill because it is not very steep, but considered one of the most arduous climbs in Flanders because of its length and cobbled surface. The steepest of all is the fully cobbled Koppenberg, 600 metres in length with grueling stretches of 22% over a poorly paved narrow road. Other famous climbs include the Eikenberg, Molenberg and Taaienberg. The last two climbs of the race, the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, are both tackled twice in a finishing circuit. During the last loop, the Oude Kwaremont comes at 16 km (9.9 mi) from the finish and the Paterberg at 13 km. After the Paterberg comes a flat run-in towards the finish, totalling around 265 km.
I won’t go into detail about the course changes, but as you can imagine, the rout has developed considerably over the years. Just have a look at the start and finish locations again.
The winners: Since the early years, winners of the Tour of Flanders acquired the literary epithet Flandrien or Flahute – a French term eagerly used by the Flemish press. Flandriens were riders with a formidable durability who were able to ride fast all day, over vast distances and in all weathers. Not very surprisingly, the race favors classic specialists like Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen or Johan Museeuw, all riders with a strong “motor” that are known to do well in such races. In the last four years, the names of these riders were Mathieu van der Poel (2022 and 2024) and Tadej Pogačar (2023 and 2025). Both could become tied record winners with three wins this year, amongst riders like the three already mentioned.
For C4F, there is no specific rider type to favour, although there are some patterns: either a good pavé rider with 60+ sprint and 55+ mountain or a classic rider with 70+ pavé and 60+ sprint. Last year, the following riders could win the Ronde: Jozef Cibulka (Pokemonogatari, pavé rider with ~60 mountain, solo win), Sten Stenberg (Team FL, classic rider with sprint), Steve Upside (SV Furpach, literally an upset… ) and Fernao Cayetano (Harryaner, pavé rider with ~60 mountain and some sprint).
But who are this year’s favorites? Well, looking at the results so far in the Flemish races and at the riders’ skills and teams to support them, I see a couple of riders that stand out: Gereon Schiffbauer (Rsc Spree), Andrea Buccarini (Gipfelstuermer), Seijuro Akashi (Pokemonogatari), Gerard Sweetman (bergwerk) or Zhansultan Dosmagambetov (Tukhtahuaev). You could also point out outstanding rider like Xystos Gavalakos (Crazy Vikings) or Reynaldo Vera (RC Hachen). But these teams are not known to perform particularly well in important races. But who knows who will be able to call himself Flandrien this year....
To make it short: It's the most important race in Flanders, it's Flanders finest, it's around Flanders. It's the highlight and the finish of the Flanders Cycling Week. And it's the second monument in the cycling season after Milano - Sanremo and before Paris - Roubaix.
Okay, you got me, the text will be a bit longer. So, where to beginn...
... with politics of course!
The Ronde van Vlaanderen, established in 1913, is deeply intertwined with Flemish nationalism and the political ambition to emancipate the Dutch-speaking Flemish population from the French-speaking elite that dominated Belgium at the time. Conceived by Karel Van Wijnendaele and Leon Van den Haute, the race was explicitly designed as a political tool to promote Flemish identity, culture, and language through cycling, acting as a direct counter-movement to Walloon cultural influence. Hence, the founders of the race aimed to "liberate" the Flemish people by organizing a race that crossed every major Flemish city, asserting regional identity. The race was intended to provide the working-class Flemish population with their own sporting heroes (the "Flandriens"), mirroring the national pride fostered by French and Italian races.The initiative was linked with Sportwereld, a Dutch-language newspaper aimed at empowering Flemish speakers, who were striving for recognition in a largely French-speaking government.
Speaking of nationalism: The Ronde van Vlaanderen is the only classic to have been held on German-occupied territory during World War II and in full agreement with the German command. The Germans not only allowed and enjoyed the race but helped police the route as well. Following World War II, Sportwereld was accused of collaboration, and the race's identity was strongly linked with a more conservative, regionalist nationalism. However, this also cemented the race as a fierce symbol of Flemish resilience, separating its identity from the rest of Belgium. Van Wijnendaele himself was forbidden to work as a journalist for life – a ban lifted when he produced a letter of support from General Montgomery, confirming that he had hidden downed British pilots during the war and had protected them in his house.
But enough of politics, let's get to the sportive part of the race:
The Tour of Flanders has started in four different cities – Ghent, Sint-Niklaas, Bruges and Antwerp, which is the current starting point. The start of the inaugural event in 1913 was on the Korenmarkt in Ghent's historic city center. Funny stuff: After 6 years starting in Antwerp, the race alternates starting locations between Antwerp and Bruges from the 2023 edition onwards. So while this year the Ronde will start in Antwerp, next year it will be Bruges again, etc.
As the start locations changed over time, so did the finish: The finish in 1913 was on the velodrome of Mariakerke, part of greater Ghent. Only one year later, it changed to Evergem, then to Wetteren from 1928 to 1961. From 1962 to 1972 the finish was in a residential neighbourhood in nearby Gentbrugge and until 2011 in Meerbeke on the Halsesteenweg, with a finishing straight of 400 m going slightly uphill in the final meters. After that, Oudenaarde has been the chosen as the host city for the finish by the new race organisation Flanders Classics. As you can imagine, all those changes have not been taken well by everybody.
Anyway, the route this year is set. And it features the main elements of the race that have been there for years. Following a flat run-in of 100 km (62 mi) during which the race passes the towns of Sint-Niklaas, Aalst, Zottegem, and passes the Paddestraat, the racers reach the town of Oudenaarde with the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen and shortly thereafter the village of Berchem, where the decisive part of the race starts. The second (and decisive) part of the race consists of three loops in the Flemish Ardennes with a finish in Oudenaarde. These take place in the southern part of East Flanders, with short forays into the provinces of West Flanders and Hainaut. These loops consist of a succession of hellingen and a few flat sections of cobbled roads, which determine the nature of the race.
The Oude Kwaremont is the first and longest climb at 2.2 km: an atypical hill because it is not very steep, but considered one of the most arduous climbs in Flanders because of its length and cobbled surface. The steepest of all is the fully cobbled Koppenberg, 600 metres in length with grueling stretches of 22% over a poorly paved narrow road. Other famous climbs include the Eikenberg, Molenberg and Taaienberg. The last two climbs of the race, the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, are both tackled twice in a finishing circuit. During the last loop, the Oude Kwaremont comes at 16 km (9.9 mi) from the finish and the Paterberg at 13 km. After the Paterberg comes a flat run-in towards the finish, totalling around 265 km.
I won’t go into detail about the course changes, but as you can imagine, the rout has developed considerably over the years. Just have a look at the start and finish locations again
. The winners: Since the early years, winners of the Tour of Flanders acquired the literary epithet Flandrien or Flahute – a French term eagerly used by the Flemish press. Flandriens were riders with a formidable durability who were able to ride fast all day, over vast distances and in all weathers. Not very surprisingly, the race favors classic specialists like Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen or Johan Museeuw, all riders with a strong “motor” that are known to do well in such races. In the last four years, the names of these riders were Mathieu van der Poel (2022 and 2024) and Tadej Pogačar (2023 and 2025). Both could become tied record winners with three wins this year, amongst riders like the three already mentioned.
For C4F, there is no specific rider type to favour, although there are some patterns: either a good pavé rider with 60+ sprint and 55+ mountain or a classic rider with 70+ pavé and 60+ sprint. Last year, the following riders could win the Ronde: Jozef Cibulka (Pokemonogatari, pavé rider with ~60 mountain, solo win), Sten Stenberg (Team FL, classic rider with sprint), Steve Upside (SV Furpach, literally an upset… ) and Fernao Cayetano (Harryaner, pavé rider with ~60 mountain and some sprint).
But who are this year’s favorites? Well, looking at the results so far in the Flemish races and at the riders’ skills and teams to support them, I see a couple of riders that stand out: Gereon Schiffbauer (Rsc Spree), Andrea Buccarini (Gipfelstuermer), Seijuro Akashi (Pokemonogatari), Gerard Sweetman (bergwerk) or Zhansultan Dosmagambetov (Tukhtahuaev). You could also point out outstanding rider like Xystos Gavalakos (Crazy Vikings) or Reynaldo Vera (RC Hachen). But these teams are not known to perform particularly well in important races. But who knows who will be able to call himself Flandrien this year....
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
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flockmastoR
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Re: Spring classics 2026
Lucky chicken Stenberg, I can remember.
As for the Undertaker, RVV still on the list. He just assumes that the monument wins of the mathematicians are his now. Crazy guy not even on the Hall of Fame table. But after all, RVV was the meltdown race last year were the Undertaker took over the team. Very unlucky 7th place, more possible during the race, more possible in the sprint, not a win, maybe a top 3 place.
Best placement: Rank 2 in 2023 with Gabriel Fahrenheit, 60-80 with high pave no sprint. Was the most boring 2nd place with free team domination and Gabriel being the only one to stay with his 2 leaders.
2025: 7. Bartholomäus Most (Classic)
2024: 16. Robert Oppenheimer (Classic)
2023: 2. Gabriel Fahrenheit (60-80 80+ pavé)
2022: 4. Akos Detrekoi (Classic)
2021: 13. Jacob Wolfowitz (Classic with good pavé)
No records of the early teams but wouldn't expect good placements there.
2026: Classics again. Not really overwhelming chances but Mandyczewski as Strade winner of course motivated. Rest of the team still unclear, but Chiavazzi, Adams, Petzval, Qualtinger, Preradovic should be fixed.
As for the Undertaker, RVV still on the list. He just assumes that the monument wins of the mathematicians are his now. Crazy guy not even on the Hall of Fame table. But after all, RVV was the meltdown race last year were the Undertaker took over the team. Very unlucky 7th place, more possible during the race, more possible in the sprint, not a win, maybe a top 3 place.
Best placement: Rank 2 in 2023 with Gabriel Fahrenheit, 60-80 with high pave no sprint. Was the most boring 2nd place with free team domination and Gabriel being the only one to stay with his 2 leaders.
2025: 7. Bartholomäus Most (Classic)
2024: 16. Robert Oppenheimer (Classic)
2023: 2. Gabriel Fahrenheit (60-80 80+ pavé)
2022: 4. Akos Detrekoi (Classic)
2021: 13. Jacob Wolfowitz (Classic with good pavé)
No records of the early teams but wouldn't expect good placements there.
2026: Classics again. Not really overwhelming chances but Mandyczewski as Strade winner of course motivated. Rest of the team still unclear, but Chiavazzi, Adams, Petzval, Qualtinger, Preradovic should be fixed.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not
Re: Spring classics 2026
I guess Team FL will ride late as it's Easter. So we hope to find the golden Egg in Oudenaarde. The search mission will be led by local rider Rik Ribbens. He will be accompagnied by Felikss Fokerots, Lautaro Lucifero, Manfred Matt, Richardo Rocha, Santiago Souberbielle, Urs Unternährer, Wim Wijkstra and Zenobio Zalar. Let's see if they get as lucky as last year...
Nice overview for the last 5 years, so I'll steal that format:
2025: 1. Sten Stenberg (70-79-73 with 72 pavé and 66 sprint)
2024: 5. Spiridon Sprenger (60-86-76 with 79 pavé and 53 sprint)
2023: 1. Pierluigi Piano (The King of Flanders! 58-85-55 with 79 pavé and 69 sprint)
2022: 2. Aron Armleder (71-75-76 with 70 pavé and 67 sprint)
2021: --- no-show (!!!)
Nice overview for the last 5 years, so I'll steal that format:
2025: 1. Sten Stenberg (70-79-73 with 72 pavé and 66 sprint)
2024: 5. Spiridon Sprenger (60-86-76 with 79 pavé and 53 sprint)
2023: 1. Pierluigi Piano (The King of Flanders! 58-85-55 with 79 pavé and 69 sprint)
2022: 2. Aron Armleder (71-75-76 with 70 pavé and 67 sprint)
2021: --- no-show (!!!)
I didn't mean to say it. But I meant what I said.
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