Roundup: Paris-Roubaix & Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

Rolling Resistance brings you up-to-date on the latest action from the WorldTour series.

Paris-Roubaix

The 2014 edition was a record breaker, but not for the reason expected. A race that was held almost flat out from start to finish, the racers averaged the fastest ever speed in a Paris-Roubaix race, clocked on the line at 45.49km/h.

Any other hopes for a record from Tom Boonen (gunning for his fifth title) or Fabian Cancellara (aiming for a third Flanders/Paris-Roubaix double) where to be unsuccessful though, as they came in a high-quality bunch 20 seconds down on the winner, Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Niki Terpstra.

Terpstra was majestic come the final stages and his solo break for the line laid waste to opponents (namely team mate Boonen and Cancellara) who are famous for their tactical nous and strength in the closing stages of classics races. Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise as Terpstra has been very much near the front of many races in this early stage of the season – here employed probably as the first of a two-stage assault on victory by the OPQS team – yet to many he was a smart pick at the bookies (if you were that way inclined), along with other outsiders Geraint Thomas, Sep Vanmarcke, Bradley Wiggins and John Degenkolb.

Testament to the form book, all these riders made it inside the top 10 come the finish line, finishing together with Degenkolb (himself the most high profile sprinter of the group) at the head.

Terpstra beat off the competition with a decisive break, with Degenkolb (left) and Cancellara (right) leading in the chasing pack.
Photo © AFP

On his win, a clearly delighted Terpstra said, “To win in the biggest classic of all is a dream come true.

“[It’s] probably the best day in my career. With three guys in the front group, we were very strong. Tom and I came back in the finale and in the last cobbled section I attacked,” he said.

Whatever happens now in the upcoming one day races, Terpstra will now be delighted with his palmarès for this classics season, a season where there have been four different winners of the first four classics races.

Next is the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday 20 April. Coverage will be live on British Eurosport and highlights available on Sky Sports.

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

While the spring classics have been dominating the WorldTour scene in recent weeks, stage-race riders have been getting their racing done in less prestigious week-long races.

The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, or the Tour of the Basque Country, played host to a plethora of grand tour hopefuls still looking to develop form for the Giro and beyond.

On paper, the race was over as soon as it had begun, though, with Alberto Contador of Team Tinkoff-Saxo winning the stage and in doing so setting himself up for a week-long stint in the leaders jersey all the way to the finish on Saturday’s time trial.

Indeed, here he showed very impressive form on the hilly course, only six seconds down on specialist time-trialler Tony Martin. But interestingly, it’s Contador’s excellent form of late that has proved a talking point with many claiming he is now favourite for the Tour de France in July over the likes of defending champion Chris Froome.

Contador has shown prolific form thus far. Can he hold it together through to the Tour de France?
Photo © Tim de Waele.

At the beginning the of the season, Contador himself had stated that he was going back to basics; to ride as he did in his Tour de France-winning glory days, trying to win as many races as possible and use those races as his conditioning for the main event. It’s a tactic that he’s not followed so stringently in recent years since his ban for the use of clenbuterol was confirmed, and it would seem his form has suffered somewhat as a result.

Now, with his outspoken statements that the Tour is his main goal among many, he is at least securing the “among many” portion of his goal. The question now is whether or not he can maintain his condition all the way through to the summer months where it is likely the vast majority of his competition of late will have peaked.

Elsewhere in the general classification were Michal Kwiatkowski and Jean-Christophe Peraud in second and third respectively, while Alejandro Valverde, Tejay Van Garderen, Cadel Evans and Thibaut Pinot all figured inside the top 10. For British fans, there was reason to cheer as youngster Simon Yates of Orica Green-Edge finished 12^th in the standings.

Roundup: E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem & Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

In a roundup of the latest WorldTour action, Rolling Resistance takes a look at what’s been happening in these three races.

John Degenkolb has enjoyed further success at Gent-Wevelgem after a great start to the season.
Photo © AFP

E3 Harelbeke

Whilst not a full classic, E3 Harelbeke signifies a major one day race around the spring classics season with WorldTour teams competing to claim a prestigious win. The race was an opportunity for Milano-San Remo competitors to have a second, slightly smaller bite at the cherry – and this time it was Slovakia’s Peter Sagan of Cannondale who came out on top.

Last year’s winner Fabian Cancellara was separated from the front escape group and try as he might to galvanise his fellow group members, was unable to drag back the leading escapees of Sagan, Omega Pharma-Quick Step team mates Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh, and Team Sky’s man of the moment Geraint Thomas.

On paper, it should have been one of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team that came out on top, but with the strength of Sagan and Thomas combined, neither were able to make a lasting impression to claim victory. Instead, it was the increasingly experienced Sagan who was able to exact his sprint finish on his rivals and make up for his missed opportunity at the Milano-San Remo. Terpstra showed his form once again by claiming second and Thomas an admirable third in for what is turning out to be a fantastic start of the season for the Team Sky man.

Gent-Wevelgem

The second classic of the season, a 233km race in the heart of Belgium offered a fresh chance for the big names of the pro peloton to claim a classics victory, and John Degenkolb obliged. Thwarted by a puncture close to the finish at Milano-San Remo, this time luck was on his side.

Ironically, he is not even Team Giant-Shimano’s number one sprinter – an honour bestowed upon countryman Marcel Kittel – yet it is he who has been given leadership during the classics season while Kittel focuses on the grand tours. With good reason, it seems!

Degenkolb had already started the season in great form with several wins and here it showed. Steering clear of danger as a crash 8km from the finish wiped out rivals André Greipel, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas, it was Degenkolb and Peter Sagan left in the group to contest the sprint, with the likes of Arnaud Démare, Tom Boonen, Sep Vanmarcke and Jurgen Roelandts on hand to provide the competition.

In the end, Degenkolb’s form took him across the line first to claim his first monument race, ahead of FDJ’s Démare and defending champion Sagan.

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

The Volta provided an opportunity for this season’s grand tour contenders to get more miles in the legs in a multi-stage race environment and on form, it was expected that Alberto Contador and Carlos Betancur would figure in the general classification come the end after their victories in Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice respectively.

It was also a chance for Team Sky’s 2013 Tour de France winner Chris Froome to put a marker down following his absence with a back injury from Tirreno-Adriatico and for a true face off against a whole set of grand tour hopefuls for the rest of the season. Stage one saw Giant-Shimano’s Luka Mezgec take victory, who is yet another of the stable of talented sprinters at the team and claim the race’s first leader’s jersey.Stage two followed, with the unfortunate withdrawal of Richie Porte, still suffering from the back end of an illness that saw him withdraw similarly from Tirreno-Adriatico. It left Froome without the man who is expected to be his number two at the Tour de France this summer and represents the slightly-less-than-perfect start to the season for Team Sky. But, it was a second win for Mezgec, proving his resilience in less than ideal conditions.

Stage three was where the GC action began, with the top climbers attacking each other until the summit at La Molina. It was Froome who tried first, testing his legs and back against the likes of Contador, Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the attack failed to provide any room and with Contador and Quintana shadowing the moves, Rodriguez stepped up using explosive style to rise to the summit first over the last half kilometre.

The attack won him the leaders jersey, a jersey he had to defend on stage four through thick fog and disruption. Froome again attacked with no success and it was rising stars Tejay Van Gerderen and Romain Bardet who rose to the summit at Vallter 2000, the former crossing the line first. It goes to show that whilst we may consider the likes of Froome, Quintana, Contador and Rodriguez to be right at the top of world stage race cycling, there’s a group of young riders right behind ready to challenge.

Stage five saw a return to the rostrum for Slovenian Mezgec, who made it over the mountains for a third stage win of the Volta. The race was animated by Contador, who attempted a breakaway to reel in the gap to leader Rodriguez but it was a forlorn hope as Team Katusha dragged him back to protect their leader. Stage six however belonged to the breakaway artists, with Belkin’s Stef Clement holding strong and impressing to win from a large group including Jens Voigt, Pierre Rolland and Rudy Molard.

The race concluded in Barcelona, with Lieuwe Westra of Astana winning solo, while Rodriguez defended another late attack from Contador to try and overcome a four-second deficit. It was not to be, however, with Rodriguez winning the GC classification ahead of the Spaniard and stage four victor Tejay Van Garderen on the bottom step seven seconds adrift.

Next up is the second monument of the season, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, on Sunday 6 April.

Preview: Milano-San Remo 2014

The first monument race is upon us. Who’s going to cross the line first and claim their place in cycling history?

The Milano-San Remo is known as the sprinters’ classic due to its usually flat profile and there’ll be sprinters aplenty setting themselves up for a tilt at this edition of the race.

It nearly wasn’t so; the proposed climb at Pompeiana so close to the finish was set to scupper the fast mens’ chances but adverse weather conditions on the mountain have led to the race organisers reverting to the more traditional route that absolutely does favour the pure sprinters. Guys like Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara will be disappointed, but it does give the sprinters their chance before the puncheurs and all-rounders have their days in the weeks to come.

 

The Contenders

Mark Cavendish – It wasn’t until the route was changed back to its original setup that Cavendish was going to enter the race. With the flatter route now prevailing, and signs that his form and the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team’s cohesiveness is improving, he is likely to figure come the finish.

André Greipel – Greipel is another to have entered last-minute upon the route alteration announcement. With a more prolific start to the season than long-term rival Cavendish, he’ll want to capitalise on is obviously good form and secure a first monument.

John Degenkolb – Put in instead of his teammate Marcel Kittel because of his greater climbing ability, Giant-Shimano have stuck to their plan despite the change in route. This could be down in part to Degenkolb’s very impressive start to the year with race wins and top-tens galore, so he should be one to watch out for if he’s on a good day.

Fabian Cancellara – Spartacus has always gone well at the Milano-San Remo, his best result a win in 2008. Not a pure sprinter, he’ll need to make a break for the line early if he’s to succeed for a second time.

Tom Boonen – The classics specialist of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, Boonen has never won Milano-San Remo and has announced that he is team leader for the race this year. Whether that means the team is built solely around him for a tilt (unlikely, considering Cavendish and Michal Kwiatkowski are his teammates), or that he’s road captain and one of three standout options for the team, we’ll have to wait and see. [Update – actually we won’t: Booned has withdrawn due to ‘personal issues’. Expect a charge for Cavendish with Kwiatkowski waiting to capitalise on any hesitation from other sprinters’ teams.]

The ‘Others’ – Classics have a tendency to throw up slightly unexpected winners, so watch out for big names like Diego Ulissi, Kwiatkowski, Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali, Philippe Gilbert, Filippo Pozzato, Simon Gerrans and Edvald Boasson Hagan who all may fancy a good crack if the state of play on the road suits them.

The Race

The route reverts to it’s traditional sprinter’s paradise. © Gazetta dello Sport

As already mentioned, the race has reverted to the familiar flat route for 2014, with only the Cipresśa and Poggio di Sanremo troubling the sprinters rhythm towards the finish. In recent years it hasn’t been enough to stop them from winning the race, with Gerald Ciolek coming out on top against stars Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara last time around.

Expect the Passo del Turchino at the 130km mark to be where escape artists may try their thing as they look to hold on for the remainder of the 294km.

You can catch the Milano-San Remo race live on Eurosport on Sunday 23 March.