2022 Spring Classics Redux
A few comments on this year’s Spring Classics.
The Gladiators Are Back
- Wout Van Aert was never stronger in the Spring Classics. A couple of wins and lots of podium spots. Too bad he got sick the week before De Ronde.
- Rest did wonders for Mathieu van der Poel. He was ready and won the most important race. He will learn from this preparation and rest more often.
- Pogacar riding the cobblestone classics is a wonderful breath of fresh air. He’ll come back for revenge next year.
- Kopecky was the strongest woman on the cobblestone and gravel rides. She won’t be as nice next year in Paris-Roubaix.
- Remco as a Jack in the Box: surprise!
Teams
- Ineos was clearly the best team of the Spring Classics. A strong team that came to ride. Gone are the Froome-Sky days of hyper-calculated racing.
- Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux was my favorite team: a small budget with lots of grinta and always present.
- Jumbo-Visma is building a strong classics team. While Ineos was omni-present this year, Quickstep-style, Jumbo-Visma often lacked one or two riders to complement Nathan Van Hooydonck, Tiesj Benoot and Christophe Laporte. Perhaps with a bit more strategic riding, they have that extra rider in the finale.
- Lotto-Soudal is almost certain to lose its WorldTeam status. Campenaerts and the Lotto youngsters need a bit more team. As Alpecin has shown, WorldTeam status is overrated. Go build in freedom on a new Lotto team.
The Races
- De Ronde was great to watch. However it is borderline too hard. The tough finale postpones the fireworks to very late in the race. De Ronde has become a long battle where the strongest riders battle it out on the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont or Paterberg. We won’t be seeing many early attacks on the Taaienberg by the favorites, nor will we see the exciting race changes as in one the best Rondes in recent years: 2011 when Nick Nuyens won.
- While De Ronde flirts with being too difficult, the Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège crossed that line long ago. The race is no longer exciting. You might as well put everybody on rolls for 200 km and ask them to ride up the steep climbs of the Mur or Roche aux Faucons. And yet, Remco did make it a bit exciting in La Doyenne this year. A rare event.
- Paris-Roubaix surprised me, thanks to team Ineos. A strong rider always wins. However, because of the risk of equipment failure, it may not be the strongest or most deserving rider. This year was different. Paris-Roubaix was wonderful.
Unfortunately too many teams suffered from covid-19 illness, and sometimes didn’t even have enough riders to start in a race.
It was an exciting spring classics season, and well worth waking up at 4 to 5am California time.