“Some say it is of some intrigue to have such a race end with such a pure test of strength and power. To this I say: for a Wednesday Classic, perhaps this is reasonable. Should one work all day and not have time to watch at leisure for an hour or two, surely all can find 3 minutes in their day to squeeze in watching the Final Kilometer of this La Fleche Wallonne. But is this climb a pure test of who is the best puncheur in the world?”
Category Archives: The Classics
2021 Amstel: A Grudge Match Sprint (Written)
“The three went away, and Brabantse Pijl déjà vu flashed in all of our minds. Instead of Trentin, it was Schachmann today who had to play the third—sorry, fifth and sixth—wheel for a grudge match between the cyclocross rivals.”
The Ardennes Classics (Written)
“As to whether it is a Classic or Semi-Classic: I believe my and the cycling world’s mind are torn. Yet that does not much matter for it is the perfect transition race into the three proper canonical Ardennes Classics: the Amstel Gold, La Fleche Wallonne, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. To think, to think—as is the case with all the cycling Classics—such a smattering of random words could form the titles of hallowed races!”
2021 G-W: The Sprinters Show Off Their Classics Chops (Written)
“Ah! Truly, it was just another day in what is becoming a special era of cycling…Yes, another novel round, another day of unexpected sights to report, another proof that the cycling-world is upside down, and O! how I surely speak for all when I say: we are absolutely loving and soaking up every moment of this new un-understandable era. “
2021 E3: The Wolfpack’s Ronde Dress Rehearsal (Written)
“Yes, at this point the musical numbers should be prepared, all the stage blocking done for each scene, the costumes fitted properly, the tickets bought, and of course the script should be fully written and memorized by now. Thus with these elements in mind, the Deceuninck-Quickstep Wolfpack set about crafting a battle plan here that could prove a winning strategy later for Flanders itself. “
Pairings and Feuds, the Next Rounds of Cobbles: E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars, and De Panne (Written)
“Perhaps I could attempt to say all are as different as four siblings with the same set of parents. That might be accurate, but the levels of prestige are different and have been in volatile flux in recent years”
Strade Bianche 2021: A Dream Final Selection (WRITTEN)
“And this is the Dream selection that forms the title of this piece. As I said, the chasers kept them close, but did any viewer in the world think anyone was gonna catch onto this group of All-Stars? No offense to the chasers, but did anyone want them to? Or can we all just admit a fantasy was coming true”
Strade Bianche Musings
“Strade Bianche cannot claim the long history like the other Classics—most have their dawn from the ashes of the Post-War years or go back before the First Great War or even the turn of the 19th Century. And yet, here is Strade acting not even as the youngest brother in the company of the other aged Classics, but masquerading as one of the elder statesmen.”
The Showmen Light Up the Opening Weekend…of Reduced Bunch Sprints? (Written)
“On this Opening Weekend in Belgium two of cycling’s superstars dictated how the race would play out…and in a complete power move: neither even factored in winning into their calculations.”
Musing on Opening Weekend (WRITTEN)
“For the true fans: ideally this weekend always has some brutally harsh weather—no matter how sadistic that sounds, it is the truth. There is something special about cozying up near a fire in a blanket on a Saturday afternoon to watch the Finale of Omloop. “
Cycling Odysseys 