The Cycling Disciple

In the almost unimaginable scenario that Peter Sagan, Greg van Avermaet, Alexander Kristoff or Philippe Gilbert don't win De Ronde van Vlaanderen, let's look at five underdogs who could take a breakthrough classics victory at the second monument of the season on April 1st. The archetypal classics specialist, 2017 Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert's walks across the line after winning last year Photo credit: limburger.nl  Believe it or not, there is one very obvious way that either of those four kings of the cobbles don't win on Sunday, and that's if they mark each other out of the race. It happened in 2011 when a group of 12 favourites came into the final 5km. Fabian Cancellara put in one last ditch effort, and while the other nine glanced aimlessly at each other, Sylvain Chavanel and Nick Nuyens chased the Leopard Trek rider. With Tom Boonen, Geraint Thomas and Juan Antonio Flecha leading the chase into the final kilometre, Nuyens - the rank outsider - sta...

Yves Lampaert took victory in west Flanders for the second time in as many years in a Dwars Door Vlaanderen blighted by wind and rain. Quick-Step Floors have now won seven of a possible eight Belgian one-day races in 2018 Photo credit: cyclingweekly.com  Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First-Drapac) and Mike Teunissen (Team Sunweb) went clear with 25km to go and came into the final kilometre on equal terms, but it was defending champion Lampaert who attacked early and by the time the others reacted he had already assured himself of the win for a second consecutive year.  Lampaert rolled across the line with his arms aloft, while Teuissen, Vanmarcke, Boasson Hagen and Pedersen battled to second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.  Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) and Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing) - who'd lit up the race some 30km before the finish - came in seventh an...

World champion Peter Sagan out sprinted Elia Viviani and Arnaud Démare to win his third Gent-Wevelgem and become the most successful current rider in the race. Elia Viviani won De Panne on Wednesday but couldn't prevent Peter Sagan winning his third Gent-Wevelgem Photo credit: cyclingnews.com Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) launched early to set up teammate Sacha Modolo, but Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) reacted the best to beat the rest of the pack. Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) was visibly distraught with himself after the race in coming second, while Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.  The Race Filippo Ganna (UAE Team Emirates), Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal), José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin), Jimmy Duquennoy (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) and Brian Van Goethem and Jan-Willem Van Schip (Roompot) made up the day's first break and ope...

In a marvelous show of strength Niki Terpstra held on to a 20-second time gap over the last 15km of flat as 11 chasers failed to work together to close him down. Niki Terpstra won Le Samyn a month ago with help from Philippe Gilbert Photo credit: velonews.com Terpstra and Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) attacked and together stayed away for 70km with multiple groups of cobbled specialists in pursuit. Lampaert - acting as a super-domestique for Terpstra - did brilliantly to stay with the former Dutch champion over the plethora of sharp inclines over the last 50km, but eventually broke over the final Tiegemberg climb inside 20km to go. The chase - Belgium champion Oliver Naesen (AG2R), Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Philippe Gilbert and Czech champion Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal), Gianni Moscon (Team Sky), Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) and Greg van Avermaet, Stefan Kung and Jurge...

Vincenzo Nibali attacked on the famous Poggio climb and held a gap by mere metres to win his first Milan-Sanremo.  Vincenzo Nibali takes his monuments tally to three, having won two Giro Il Lomardia already Photo credit: cyclingweekly.com Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) came off the descent of the Poggio with seven seconds on a bunch of sprinters and emptied the tank in the final two kilometres of flat to win on the Via Roma. The Shark of Mesina becomes the first Italian winner of their home monument since Filippo Pozzato in 2006. Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) won the sprinters battle ahead of Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Jurgen Roelandts (BMC Racing), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). The Race A nine-man break went straight from kilometre 0 - Mirco Maestri and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF), Engvy K...

Milan-Sanremo is the first 'Monument' of the cycling calendar and for many acts as the official opening of the spring classics.  Kwiatkowski sat on Sagan's wheel before beating him in the lunge for the line last year Photo credit: cyclingweekly.com 'La Primavera' is the ultimate test of endurance, coupled with stinging climbs for fatigued legs over the Cipressa and Poggio and a tonne of tension in the final 6km as any attackers try to hang on or the sprinters jostle for position as they nervously anticipate the flamme rouge on the Via Roma. At 291km with six plus hours in the saddle, 'La Classicissima' is the longest one-day race in the cycling calendar, but often the race doesn't take shape until the last 20km with the Cipressa.  The Poggio isn't a tough climb by any means - barely a category four by WorldTour standards - but with more than 280km in the legs by that point it can make or break the race. It will either enable an attacker o...

Marc Soler won his first stage race title as David de la Cruz beat Omar Fraile on the Promenade des Anglais to win the final stage of Paris-Nice.  Marc Soler finished third in the same stage in 2017 Photo credit: liberation.fr 24-year-old Soler (Movistar) and De la Cruz (Team Sky) attacked the yellow jersey group on the Cote de Peille and joined up with Fraile (Astana) who'd previously been in the lead with Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors).  While Mitchelton-Scott and Bahrain-Merida worked hard at the front of the yellow jersey group to pull back the gap to under a minute, the trio of Spaniards held firm in very treacherous wet conditions in the south of France.  De la Cruz out sprinted Fraile to win on the Promenade des Anglais for the second year in a row, as Soler sat up knowing his battle was for general classification and not the stage. Soler, who was 37-seconds down on Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) as the start of the day, ended up beating the Bri...

Rudy Molard's attack in the final kilometre of the race surprised everyone as he raced away on his own to win stage six into Vence. Rudy Molard takes only his second career win Photo credit: inthebunch.co.za There were a flurry of attacks in the closing 10km over the Cote de la Colle sur Loup but it was Molard (Groupama-FDJ) whose move stuck with 1.3km to go.  Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) finishing second and third respectively. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) finished fourth  retaining his overall race lead, with Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) in fifth. The general classification got a shake up as a result of this stage, with Wout Poels (Team Sky) abandoning due to a crash and Tony Gallopin (AG2R) losing five minutes. The Race Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal), Amael Moinard (Fortuneo), Paul Martens (Lotto-Jumbo), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis), Tom Scully (EF Education First-Drapac) and Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) made up the early break out of...

Jerome Cousin won stage five of Paris-Nice after refusing to work with breakaway companion Nils Politt before sprinting for the line as the peloton closed in behind. Jerome Cousin takes his first stage win since 2013 Photo credit: asia.eurosport.com Cousin (Direct Energie) picked up the King of the Mountains jersey by claiming maximum points on all four categorised climbs on the stage, but it was his mind games with breakaway companion Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) in the last 8km that resulted in a controversial stage win for the Frenchman. Politt attacked the initial breakaway on the final climb of the day only to be followed by Cousin who refused to work as the peloton loomed just tens of seconds behind. Politt worked himself into the ground to maintain somewhat of a gap into the final kilometre, but Cousin capitalised on the knackered German and sprinted for the win as the sprinters charged fewer than 10-seconds behind. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Magnus Cort Nielsen...

BMC Racing won the race opening team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico for the third consecutive year to put Damiano Caruso into the blue jersey. BMC Racing have won the opening TTT stage of Tirreno-Adriatico the last three years Photo credit: roadcyclinguk.com Mitchelton-Scott took second place - making Adam Yates the highest placed general classification rider - with Team Sky in third on the 21.5km route along Italy's west coast at Lido di Camaiorse. Tom Dumoulin's Team Sunweb - the world TTT champions - came fifth behind Quick-Step Floors. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) continued his run of bad luck after crashing out of the Abu Dhabi Tour last month, as he took a tumble off camera. His post-crash injuries were captured by the race feed at the finish with the Manx-man nursing a lump and cut below his right eye and torn kit.  Stage Result 1. BMC Racing in 22:19 2. Mitchelton-Scott at 4" 3. Team Sky at 9" 4. Quick-Step Floors at 15" 5. Team...

Wout Poels won his first individual time trial since 2016 to decrease Luis Leon Sanchez's overall lead in Paris-Nice to 15-seconds on stage four. Wout Poels last won an individual time trial in 2016 at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Photo credit: cyclingnews.com Poels (Team Sky) beat Marc Soler (Movistar) by 11-seconds on the 18.5km route from La Fouillouse to Saint Etienne with Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) 16-seconds in arrears.  Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Ion Izagirre (Bahrain Merida) rounded out the top five as the general classification was reshuffled with overall contenders rising to the top.  Stage Result 1. Wout Poels (Team Sky) in 23:33 2. Marc Soler (Movistar) at 11" 3. Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) at 16" 4. Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 20" 5. Ion Izagirre (Bahrain Merida) at 27" 6. Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain Merida) at 27" 7. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) at 28" 8. Tim W...

Jonathan Hivert took his first ever WorldTour stage win after a late attack in the final 20km that saw Luis Leon Sanchez take the overall lead of Paris-Nice on stage three. Jonathan Hivert came 8th overall in 2009 Photo credit: velonews.com Remy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) attacked the peloton on the descent of the Cote de Charbonnieres and was followed by Sanchez (Astana) and Hivert (Direct Energie) who held a 38-second lead to the finish before the Direct Energie veteran won the sprint in Chatel-Guyon. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) won the battle of the sprinters at the head of the chasing pack but lost the leader's yellow jersey.  The Race After a sedentary stage yesterday with a very low average speed and no breakaway until 90km to the finish, it was back to business as usual on stage three from Bourges to Chatel-Guyon as the group of Jay Robert Thomson (Dimension Data), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) and Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille Pr...

Chris Froome headlines his first WorldTour race since it was reported he had returned an adverse analytical finding during the 2017 Vuelta a Espana as the world's best climbers prepare for the Giro d'Italia at the 53rd Tirreno-Adriatico. While this season's Paris-Nice has attracted the B-list of general classification riders, Tirreno-Adriatico is the preferred goal for those seeking general classification glory at this year's Giro d'Italia.  While some outsiders for the Italy's Grand Tour have chosen the 'Race to the Sun' - Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) for example - the 'Race of the Two Seas' has certainly brought with it a stronger start list of contenders. The Contenders Movistar's Nairo Quintana won the golden trident at the 2017 Tirreno-Adriatico but isn't riding in 2018 Photo credit: direttacyclismo.it This is going to be a very long list, perhaps only second to a list of contende...