Well, the 2024 spring Classics are officially underway after the men's and women's pelotons hit the cobbles and hills of Flanders to take on the men's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and the women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Omloop van het Hageland.
We may still be some time away from the biggest meets of the cobbled Classics campaign, with races such as Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix lying weeks ahead, but there was still plenty to enjoy and discuss at the dawn of a new Classics season.
The quartet of races offered up few answers to questions about who might triumph at those all-important Monuments in early April, but there was much to digest regardless.
On the men's side, 'Are Visma-Lease a Bike unstoppable?' remains the main question going forward, while that same question posed about the usually dominant women's team, SD Worx-Protime, has just been answered. Elsewhere, we witnessed the continuation of the trend to start the attacking action from a long, long way out, as well as some quality efforts and results outside the 'big two' super teams.
For all that analysis and more, plus another raising of the ever-more familiar question 'Are QuickStep OK?', read on courtesy of our reporter on the ground in Flanders, Daniel Ostanek, and our remote experts Kirsten Frattini and Simone Giuliani.
An unbeatable Visma-Lease A Bike
The Dutch men's team headed into Opening Weekend with the strongest squad on paper once again, with Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle, Edoardo Affini, Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Jorgenson, and Jan Tratnik to rely upon.
Most teams were lucky to count one potential race winner among their ranks at the starts in Gent and Kortrijk, but Visma-Lease a Bike could look to five or six men for a result across the weekend. It was no surprise, then, that they came away from Opening Weekend with a third Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win in a row alongside back-to-back Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne victories.
Both results came after the team blew up the race a long way from home – with 130km to go at Omloop, and 90km out at Kuurne – with the aftermath of both moves being much-reduced front groups packed with yellow Visma jerseys.
On Saturday, the team always had the numerical advantage, sending Matteo Jorgenson up the road over the Muur van Geraardsbergen before then giving Jan Tratnik the go-ahead inside the final 10km after the lead groups had re-merged.
Sunday's race saw four Visma riders in the lead after their move on Le Bourliquet, with Van Aert jumping away soon after to find himself the faster man left in a three-rider group that went to the finish.
As many had predicted beforehand, following the team's command of much of the cobbled Classics season last spring, Visma-Lease a Bike proved the dominant force once again.
More title defences – at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, and Dwars door Vlaanderen – lie ahead next month, but the biggest challenge remains doing the same at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, where the aura of invincibility faded last April. (DO)
SD Worx not invincible after all
Much like the Visma-Lease A Bike men's squad, SD Worx-Protime came into Opening Weekend with a recent history of cobbled Classics dominance and, on paper, were by far the strongest squad in Belgium.
Last season the powerhouse team snapped up wins at… wait for it… Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Omloop van het Hageland, the Ronde van Drenthe, Nokere Koerse, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs, and the Ardennes triple.
Their superstars – Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes, Demi Vollering, and Marlen Reusser doled out the victories among themselves as their rivals fought over scraps for much of the spring.
But this time around, they leave Opening Weekend with a pair of second places rather than a pair of wins, with Kopecky and European Champion Mischa Bredewold bested by a faster finisher in Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and a stunning soloist in Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale). Second is nothing to sniff at, of course, but it's not quite the absurdly high standard most of us were expecting.
There were some extenuating circumstances, of course. Reusser was absent from the action after contracting a virus during the week, while Vollering is still short of her best after a challenging winter, said team DS Anna van der Breggen.
This 'losing streak', if one were to be harsh, won't continue this spring – the team has won seven times already in 2024 – but Opening Weekend has shown that the seemingly infallible team, aren't. (DO)
Soudal-QuickStep remain in the doldrums
Once upon a time – in the not-too-distant past – Soudal-QuickStep were the dominant force of the spring Classics season. Since its founding in 2003, they've racked up 13 wins at Opening Weekend, 14 at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and a further 20 in the various cobbled Classics in between.
But now, after a second barren Opening Weekend in a row, Fabio Jakobsen's 2022 sprint win in Kuurne stands as the Belgian squad's sole cobbled Classics victory dating back to April 2021.
Following a pair of top 10s at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne last spring, the team comes away from the 2024 races with 21st and seventh places to show for their efforts. Not great.
While Mapei dominated the cobbles in the 1990s and QuickStep did the same over the last two decades, the 2020s have so far been the decade of Visma-Lease a Bike. The Dutch squad proved dominant once again this Opening Weekend, making both races and coming away with a pair of wins, much like last year.
Soudal-QuickStep, meanwhile, placed Kasper Asgreen and Gianni Moscon in the lead split at Omloop before both dropped away and then saw two men – Asgreen and Julian Alaphilippe – crash out of the chase group that eventually came back to the front of the race.
At Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the team only had Alaphilippe in the lead split provoked by Visma, with the Frenchman unable to join Van Aert's winning move with 87km to go on Mont Saint Laurent.
Neo-pro Luke Lamperti salvaged something, sprinting to a top 10 in the peloton, but the team which has cobbles in its DNA will once again be hoping Opening Weekend isn't a sign of things to come later in the spring. (DO)
Marianne Vos back with full force
It is unusual when Marianne Vos lines up at a race where she hasn’t won before, let alone competed in, but for the rider who often kicks off the road season in March given her cyclocross commitments, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was one such event. It was a fresh start for the Dutch rider in many ways as this was not only a race debut but also her first Women’s WorldTour race since surgery in August of 2023, with the rider having had ongoing iliac artery issues in recent years, the latest causing worsening pain last season and a lack of power in her left leg.
The issue's impact on Vos seemed evident in her results of 2023, as although it was not a bad year by most riders' standards, the two road stage wins certainly were not in line with the usual tally of a rider with now 249 pro victories. Her season opener at the 2.Pro Setmana Ciclista-Volta Comunitat Valenciana Fèmines, however, showed promise that that surgery and rebuild had put Vos back on track, with two second places in the first two stages. Saturday’s efforts then confirmed that the unhindered, and at times seemingly unbeatable, version of Vos is back.
The 36-year-old headed to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad finish line in a lead group of four, having perfectly tracked all the key moves through the race. Then once the final sprint was launched she moved up alongside the in-form 2023 winner, world champion Lotte Kopecky, before powering past with time to celebrate on the line. Winning may be something Vos has experienced more than anyone, but it was clear that the first time throwing her hands up in celebration on the road since May was a moment to be savoured.
It was also unassailable evidence of the conclusion already hinted at in the Spanish season start – the supreme bike handling skills, tactical nous and incredible drive of the Dutch rider were once again – after the August surgery – folded in with the power to overcome all challengers at the end of a hard race.
The sport of women’s cycling has changed and evolved dramatically since Vos won her first elite road race title at the World Championships as a 19-year-old, but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider has shown a remarkable ability to evolve, overcome obstacles and continue to reign supreme. The already staggering results tally just keeps growing and the rider regularly referred to as the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time), now looks set to continue building a legacy that keeps getting greater. (SG)
UAE and Lidl-Trek the best of the rest
While Visma-Lease A Bike deservedly took the headlines for dominating both men's races this weekend and taking half of the available podium spots, too, it was UAE Team Emirates who ended the men's Opening Weekend as the second-best squad.
They placed second at both races, first with new signing Nils Politt already showing his worth as a Classics force, getting away in Omloop along with eventual winner Jan Tratnik before succumbing in the two-up sprint.
Next up it was Tim Wellens' turn as he took the runner-up spot behind the unbeatable Van Aert in Kuurne. The Belgian has only been with the team for a year and looks a valuable addition to a spring squad that has been given an overhaul in recent seasons.
He and Politt are recent additions, while four other UAE men who took part at the weekend have also joined in the past two seasons. Former U23 world champion Filippo Baroncini was deployed in the domestique role along with 2023 signing Michael Vink while promising neo-pro Antonio Morgado impressed with a strong ride at Omloop. Development team rider Gibbe Staes was also called up overnight after Rui Oliveira broke his arm in a crash on Saturday.
UAE Team Emirates are well-renowned as a stage racing force deep with talent, but even if they're not packed with top-level Classics stars like certain other teams, they have shown that they can be a force throughout the remainder of spring. Watch this space.
On the women's side, there was equally promising racing from Lidl-Trek, who came away with third and fourth spots at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as well as a top 10 at Omloop van het Hageland.
Lauretta Hansen was eighth among the chasing group at the latter, while Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij showed themselves as part of the race's strongest team at the former.
It was a pity for the pair that they'd go to the line with two better sprinters in Vos and Kopecky, but the tactics and the strength were there, and that's without Elisa Balsamo and Lizzie Deignan not on top form, too.
They'll certainly be among the top contenders later this spring. As Longo Borghini said on Saturday, "We're not here boiling eggs – we are doing stuff." (DO)
New EF women's team already a force
What a start to the season for the new women's team EF Education-Cannondale. In its first year as a Continental outfit, the team has already racked up a series of victories and it's only February.
In what is arguably the team's strongest performance so far, Kristen Faulkner rolled the dice in a 50km solo breakaway and won Omloop van het Hageland, claiming the squad's fourth win.
In the 129km hilly race, from Aarschot to Tielt-Winge, Faulkner wasted no time making her winning move. She admitted that she was hoping more riders would join her in the breakaway, but ending up solo didn't deter her.
A strong time trialist, Faulkner powered over the final 50km, gaining three minutes and holding onto a 1:41 margin on the finish line. Faulkner said it was a victory she was even surprised by.
"That's what happens when you don’t expect it, you’re more relaxed. I think that since this race normally wouldn’t suit me, I came in feeling really relaxed and I was totally willing to take a risk. I took a risk, and it worked.”
EF Education-Cannondale has a star-studded team in its inaugural season, including Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson, Veronica Ewers, Lotta Henttala and Coryn Labecki.
The team won the first two races of their season, with Noemi Rüegg winning Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi and Magdeleine Vallieres winning Trofeo Palma Femina while Kim Cadzow also won the New Zealand time trial title.
When the team made their first announcements ahead of this season, Manager Esra Tromp stated that the riders hired to the roster all had a common goal; "they are not scared" and they "think outside the box". The no-fear approach to racing is what Tromp believes is the winning strategy, and that has proven true thus far. It bodes well for the remaining Spring Classics. (KF)
Long-range 'finals'
In the modern era of cycling, we're well used to the concept of races erupting a long, long way from the finish line.
Whether that comes through a team pushing the pace in the crosswinds or detonating the peloton over the hills, or via superstar riders launching massive solo efforts, these sights are far more normalised than they were even 10 years ago.
That didn't change at Opening Weekend where all races, barring perhaps the women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, were detonated a long, long way from the finish.
There, it was Elisa Longo Borghini who kicked off the big moves at a still sizeable 32km from the finish, but over in the men's race Visma-Lease a Bike went nuclear at over 130km out and only kept attacking as the race went on.
The next day it was the same story as they blew up the peloton with a huge effort at 92km to go, in the middle of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne's 'hill zone'. On the other side of Brussels, it was Faulkner who blew the race apart, attacking solo with over 50km to go before using her time trial skills to convert the move into a famous win.
Big moves like these mean viewers get a lot more racing than they used to – there's rarely much in the way of slowly whittling down the peloton ahead of the final difficulties anymore. That's generally a positive thing, even if thrillers like Saturday's races can be balanced by Kuurne's final, which was all but decided 60km out as Wout Van Aert found himself leading alongside two non-sprinters.
The 'long-range final' is here to stay. (DO)
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