Spring Classics 2024
The Spring Classics mark the thaw of winter and the end to training rides, coffee stops and team presentations as riders start to dig into the meat of the 2024 season.
The opening weekend is not the first race day of the year but the start of the traditional Belgian Classics, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne for men and Omloop van het Hageland for women.
Strade Bianche is the next major race after the intervening Le Samyn races and typically provides warmer, more pleasant racing conditions in which to tackle the unique challenge of racing over the 'white roads' of Tuscany.
The Women's WorldTour continues afterward at the Ronde van Drenthe, which has some cobbled sections and the selective and steep VAM Berg, a climb built over a former waste dump.
Next comes Nokere Koerse, a race that is based around the cobbled Nokereberg climb, with the finish coming atop a final ascent.
Milano-Torino is a new addition to the spring calendar in 2022. It used to take place in the autumn but now leads up to Milan-San Remo and uses a flatter course.
An alternative to the Italian semi-classic is the GP de Denain which serves as a small taste of the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
The first Monument of the season, Milan-San Remo is a venerable race that dates back to 1907. Also known as La Classicissima (the big classic) and La Primavera (the spring), it is the most important day in Italian cycling.
There is no women's version of Milan-San Remo. Instead, the Women's WorldTour heads to Cittiglio for the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, which dates back to 1974.
Racing then heads back to Belgium for the Classic Brugge-De Panne. A Women's Classic Brugge-De Panne was added in 2018. Both start in Bruges before heading into the windswept swamp plains of De Moeren, before heading for the finish in De Panne. If the race hasn't been broken apart in the wind, it's a likely bunch sprint.
Another warm-up race, the E3 Saxo Classic, a mini-Tour of Flanders, is exclusively for the men. It leads into Gent-Wevelgem, another historic Flandrien Classic that uses features of Brugge-De Panne and the climbs of West Flanders, along the French border including the iconic and decisive Kemmelberg.
The men's race was first held in 1934 while the Women's Gent-Wevelgem was created in 2012 and now acts as the fifth event on the WorldTour calendar.
Dwars door Vlaanderen occupies the Wednesday before the Tour of Flanders. A Women's Dwars door Vlaanderen was established in 2012.
The calendar culminates with the Tour of Flanders is one of the most iconic days on the cycling calendar.
Since 2004, there has also been a women's Tour of Flanders. The courses have changed over the years but the current iteration uses circuits that include the Oude Kwaremont and super-steep Paterberg, both serving as the grand finale ahead of the 13km run-in.
The sprinters get to shine in the Scheldeprijs, known as the 'world championship for sprinters'. The race takes its name from the Schelde river up near Antwerp in the east of Flanders, and there can be a threat of wind before the races heads to Schoten for laps of a finishing circuit.
The men's race was created in 1907 while a women's Scheldeprijs was introduced in 2021.
The Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix is the only French Classic but it is arguably the most important of the entire spring, with riders fighting across 50+ kilometres of rough cobbled roads to hoist the cobblestone trophy. The men's race was first held back in 1896, while a women's Paris-Roubaix was only introduced in 2021.
Between the cobbled and Ardennes Classics comes De Babantse Pijl which takes place between Flanders and Wallonia. First held in 1961 and the women's Brabantse Pijl since 2016, both races feature a variety of climbs both cobbled and paved.
The Amstel Gold Race, first held in 1966, is one of the three Ardennes Classics, even if it takes place in Limburg, the Netherlands. Named after a beer, it's a snaking and undulating ride through the hills of Limburg, with climbs like the Cauberg make for a chaotic finale.
A women's Amstel Gold Race was added in 2001 and both take place on the same day and start and finish near Valkenburg.
La Flèche Wallonne comes midweek with the annual showdown on the Mur de Huy. The men's race was first held in 1936 and the women's La Flèche Wallonne in 1998, and the winner invariably comes from a large group splintering into pieces on the steep climb in Huy.
The oldest of the Classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège was first held in 1892. The women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège was set up by Tour de France organisers ASO in 2017.
The races start and finishes in Liège, heading south to Bastogne before returning back. A previous finale in Ans became too predictable so organisers moved the finish back to Liège.
How to watch
Cyclingnews will bring you full live coverage, reports, results, news, interviews and analysis of the 2024 Spring Classics. Find out how to watch the races via live stream if you are outside of your home location with ExpressVPN in the links below.
Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for alerts on important stories and action during the race.
Most of the Spring Classics will be aired on television during the day across Europe and the rest of the world.
With the end of GCN+, watching cycling via live streaming became more complicated and expensive.
If you're in the UK, or any one of numerous European countries, the race will be aired live and in full on Eurosport. Live streaming will generally be available via Discovery+.
It is unclear which races will be included in the standard subscription, which costs £6.99/$9.15 per month, or £39.99/year and which will be a part of the "premium" tier that includes TNT Sports for an additional £29.99/month.
Some of the races will be broadcast via Warner Bros. Max streaming service via the TNT Sports package, which costs $29.99/month on top of the Max subscription fee of $9.99/month with ads or $19.99/month without.
In the USA, Canada, and Australia, Flobikes is the option for some of the races while Peacock will show Paris-Roubaix, the Amstel Gold races, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
A year-long subscription to Flobikes will set you back $150 in the USA and $209.99 in Canada, while Peacock can be had for just $5.99/month or $11.99 for ad-free premium viewing.
Home broadcasters Sporza and RTBF will be airing the races in Flanders and Wallonia if you fancy taking in the action with a Flemish or French soundtrack.
If you live outside a broadcast zone or are on holiday outside your country and find that the live streams are geo-restricted, you can get around this by getting access to them by simulating being back in your home country via a 'virtual private network', or VPN, for your laptop, tablet or mobile.
TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number-one VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
