Thanks for volunteering to do this.

@Turdburgler, could you also copy the instructions into your first post? This way the rules and instructions can be easily located.

As @heyMartin said, only one more week. The song birds here in Wisconsin are beginning to sing their hearts out; spring is coming!

Thanks for doing all that.

What spring one day is everyone most looking forward to? For me it’s always Roubaix, with honorable mention for Strade Bianche.

for me it was L-B-L first then Roubaix when i first started getting interested in classics;
now its migrated to Strada and Flanders

If have to pick one

Flanders.

Also, hands down my top race replays I will toss on during trainer workouts.

it's almost like asking parents for their favorite kid

that said, I have a few favs:

Omloop Het Volk/Nieuwsblad: first proper classic of the season. Have always been important, but recently rose even higher in stature.
Strade Binache: that picturesque Tuscany scenery, especially when they ride into Siena in the setting sun.
De Ronde: rich history + proper hard man's race.
Roubaix: out of all the Monuments, the one most likely to be won by an unsung domestique; at once so wide open and yet so selective.

I used to really like Liege for its grittiness. Though not even close to being my favorite rider, but Nibali's attack in 2012 somehow encapsulates the thrills and pains of cycling. But for a while, the race got so boring that one wouldn't miss much by tuning in only for the last 9 km. This has changed last year, and maybe the change is here to stay as long as it doesn't return to the finish in Ans.

On the flip side, there's Amstel, the race that for many years in the 21st century had been nothing more than a glorified uphill sprint, yet managed to reinvent itself in 2017 into something far more tactical. Last year's race would have been good had Alaphilippe and Fuglsang stayed away, but that chase by MvdP really boosted the stature of the race.

Tough one. As a trackie, have to go with Roubaix. Love to see the mano y mano duels in the thunder drome.

Done! Thanks gents!

I'd say Omloop is what everyone is waiting for here. It is the formal commencement of all things cycling as far as I'm concerned.

Strade and De Ronde. Strade cause its picturesque, a cool parcours, and hard finish. De Ronde cause it's De Ronde...

Thanks for taking on admin duties Joeri! Can't wait for the 'loop!

I mean, wow. FedEx smoked Dennis, and considering that the latter had a few days off while former went deep. The hype is real.

Indeed

It's like that old saying: you had one task to do (to beat Remco), and he didn't manage

Remco is either too hot or just that much stronger, but damn if not impressive in a way that scares the sh*t out of everyone. That’s a class win, what with taking a climbing stage and TT.

Solid ride by Schachmann and huge TT improvement for López.

Yeah, I mean Dennis was supposed to be Ineos' GC guy, who'd presumably use the TT to bail himself out of small time losses on the summit finishes. But he couldn't even beat the guy who was winning the climbs on the TT. (never mind that Dennis had massive time losses on the climbs)..

Not sure what's up with Geraint Thomas. I get it - it's months away from his time. But damn he looks lackluster.

Roubaix for sheer epicality, and the chance for a Hayman or Backstredt to win it and so much friggin bedlam that Hayman didn’t even know he was first across. I love the racing at LBL and Amstel. Usually super interesting final group make ups, punchy attacks, love the terrain and all over the place parcours.
Flanders to me is simply the hardest all round bike race and the crown jewel. The small roads leading to the crazy ass climbs and the fighting for position. Just insane.
But Roubaix is like nothing else.

Dennis has been saying all year that he's building up to one goal, Olympics ITT, with an eye on the Giro TTs and helping Carapaz as much as he can. After that he's probably all in for Worlds.

Yes, but for this minor race he was designated GC co-leader along with Kwiatowski. And neither was able to compete in GC. Though Kwiat did respectably well.

I have a love/hate relationship with LBL.. It's the first cyclo I ever did (got talked into it by friends), only 4 months into cycling and with 52/36 chainrings and an 11-25 cassette, grinding my way up the Redoute and so on in the rain..

That said I like the Strade a lot and Amstel's one of my favorites as well because I ride those climbs multiple times each month. MSR is boring until the last 15 minutes basically but then has you screaming at the TV out of excitement. RVV and PR are great races but the riders make the race and imo they start playing games too much early on instead of riding and then fighting it out in the final 5k.

I'm sure Dennis will be underwhelmed with his GC result, but he's also focused on the bigger picture for the year.

I bet that Dennis is praying that the coronovirus doesn't imperil the Tokyo Games.

situation in Italy puts MSR in question ??
https://www.cyclingnews.com/...san-remo-says-vegni/

My favorite classic is Roubaix

So MvdP is on the startlist for Omloop

God have mercy on rest of them...

Caleb outpunching Sam Bennett on the uphill finish today was pretty impressive.

Ought to be a good race for him, should be something to watch him unload Saturday. Painful thing about Omloop is finish overlaps with start of a Grasshopper race here in NorCal, so I have to wait until mid-afternoon to see result as well as threatening to de-friend anyone who spoils it.