La Flèche Wallonne - Valverde makes history despite Etixx-QuickStep's best efforts

It was only a couple of days before the 80th running of La Flèche Wallonne that I thought about Alejandro Valverde having a particularly quiet start to his Classics season. I should have known.

'Balaverde''s preparation for a tilt at the Giro d'Italia next month has led him through several of the Continental level races, with no serious attempts at WorldTour races aside from a top 10 finish in the Strade Bianchi. His win in the Vuelta a Castilla y León last weekend gave him the ideal launch into La Flèche Wallonne, a race he has come to dominate in recent years.

If you could have designed a race specifically to suit Valverde, this would be it. Having already won it in 2006, and twice more in the last two years, there's few who know the punishing summit finish better, and fewer still who possess the punching power to be able to almost guarantee success on it.

And so it was. A group of around 40 riders remained at the front of the race as they reached the Mur de Huy, with Valverde (MOV) always prominent in the group. Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT) made the first move, but didn't have the legs to keep it up and dropped back.

Dan Martin (EQS) was next in line to make a bid for glory, taking his teammate Julien Alaphilippe and Valverde with him. Valverde swept past on the outside as they crested the climb for the flat last 100m, and although last year's runner up Alaphilippe tried to keep up, he could do nothing to avoid a repeat of last year's top two, with Martin rounding off the podium.

It was a win that Movistar had planned from the start, always at the head of the peloton and putting in the majority of the work to reel in the day's break, started by Steve Cummings (DDD), who was also the last man to be caught. The only time Movistar showed any signs of straying from their plan to get Valverde this record-breaking fourth Flèche Wallonne was when Ion Izaguirre attacked on the run to the final climb, along with Bob Jungels (EQS).

Ultimately it was a fairly by-the-numbers race, the expected duel between Valverde/Movistar and Etixx-QuickStep the entire focus of the day. But Valverde and Movistar's feat is all the more impressive for it, especially given the immense one day firepower thrown at them by Etixx-QuickStep, who are surely becoming increasingly frustrated at not yet having won a Classic in 2016.

Valverde, meanwhile, will look next to Sunday, where he will attempt to be the first man in history to win three Ardennes Doubles in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Tim de Waele

Race results
1. Alejandro Valverde (MOV) 4:43:57
2. Julien Alaphilippe (EQS) + :00
3. Dan Martin (EQS) + :00
4. Wout Poels (SKY) + :04
5. Enrico Gasparotto (WGG) + :05
6. Samuel Sanchez (BMC) + :05
7. Michael Albasini (OGE) + :05
8. Diego Ulissi (LAM) + :05
9. Warren Barguil (TGA) + :05
10. Rui Costa (LAM) + :05

Amstel Gold Race - Emotional win for Gasparatto and Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Enrico Gasparotto (WGG) took his second win at the Amstel Gold Race, outwitting Michael Valgren (TNK) to take a two-way sprint, having ridden away from the rest of the peloton on the race's final climb, the Cauberg.

It was a particularly poignant win for Gasparotto and his team, coming just three weeks after teammate Antoine Demoitie was killed in a crash in the Gent-Wevelgem.

The 258km behemoth of a race started calmly after a nasty crash in the neutral zone, as Fabio Felline (TFS) went over the handlebars and was forced to abandon before the race got officially underway. The Italian was taken to hospital for surgery on a broken nose and a skull base fracture.

It took over 30km for a break to form, which included Matteo Bono (LAM), Laurens de Vreese (AST), Laurent Didier (TFS), Alex Howes (CPT) and Kevin Reza (FDJ). The break went up to around four minutes, ebbing and flowing as the break and peloton crested the many short, sharp climbs, 34 in all.

That lead held steady for the 11 riders out front until Sky, AG2R La Mondiale and Orica-GreenEDGE worked together to reel them in, dropping the gap by a minute before the break countered, steadying just above three minutes clear as heavy rain began to fall.

With around 65km remaining, four riders went to bridge the gap, Niccolo Bonifazio (TFS), Gianni Meersman (EQS), Bjorn Thurau (WGG) and Tosh van der Sande (LTS), but with some of them having riders in the break, particularly Bonifazio, their progress was slow, and they were ultimately reabsorbed by the peloton 30km from home, along with six other riders from the break.

Significantly, three time winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC) dropped off the back of the peloton with 25km to ride, along with Giant-Alpecin's Tom Dumoulin. They were followed 10km later by last year's winner Michal Kwiatkowski (SKY), as the rain evidently made this year's running a very gruelling affair.

Alex Howes, having fallen back from the break, then led Cannondale's charge to hunt down the rest, and along with Etixx-QuickStep, Orica-GreenEDGE and LottoNL-Jumbo, the break were caught 14km from the line, after a 200km charge.

First Roman Kreuziger (TNK) and then Tim Wellens (LTS) made attempts to break away in the closing stages. Wellens time trialled on the descent to the final climb of the Cauberg, the 34th and final climb of the day, taking a lead of almost 20 seconds up the climb.

Wellens was caught on the way up the climb, the chase led by Sep Vanmarcke and his LottoNL-Jumbo team. But when the Belgian was picked up, instead of Vanmarcke it was Gasparotto who rode away from the bunch.

Valgren went with him as the rest looked to each other, and the wily veteran Gasparotto coaxed the Dane into doing much of the work on the flat run to the finish, avoiding a strong headwind in the process.

With 200m left and the rest of the bunch closing in, Gasparotto launched his sprint, leaving his tired companion behind him, and pointing to the skies as he crossed the line in memory of his teammate. Bardiani-CSF's Sonny Colbrelli won the sprint for third, meaning it would be two ProTour teams on the podium.

Tim de Waele

Race winner Enrico Gasparotto (WGG):"I was lucky that Valgren came with me, I wouldn't have won if I'd been alone because there was a super strong headwind over the top. I was maybe lucky that it wasn't Roman Kreuziger too, because we would have played a bit before the sprint. Instead Valgren was happy to pull to make sure he came second at least, and I was able to wait and wait for the sprint."

Race results:
1. Enrico Gasparotto (WGG) 6:18:02
2. Michael Valgren (TNK) + :00
3. Sonny Colbrelli (BAR) + :02
4. Bryan Coquard (DEN) + :02
5. Michael Matthews (OGE) + :02
6. Julian Alaphilippe (EQS) + :02
7. Diego Ulissi (LAM) + :02
8. Giovanni Visconti (MOV) + :02
9. Loic Vliegen (BMC) + :02
10. Tim Wellens (LTS) + :02

Paris-Roubaix - Hayman denies Boonen in a classic Classic

Mathew Hayman (OGE) won a four way sprint in Roubaix velodrome to win an enthralling running of the Paris-Roubaix, beating four time winner Tom Boonen (EQS) into second, with Sky's Ian Stannard third.

It was a dramatic race from start to finish, with several different breaks and chasing groups spread along the roads of north east France, but Hayman remained in the front group throughout, and was richly rewarded for his efforts.

Overnight rain had lifted by the time the flag dropped, the clear skies hiding the risk of muddy sections appearing later in the race. It took several kilometres for a break to successfully get away, with an initial group of six being reeled back after another group attempted to go with them.

Eventually sixteen riders got away, around 80km in, and were established as being clear by the first of the sections of pavé. Some of the key riders in the break were Sylvain Chavanel (DEN), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (DDD) and Salvatore Puccio (SKY), while all the pre-race favourites remained together in the pack.

Mid-way through the race, Etixx-QuickStep made a bid to gap some of their main challengers, with Tom Boonen and Tony Martin upping the pace, taking only a handful of riders with them, and leaving Fabian Cancellara (TFS), Alexander Kristoff (KAT) and Peter Sagan (TNK) behind. Their bets were hedged somewhat by Niki Terpstra and Zdenek Stybar, both proven over cobbles, remaining in the group with Sagan et al.

The iconic Aremberg section spread out the riders, the leading group splitting temporarily, and immediately following the forest, Sagan and Cancellara sensed the danger of the two breaks and gave chase, but didn't make up much time, remaining around a minute behind Boonen's group.

63km from the finish, Edvald Boasson Hagen (DDD) was the first of the chasers to make contact with the break, swelling the group to around two dozen. Of the chasers, only race debutant Tony Martin failed to make contact, his job done in getting Boonen to the front. Almost immediately, Cancellara attacked in the Orchies sector, taking Sagan, Terpstra and others with him, and swiftly chopping the gap down to 30 seconds.

Gianni Moscon (SKY) went down onto the Auchy-les-Orchies cobbles as his team were taking control of the lead group, taking Luke Rowe down with him as Rowe collided with his fallen teammate. On the next corner, Puccio was the third Sky rider down, sliding off on a tight left, holding Stannard up. Somehow the three falls at the front didn't slow the group up, as they extended the gap to the chasing pack.

The next paved section, Mons-en-Pévèle, was even more significant. As the chasers tried to reduce the gap, which has grown to a minute, Cancellara fell on a straight section of the 5-star cobbles. He looked to have taken Sagan down with him, but somehow the world champion stayed on, despite having only one leg on the bike and one wheel on the ground at one point. Cancellara lost over a minute in the crash, and couldn't recover, dropping out of contention for a fairytale win.

While he avoided the crash, Sagan lost his main ally in chasing down the group, and with no teammates, Sagan did not have the firepower to close the gap, as the best he could do was keep it around a minute before drifting away inside the last 20km.

Into Camphin-en-Pévèle, the fifth paved sector from home, Luke Rowe launched Ian Stannard, whose attack created a group of five at the front, including Boasson Hagen, Boonen, Hayman and Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ), who had stayed quietly at the front all race. Vanmarcke then upped the pace on Carrefour de l'Arbre, opening up a ten second gap over the 2km cobbled sector.

The chasing quartet managed to rejoin Vanmarcke on the smooth run to Hem, only for Vanmarcke to attack again on the penultimate section of cobbles. Boasson Hagen in particular made sure it was unsuccessful, fancying his sprint chances of the group. All five made bids to break clear in the run out of Hem, with only Stannard gaining even a handful of bike lengths.

As Stannard was caught for a second time, Boonen attacked again, creating a gap bridged by Hayman, who powered straight past the four time winner with 2km left. Boonen rejoined, the two veterans riding together into the velodrome, joined by Vanmarcke as the bell sounded. Stannard caught them halfway round the lap, but Boasson Hagen was too spent to keep up.

Stannard attacked around the outside of the banking, as Hayman led them around the final turn. Boonen looked set to sweep past to a historic fifth win, but Hayman held them all off, winning Paris-Roubaix at the 16th time of asking by a bike length from Boonen, with Stannard beating Vanmarcke to a spot on the podium.

@ORICA_GreenEDGE

The win for Hayman was made all the more remarkable by this being the 15th Paris-Roubaix he had finished, with a previous best of 8th in 2012. Hayman also broke his arm just five weeks ago, something the 27 cobbled sectors must have reminded him throughout the race. Boonen looked understandably disappointed on the podium, missing out so narrowly on a record fifth Paris-Roubaix cobble, and being beaten in a sprint in the Roubaix velodrome for the first time in his incredible career.

Race results
1. Mathew Hayman (OGE) 5:51:53
2. Tom Boonen (EQS) + :00
3. Ian Stannard (SKY) + :00
4. Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ) + :00
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (DDD) + :03
6. Heinrich Haussler (IAM) + 1:00
7. Marcel Seiberg (LTS) + 1:00
8. Aleksejs Saramontins (IAM) + 1:00
9. Imanol Erviti (MOV) + 1:07
10. Adrien Petit (DEN) + 1:20

Tour of the Basque Country roundup - Contador win makes him rethink future

The final stage of this year's Tour of the Basque Country proved to be the decisive one, as Alberto Contador (TNK) won the final time trial to overhaul Sergio Henao (SKY), in a race where five riders held the lead across its six days.

Contador had stayed in contact throughout the week, never more than 11 seconds off the yellow leader's jersey and using his time trialling skills to take the win by 12 seconds from Henao, with Nairo Quintana (MOV) in third.

It may prove to be a historic win for Contador, who stated afterwards that he was rethinking his plans to retire, thanks in part to his impressive performance throughout a week where he always looked in control.

Luis Leon Sanchez (AST) took the first stage, slipping away from the peloton on the final descent of the day along with Daniel Navarro (COF) to stay clear, although it was such a close call that they received the same time as the chasers, and another 50m on the stage distance may have seen the result be different.

In a hilly race with no flat stages, the first true mountain stage came in stage 2, and for the main contenders a key chance to make time on their rivals. Team Sky had clearly earmarked the stage for their two leaders, Henao and their winter signing Mikel Landa both well protected up to the brutal final climb. As the principles covered each other, Landa went clear with Wilco Kelderman (TLJ) and outsprinted his rival to take the overnight lead.

Landa retained the jersey through stage 3, a rolling stage which looked set to finish as a sprint until Steve Cummings pulled what is fast becoming his party trick, bursting away solo inside the last kilometre to just hold off the chasers. Simon Gerrans was left winning another sprint for the minor positions, as he did to take third in stage 1.

Landa's legs couldn't quite carry him to a third day in yellow, as he lost a few seconds in stage 4's final climb, giving Kelderman the lead as Samuel Sanchez (BMC) became the third rider in this race to just hold off the chasers after a late attack, descending quicker than the bunch and again finishing with the same time as the pack.

Stage 5 was the queen stage, but the main focus for the day was taken away from the yellow jersey by an astonishing solo effort from Diego Rosa (AST), who went alone for the final 100km to win by well over three minutes, even allowing himself time to coast the final few hundred metres and cross the line on foot, holding his bike triumphantly over his head.

Tim de Waele

Rosa was no threat to the lead despite his huge win on the stage, although Kelderman was unable to stay with the big names who had eyes on his jersey. Contador made the main bid for the lead, with Henao tracking him and the pair working together to put themselves in prime position, with just six seconds separating them in GC and each backing their own TT abilities.

Joaquin Rodriguez (KAT) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) also finished stage 5 strongly, so the final time trial looked set to be a four-way battle between them, with Quintana an unlikely 31 seconds off the lead in fifth. Pinot and Rodriguez both struggled, dropping over a minute each, but Contador managed a very strong effort.

With Henao setting off immediately afterwards, there was no time to worry about pacing himself, but although he visibly dug as deep as he could, he dropped 18 seconds to Contador, who took his fourth win in the race, and he is clearly considering attempting a record fifth win next year, despite his previously planned retirement this year.

vueltapaisvasco.diariovasco.com

Race winner Alberto Contador (TNK):
"It's a very hard race, one that is difficult to control and where a thousand things can happen. When I think about it, it still seems incredible that I won. After two second places in Paris-Nice and Catalunya, this is a nice victory.

"Recently, I have been pondering and thinking about my future with my entourage and most probably I will continue riding."

General Classification final standings
1. Alberto Contador (TNK) 22:44:43
2. Sergio Henao (SKY) + :12
3. Nairo Quintana (MOV) + :37
4. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) + 1:13
5. Joaquin Rodriguez (KAT) + 1:22
6. Samuel Sanchez (BMC) + 1:29
7. Rui Costa (LAM) + 2:19
8. Simon Spilak (KAT) + 2:47
9. Lawson Craddock (CPT) + 2:52
10. Wilco Kelderman (TLJ) + 3:14

Mountain Classification final standings
1. Diego Rosa (AST) 55
2. Stefan Denifl (IAM) 53
3. Nicolas Edet (COF) 28

Sprint Classification final standings
1. Nicolas Edet (COF) 11
2. Diego Rosa (AST) 9
3. Stefan Denifl (IAM) 9

Tour of Flanders - Sagan bests Cancellara

Peter Sagan (TNK) scored his second Classic win of the season in convincing style, as he beat pre-race favourite Fabian Cancellara (TFS) by 25 seconds to win the 100th Tour of Flanders.

The world champion managed to avoid the several crashes to burst clear towards the end of the race, leaving Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ) lagging behind over the final climb.

There were three large crashes in the first 150km of the 258, the first two holdings up several riders, and forcing Tiesj Benoot (LTS), Marcus Burghardt (BMC) and Arnaud Demare (FDJ) to abandon. The third crash took out Greg van Avermaet (BMC), the Dutchman tearfully withdrawing due to a broken collarbone.

Several riders attempted attacks through the mid part of the race, but all were halted, with an elite group including Sagan, Cancellara, Tom Boonen (EQS), Michal Kwiatkowski (SKY), Zdenek Stybar (EQS), Geraint Thomas (SKY) and Vanmarcke, who had gone with several attacks to stay towards the front.

Kwiatkowski was prominent with just over 30km to go, shadowed by Sagan, with a small cluster of riders just behind, headed by Cancellara. Vanmarcke joined the two around 20 seconds clear. Cancellara was going hell for leather to try to catch them, passing Kwiatkowski in the process and looking capable of reeling them in.

On the Paterberg, 13km from home, Sagan dug deep and punched away from Vanmarcke. It was not down to the Belgian cracking, more so that Sagan just somehow had so much in reserve, and he opened up a lead of almost 20 seconds as the road returned to flat asphalt after the cobbled climbs.

Cancellara joined Vanmarcke in pursuit, but the damage was already done. Sagan's time trialling prowess was able to carry him safely to the finish, crossing well clear of the chasing duo, with plenty of time to celebrate as he crossed the line, while Vanmarcke appeared to concede second to Cancellara as they came home almost half a minute down.

Tim de Waele

It was a double win for the rainbow jerseys, as Lizzie Armitstead picked up yet another win in a season that looks on course to eclipse her World Championship winning 2015, beating Emma Johannson (WIG) into second, as four of Armitstead's Boels Doelmans team finished inside the top six. Armitstead's third Women's WorldTour win out of five this year puts her back in the overall lead of the women's standings.

Race results
1. Peter Sagan (TNK) 6:10:37
2. Fabian Cancellara (TFS) + :25
3. Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ) + :28
4. Alexander Kristoff (KAT) + :49
5. Luke Rowe (SKY) + :49
6. Dylan van Baarle (CPT) + :49
7. Imanol Erviti (MOV) + :49
8. Zdenek Stybar (EQS) + :49
9. Dimitri Claeys (WGG) + :49
10. Niki Terpstra (EQS) + :49

March 2016 Roundup

With such a busy WorldTour schedule this month, there's been lots of news items that have had to go uncovered for the most part, but never fear. Our monthly roundup will catch you up with anything you might have missed this March.

Cycling rocked by loss of two riders

wanty-groupegobert.be

It's hard to start any mention of March with anything but the horrible events of the 27th and 28th. During the Gent-Wevelgem, Antoine Demoitie (WGG) had what seemed an innocuous crash before he was fatally struck by a motorcycle ridden by a race official. The incident - thankfully - wasn't caught by television cameras, so specific details are still sketchy, but the only important thing is that Demoitie did not survive.

Following that, the sport was rocked again by 22 year old Daan Myngheer succumbing to a heart attack suffered in the aftermath of him pulling out of the Criterium International the next day. The Roubaix Lille Metropole rider was met by the medical team following the race, having a heart attack in the ambulance.

daanmyngheer.jimdo.com

TLG's thoughts and sympathies go to the families, friends and teammates of both riders.

Volta a Catalunya hard to watch - for many reasons

Eurosport/Volta a Catalunya

I must admit that I was very let down by the coverage of the Volta a Catalunya. Every other race we've covered so far this season (admittedly only a handful) have had very good coverage, in terms of picture quality, website accessibility and media. Not so this race. At WorldTour level, you'd expect a certain amount of expense on these would be acceptable, but there was seemingly no HD footage available. The race also had very wobbly camerawork from the few bikes filming, as lamented by Eurosport commentator Carlton Kirby, and apparently unreliable graphics.

Following the incidents with motorbikes in the Volta a Espana last year, and of course Antoine Demoitie's accident last week, it's admittedly quite shaky ground to suggest more tv bikes should be used. But held against the professional nature of the other major races' coverage, the fuzzy, muddled and rarely updated website stand out like a sore thumb.

Coupled with the early stage finishes almost being a formality, with a relatively weak sprint field essentially only requiring Nacer Bouhanni to turn up to win them, it was difficult to get at all invested in the race until the mountain stages began.

Mixed track Worlds raise more questions for Cav

trackcyclingworlds2016.london

Much of Mark Cavendish's focus this year has been on his aims of finally winning an Olympic gold medal, and the Track World Championships in London gave him a big opportunity to earn his place in Rio this summer.

Sadly, he wasn't able to reach his goal of a medal in his chosen solo event, the Omnium, having to settle for sixth. His Olympic dreams looked to be hanging by a thread, although a potential classic Cavendish mood was brightened as he took gold in the Madison, as part of a British cycling dream team along with Sir Bradley Wiggins.

The blemish to the silver lining of Cavendish's Omnium cloud (!) was that the Madison is not an Olympic event. Cav showed signs of carrying form on the boards, but is he ready to take a spot on the plane to Rio? Stay tuned.

Women's prize pools hit record highs

@letourdeyorkshire

As the women's tour goes from strength to strength, in terms of rider quality, coverage and popularity, the prize money is also increasing.

The announcement that the Tour de Yorkshire had gained title sponsorship from Asda came alongside the prize for the winner being declared to be €20,000, making it the most lucrative women's race in the world, with a total prize fund of €63,623.

That honour didn't even last until the running of the race, however, as the RideLondon event, already the highest paying one day race for men, has had the €100,000 prize pool matched for the Women's WorldTour event, now known as the RideLondon Classique.

The French naming appropriation can be willingly overlooked considering the serious money available for the women's peloton. At least one race will hope to hand reigning world champion Lizzie Armitstead a sizeable cheque this year.

No doubt there's some other stories we've missed, or not covered in depth enough. If you've got any suggestions, amendments, congratulations or criticisms, get in touch either in the comments below or on Twitter (@Laughing_Group). Otherwise, stay tuned for next month, and find out what to expect from TLG with our race calendar!