Two more crucial rounds of the UCI WorldTour, the Ronde van Vlaanderen Classic in Belgium on Sunday and the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco in Spain the following week could see some major changes in the overall classification.
The second of cycling’s five ‘Monuments’, the Ronde van Vlaanderen’s 19 short, steep climbs on its 264.2 kilometre course will once again prove to be the decisive feature. Starting in the picturesque medieval city of Bruges and concluding six or seven hours later in Oudenaarde, all bar one of those ascents are packed into the last two thirds of the course - and all of them will be lined with huge numbers of Belgian cycling fans, estimated last year to total 825,000. Millions more, world-wide, will be watching the race on television.
Lacking two of the main top pre-race favourites, multiple winners Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick Step) because of injuries, the 2015 Ronde van Vlaanderen looks set to be a wide-open, unpredictable race. For the UCI WorldTour classification, although overall individual classification leader Richie Porte (Team Sky) is not taking part, his team-mate Geraint Thomas, second overall, is viewed as a key contender.
Already the winner of the E3 Harelbeke this season and third in Gent-Wevelgem two days later, Thomas has 184 points to Porte’s 303. Other top favourites also in strong positions in the UCI WorldTour include Alexandre Kristoff (Team Katusha), fourth with 133 points, and John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin), the Milano-Sanremo winner, who has 102 points.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen winner will barely have had time to finish celebrating before Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco gets underway in the Basque Country in Spain. Six stages long and running from April 6th - 11th, the key days will likely prove to be the traditional ascent to Arrate on stage four, the very hilly 155 kilometre stage from Eibar to Aia the following day, and the final medium length technically challenging time trial in Aia on April 11th.
Peppered with short climbs on narrow, twisting roads through the hilly Basque Country, the six-day race is both a prestigious event in itself and serves as a key warm-up for the Ardennes Classics, which start a little over a week later. The weather, too, which can range from snow to warm sunshine, is one of the many unpredictable factors in this arduous event, often decided by seconds rather than minutes.
Top favourites are Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), recent winner of Tirreno-Adriatico and Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step), the reigning UCI World Champion. Quintana already captured the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco in 2013 and after his stunning victory in Italy, will be on the hunt for more success. Quintana is laying eighth overall in the UCI WorldTour, with 106 points, whilst Kwiatkowski is eleventh, with 89 points.
A top placing for Quintana would also allow Colombia, currently fourth overall in the UCI WorldTour nations ranking behind Australia, Spain and Italy but which has lost ground in recent races, to regain momentum in that particular classification. In the UCI WorldTour teams ranking, meanwhile, Team Sky with 525 points will be looking to reinforce their overall lead at the Ronde van Vlaanderen with strong performances by Geraint Thomas and his team-mates Sir Bradley Wiggins and Ian Stannard. For second placed Etixx-Quick Step, though, the Ronde represents a chance for them to regain ground and build on their current total of 394 points.