The Classics are on!

The other weekend was the start of the European spring classics campaign. Unlike the Tour de France, the classics are one day races that is at least 250km in length. The longest is the Milan-San Remo, which is almost 300km!!! This like cycling from Cebu to Bogo, back to Cebu and then back to Bogo. Then there are the semi-classics, one day races that are about 50km less than the classics but no less than grueling.

Classic are usually found in Belgium and in the neighboring low countries like the Netherlands. For that reason, the best classics riders in the world, past and present are expectedly, Belgians. Currently, the best of the best is Belgian Tom Boonen, aka Tornado Tom. Unusually tall for a cyclist at 6’4”, Boonen’s body is well suited for the rough and tumble world of the classics. The smaller, and more fragile riders/climbers who figures prominently in the TdF or the Giro d”Italia doesn’t belong here. That’s why Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis or Carlos Sastre will not be heard for the next 2 months.

Now why is the classics so hard? Not only is the distance longer, the intensity is higher because you race only for one day. In Paris-Roubaix for instance, 50km of the 250+ km are raced in ancient cobblestones. The 50km of cobbles are not just one stretch but more than 20 stretches of a few hundred meters to 2 kilometers per stretch of cobbled road called “pave”.   

It used to be that a rider would do the classics and the Grand tours in one season. That’s why you’d see Eddy Merckx in the 70’s and Bernard Hinault in the 80’s winning Milan- San Remo early in the year and then conquering France in July. But when Miguel Indurain (5-time TdF winner 91-95) focused his season on the TdF and used the classics as “training” races, everything changed. Riders were now classified as grand tour riders or classic riders and they trained and raced as such.

The only rider to ride and race recently in the classics/grand tours a bit successfully was Laurent Albert. As a Frenchman, he was forced to ride and win the TdF in spite of the fact that he wasn’t a climber. While Jalabert won lots of races and stages in the TdF, he only won grand tour, the 1995Tour of Spain. but one thing stood out about the 1995 Vuelta- he won the general classification jersey, sprint and mountain jersey, the second and only rider to do so in a grand tour after Merckx in the 1969 TdF.

If you want to catch the classics, go to www.cyclingfans.com, they have the links to all live video streaming. All you need is a high speed internet connection and lots of cups of coffee, as the race will be shown in the late evening.

The Red Baron 10-Miler ITT

Dust off your TT machines and get ready for this event on March 22. the race route will start at km 48 in Catmon, goes up north and U-turns at km 56 then back to km 48 for the finish. Its just a doable 16km (10 miles) for everybody. Registration fee is 50.00 which includes a packed lunch at Huna-Huna Beach Resort and a truck that will take registered participants to the race site and back home. This event is sponsored by Larry Stahlman, a very fit 62yo grandfather from Kentucky who is a consultant at Lexmark.

Last Farewell

I lost two good friends lately, Dr. Aileen Acmad and Ms. Dee Ann Alcala. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and may the wind be always at your back.- THE FREEMAN