By Dave Campbell — April means Spring Classics in European Professional Cycling!
Classics season actually began in March with Milan-San Remo in Italy and Gent-Wevelgem in Belgium but April is really the heart of Classics season. The Tour of Flanders in Belgium and Paris-Roubaix in France kick things off on the first two weekends.
Both are considered monuments of the sport, and both feature cobblestones, Flanders occurring on short, steep climbs and Roubaix’s being much rougher but long and flat. After Roubaix, the races get hillier with Holland’s only classic The Amstel Gold Race, followed by the two Belgian Ardennes classics, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. As we eagerly anticipate these spring races of legend, let’s test your knowledge!
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Q1. Paris-Roubaix, the Queen of the Classics, with its long stretches of brutal cobblestones is probably the most familiar of the spring classics to Americans. It was the first Classic televised (1984) in the United States. An American, however, has yet to win this Monument. What is the best ever finish here by a US rider and when did it occur?
Q2. Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, has a very realistic chance of winning this spring’s Tour of Flanders, one of the cobbled classics along with Paris-Roubaix. When is the last time that a Tour de France winner triumphed in a cobbled classic? What about specifically in Flanders?
Q3. Earlier this spring, Dutchman Mathieu van Der Poel convincingly won the Milan-San Remo in Italy to emulate his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, who triumphed there back in 1961. Mathieu’s father, Adri, was also a Classics winner and Mathieu had already emulated his victory in the Tour of Flanders (1986) by winning there in both 2022 and 2020. He had earlier matched his father (1990) in the 2019 Amstel Gold. However, there remains a spring classic that Mathieu’s father won that he has not … can you name it? When did Adri win it?
Q4. What is the first Spring Classic to ever be won by an American? When did this occur?
Q5. Milan-San Remo kicked off Classics season last month in Italy. Only TWO Americans have ever stood on the podium there. Who are they and when did they achieve their results?
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Coryn Rivera became the first-ever American to win the Tour of Flanders in 2017.