San Sebastian, Spain
Sat July 29th, 231kms
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa, or Clasica Cycliste San Sebastian as it's known to us non-Basques, takes place this Saturday in it's traditional slot one week after the Tour de France climax. It is a race that I fondly remember last year, with 40/1 shot landing the win for us in fine style.
Liège to Ans
Sunday 23rd April, 258kms
So there was indeed a sense of deja-vu at Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday with the same 1-2 as in 2014, and without Alaphilippe the same 1-2 you could say as last year. Valverde did what Valverde does and Martin does what Martin does and got his positioning all wrong with 500m to go.
Binche to Mur de Huy
Wed. 19th April, 204.5kms
After a dramatic Amstel Gold Race on Sunday we move on to the famous climb of the 'Wall of Huy' in La Flèche Wallone Wednesday. It's a very different finish to the AGR with the finish line at the top of an extremely steep climb, where only the punchiest of riders have a chance.
Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt
Sunday 16th April, 261kms
The 52nd running of the Amstel Gold Race starts in Maastricht Sunday, as the cycling focus switches from the cobbles of Flanders and northern France to the hills of Holland and the Ardennes, culminating in Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday week.
Leuven to Schoten
Wed 12th April, 205.3kms
After an amazing Paris-Roubaix last Sunday, we move on to the final race of the 'Flanders Classics' on Wednesday with the Brabantse Pijl or 'the Brabantse arrow'. This is a race for the puncheurs, with plenty of little hills, some cobbles, but almost always ends in a reduced sprint finish of some sort.
Sunday 9th April, 257kms
Philippe Gilbert has passed up the opportunity to complete the rare Flanders/Paris Roubaix double on Sunday, opting instead to save himself for the Ardennes races to come. A wise choice probably, as this looks like being all about Tom Boonen for Quick-Step on Sunday.
Wednesday 5th April, 202kms
The sprinters get a chance to shine on Wednesday in the Scheldeprijs, the traditional sprinters classic of the northern cobbled races. Marcel Kittel has dominated this race in recent years, winning it three times in a row from 2012-2105 and again in 2016, by millimetres from Mark Cavendish.
Sunday 2nd April, 260kms
The warm-ups have been bloody exciting.. From Yves Lampaert's stunning win in Dwars Door Vlaanderen, to Greg Van Avermaet's domination of Omloop Het Nieusblad, E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem, we've had a treat of cobbled racing in the last few weeks.
Sunday 26th March, 249kms
The racing is coming thick and fast now, DVV was won in spectacular fashion on Wednesday by the Quickstep boys, followed by a dramatic E3 Harelbeke on Friday, won in brilliant style by Greg Van Avermaet. The Flanders festival of cycling moves on to Gent on Sunday for what is traditionally a Classic for the sprinters, in Gent Wevelgem.
Friday 25th March, 206.4kms
The E3 Harelbeke takes place Friday and is the next installment in the run of cobbled classics in Northern Europe, with Gent Wevelgem coming up on Sunday and the daddy of the Belgian Classics, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen on April 3rd.
Wed 22nd March, 203kms
A mid-week Belgian race with a quality field.. more work to be done! Between this, Catalunya and trying to prepare for E3 and Gent-Wevelgem later in the week, this is going to be a crazy busy week and something might have to give.. it's trying to decide which one to give less love to is the difficult part!
Saturday 18th March
Milan to Sanremo, 291Km
I'd not been looking forward to writing this preview..! A monster race with a monster cast of potential winners..So many riders that are in with a chance of doing something in this race, I know it's going to be a long one, and not easy to pick a winner!
Siena to Siena
The 11th running of the Strade Bianche sees the introduction of a section of road dedicated to Fabian Cancellara, following his third win in the race in 2016. It's a similar route to last year, but with 9kms more dirt roads, making it a total of 61.9kms of the 'strade bianche' this year.
Sunday 26th February 2017, 203kms
After the cobbles and the hellingen of the Omloop, the sprinters get their chance to shine on the second day of this weekend's double-header with the flatter parcours of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Jasper Stuyven caught everyone unawares last year, attacking away to win, despite crashing in the Omloop the day before.
Saturday 25th February 2017, 198.3kms
You wait months for some decent European one-day races and then two come along at once.. The Omloop, in some people's eyes kicks off the cycling season proper, heralding the start of the upcoming Spring Classics, and is followed the very next day by Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.
The Clasica de Almeria is the second of the one-day races taking place this weekend, with the Vuelta Ciclista Murcia having being run on Saturday. The Murcia race is one for the climbers and puncheurs, but the Clasica de Almeria is traditionally one for the sprinters.
Geelong, Australia
29 January 2017, 174kms
It is only the third year of the CEGORR but it has already moved up to a 1.HC classification, meaning that it is only one level off UCI World Tour level, allowing up to 65% World Tour team participation.
8th January, 183.6kms
The Australian national road race championships take place tonight, starting in the small hours of Sunday morning. The Women and U23s kick things off and the Elite men's race starts at 12.15pm local time, taking on the usual course around Buninyong in Ballarat.
Sun 16th Oct, 257.5kms
The course couldn't be more boring, the weather couldn't be more oppressive, the interest from most cycling fans couldn't be lower - a depressing state of affairs ahead of the World's Road Race. But it is what it is, and the sprinters here will hopefully deliver us 15 minutes to remember on Sunday evening.
Wed 12th October
So after the snoozefest that was the Team Time Trial on Sunday afternoon, we move on to the Individual Time trials this week. First up are the Women's Junior Time Trial and the Mens U23 TT on Monday, followed by the Men's Junior TT and Women's Elite TT on Tuesday and the Elite Men's TT on Wednesday.
Sunday October 9th, 252.5kms
The 120th running of the Paris Tours race should be pretty special - a whole host of the world's best sprinters line up for one last dress rehearsel ahead of the big one next Sunday in Doha. Who will take the win on the famous Avenue de Grammont?
Sunday 9th October, 40kms
The Doha World Championships are finally here! Much has been made of the motives and madness of hosting a World Championships in one of the hottest and flattest countries in the world, and already this week rumours are swirling that the road races are going to be shortened because of the extreme heat.
Saturday October 1st, 240kms
The 'Race of the Falling Leaves' has a new route this year, and two new climbs to get over in the last 70kms, with a little sting in the tail too with the short but punchy climb of the Bergamo Alto just 3kms from the finish.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wed Aug 9th, 54.6kms
So after a dramatic and fantastic Olympic Road Race on Saturday, where Greg Van Avermaet defied the belief it was a climbers course to take gold, the remaining riders line up for the Olympic Time Trial on a course of 54.6kms that takes in some of the road race course.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sat Aug 6th, 220.2kms
The Olympics Road Race of four years ago saw Alexander Vinokourov buy the gold medal off Rigoberto Uran, who conveniently looked over the wrong shoulder just as Vinokourov made his race-winning move.
San Sebastian, Spain
Sat July 30th, 220.2kms
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa, or Clasica Cycliste San Sebastian as it's known to the Anglophones, takes place this Saturday in it's traditional slot one week after the Tour de France climax.
So we had the same 1-2 in Fleche-Wallone as twelve months ago, with Valverde leading home Alaphilippe, will we see a similar result in Ans on Sunday afternoon? Can anyone stop the imperious Valverde? For a man that was possibly not at 100% going in to FW, he certainly put his rivals to the sword in devastating fashion.
Marche-en-Famenne to Mur de Huy
After a dramatic Amstel Gold Race on Sunday we move on to the famous climb of the 'Wall of Huy' in La Flèche Wallone on Wednesday. It's a very different finish to the AGR with the finish line at the top of an extremely steep climb, where only the punchiest of riders have a chance. No sprinters win this race..
Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt
The 51st running of the Amstel Gold Race starts in Maastricht Sunday, kick-starting a week of top-class racing in the Ardennes, culminating in Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday week. As always, there's a fantastic line-up battling it out for the honour of sipping a glass of Amstel on stage with ladies wearing beer-mat hats.
Leuven to Schoten
Wed 13th April, 205.3kms
After one of the most dramatic and exciting races I think I have ever see in Paris-Roubaix last Sunday, we move on to the final race of the 'Flanders Classics' on Wednesday with the Brabantse Pijl or 'the Brabantse arrow'. This is a race for the punchy sprinters, with plenty of little hills, some cobbles, but almost always ends in a reduced sprint finish of some sort.
Peter Sagan looks to join some of the greats of the sport with a Flanders - Roubaix double,
something only achieved 12 times in the past, significantly twice by both Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara. And who would put it past him after his demolition job on Sunday in Flanders. As he put it himself, "none of them want to work with me, so I dropped
them all!"
The sprinters get a chance to shine on Wednesday in the Scheldeprijs, the traditional sprinters classic of the northern cobbled races. This is the 104th running of the Scheldeprijs and it's the oldest of all the Flanders races. Marcel Kittel has dominated this race in recent years, winning it three times in a row from 2012-2105.
It's all been building to this. Greg Van Avermaet has turned from nearly man in to a bonafide superstar; Peter Sagan has finally won a race in the rainbow stripes; Alexander Kristoff seems to have recovered from illness and is back winning again this week on the roads of Belgium..
The E3 Harelbeke takes place Friday and is the next installment in the run of cobbled classics in Northern Europe, with Gent Wevelgem coming up on Sunday and the daddy of the Belgian Classics, the Ronde Van Vlaanderenon April 3rd.
Niki Terpstra missed out last year in his attempt to win this race for the third time in four years when on a wet and muddy day, Etixx's leader played team-man and backed off when Kwaitkowski went up the road, but he couldn't stop TopSport Vlaanderen landing their best result in many a race with a 1-2 thanks to Jelle Wallays and Edward Theuns.
Saturday 19th March
Milan to San Remo, 291Km
Milano San Remo... 'La Classicisima di Primavera'. The first monument of the season starts on Saturday morning in Milano and some six and a half hours, and 291 kilometres later they come charging down off the Poggio to the finish line on Via Roma in San Remo.
Siena to Siena
In only its 10th year, the Strade Bianche has achieved an enviable reputation as one of the most looked-forward to races of the spring. It's a world away from the middle-eastern races and a break in the rhythm between the cobbled classics of the northern european season openers.
After the cobbles and the hellingen of the Omloop, the sprinters get their chance to shine on the second day of this opening weekend double-header with the flatter parcours of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Last year Mark Cavendish just got the better of Alexander Kristoff in a bunch sprint, but with no Dimension Data in the race, Cav will not be here to try to defend his title and take a record equalling third win, Tom Boonen being the only man to have won the race three times.
Saturday 27th February 2015, 200.8kms
The Omloop. Not a name that really fits the first battle over the cobbles of northern Europe. It sounds like the name of a really bad link road around a non-descript town in the middle of Belgium. Instead, it's the scene for the first taste of proper racing. Racing in the wind, maybe in the rain or even snow and more importantly in the cycling heartland of northern Europe. Oh and cobbles.
The Clasica de Almeria is the second of the one-day races taking part this weekend, with the Vuelta Ciclista Murcia being won by Philippe Gilbert today, outsprinting Valverde and Zakarin quite easily in the end. The Murcia race is one for the climbers and puncheurs, but the Clasica de Almeria is one for the sprinters.
The Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia 'Costa Calida' (phew) is right up there with the longest race name on the calendar. It takes place in the region of Murcia in the south-east of Spain and is now in its 17th year, it was first run in 2000, but up until 2011 it was actually a stage race with 5 stages.
Marseille
The Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise opens the season on the European scene, with riders wrapped up heavily against the cold February conditions. Last year's race saw a surprise winner in Pim Ligthart, as he just held on at the front of a mass sprint, ahead of 2014 winner Kenneth Vanbilsen.
Mallorca, Spain
28-31st January 2016
The Tour Down Under and Tour de San Luis have come and gone and have really just confirmed what we expected. The Australians dominated in the TDU, winning every one of the six stages and the overall with Simon Gerrans. Likewise in San Luis, a South American named Quintana won it, but not the one we expected!
A calendar of the key professional men and women's road races for 2016. Races highlighted in bold are the races I will be writing previews for in 2016. This may of course change during the season, depending on time constraints, but I plan to continue writing as many previews as possible during 2016!
The Race of the Falling Leaves once again travels between Bergamo and Como, but this year does it in the opposite direction to the 2015 route. In 2014 they travelled from Como to Bergamo and as a result had to crest the Madonna del Ghisallo after only 50kms of the race. This year it goes in reverse and the Ghisallo comes at a more crucial point of the race with just 65kms to go.
The climax of the 2015 World Championships is on Sunday afternoon, starting at 2pm UK time - I'm liking these World Championships from the States, as the times are perfect for evening viewing! The Men's Elite Road Race is always a fascinating affair with many riders in contention for the win, and this year is no exception. Strap yourself in, grab a cup pf tea, there's plenty to discuss..
Mon 21st and Wed 23rd Sept
So after an enthralling Team Time Trial on Sunday afternoon, we move on to the Individual Time trials this week. First up are the Women's Junior Time Trial and the Mens U23 Time Trial on Monday, followed by the Men's Junior Time Trial and Women's Elite Time Trial on Tuesday and the Elite Men's Time Trial on Wednesday.
Sunday 20th September, 38.8kms
The 2015 World Championships kick off in Richmond, Virginia in the US this Sunday, and over eight days will bring us a feast of cycling, culminating in the Elite Men’s Road Race next Sunday afternoon. It’s only the second time that the US has hosted the World Championships, the last time was in Colorado Springs in 1986, when Moreno Argentin took home the gold medal.
Ballarat
The Australian national road race championships take place tonight with the Women and U23s kicking things off and the Elite men's race starting at 12pm local time, taking on the usual course around Buninyong in Ballarat.
Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa as it's known to the locals takes place on Saturday the 1st August, less than one week since the end of the Tour de France. It is the 35th running of the race, so it's not exactly the oldest classic in the world, but has built a reputation as a tough and challenging race, favoured by climbers and puncheurs.
The 100th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year is one that I'll not forget for a while after landing one of by biggest results of the year on Simon Gerrans. Some said he couldn't possibly win, too much climbing in it.. My information said otherwise and we landed a right touch at 25/1. Not only that, but I had Dan Martin at 50/1 each-way, so as he headed to the final bend in pursuit of Moreno, with Gerrans not far behind I was just a little excited you could say.
Waremme to Mur de Huy
After an exciting finish to Amstel Gold Race in Holland on Sunday, the focus now switches to the Belgian Ardennes with La Flèche Wallone on Wednesday, followed on Sunday by 'La Doyenne', Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The Mur is a fearsome finish to La Fleche Wallone and has an extra special significance this year, being the finish for a stage in this summer's Tour De France.
Maastricht to Valkenberg
The 50th running of the Amstel Gold Race starts in Maastricht in the Kimburg region of the Netherlands on Sunday morning. There's a fantastic line-up looking to kick-start their Ardennes campaign in style, with Philippe Gilbert looking for back-to-back victories and his fourth victory in total in the race.
After a brilliantly exciting Paris-Roubaix last Sunday (well a brilliant last 15kms or so!), the final race of the 'Flanders Classics' of the season takes place Wednesday with the De Brabantse Pijl or 'the Brabantse arrow'. This is generally one for the punchy riders who can sprint a bit, there's lot of little climbs, lots of cobbles, but more often than not ends in a reduced sprint finish of some sort.
Can anyone stop King Kristoff? The Norwegian is in incredible form at the moment and continued his dominance of spring races with yet another win in the crash-marred Scheldeprijs on Wednesday. He has now tumbled yet again to as low as 7/2 to win L'Enfer du Nord, a ridiculous price given his record in the race!
The 2015 Scheldeprijs, like the Tour of Flanders just a few days before is missing two of it's biggest stars this year in Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish. Coincidentally, like Boonen and Cancellara who have both won Flanders three times, Kittel and Cavendish are also three times winners of the Scheldeprijs. Marcel Kittel has dominated this race for the past three years, but misses out this year as he is still recovering from the bug that has affected him this season.
It's Ronde time! But it's a Ronde that sees two of it's greatest stars absent from the start list, two men that have won six out of the last ten runnings of the race. Tom Boonen has been making noises of a possible return for Paris-Roubaix, he is training hard apparently, but the three-time winner is missing this year, and how the rudderless Etixx-QuickStep could do with his head and experience at the moment..
E3 Harelbeke takes place on Friday and is the first taste of the cobbles proper in 2015 for most of the big favourites for the Monuments to come. As it contains a lot of the climbs and cobbles of the Tour of Flanders, all of the main contenders will be here to get in some serious practice with only nine days to go to the Ronde. Peter Sagan won it last year and managed to keep his hands to himself this time on the podium, much to the amusement of Niki Terpstra who finished 2nd.
Niki Terpstra returns to try to win the Dwars door Vlaanderen for the third time in four years after a superb solo victory last year and in 2012. Last year he won by 17" from a very annoyed Tyler Farrar, annoyed by the fact that he should have won had they not let Tersptra get away. In 2014 he won by an even bigger margin, 47" over Chavanel and de Kort. In between Oscar Gatto won the sprint from the break, but Tersptra led the second group home in 11th place.
Sunday 22nd March, 293Km
Milan San Remo kicks off the Classics and what a race we should have in store. The season has been bubbling along nicely, but this Sunday is what a lot of the season so far has been preparation for - 'La Classicisima di Primavera'. Alexander Kristoff comes here ready to defend his title with five victories already this season and is sure to go close again this year.
San Gimignano to Siena
The Strade Bianche is an interesting race - in terms of the history of cycling, this race has none really to talk about, it has only been around since 2007. But what it lacks in history it makes up for in great racing. The 'Strade Bianche' is named after the chalk roads which make up some 70kms of the course, criss-crossing over the rolling hills of Tuscany.
The second leg of the Belgian Cobbled weekend of cycling takes place on Sunday with Kuurne-Brussells-Kuurne. Whereas the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is one for the pure Classics specialists, KBK is one for the sprinters traditionally.
A sore throat takes André Greipel out of the race, but there are still a lot of quality sprinters present to do battle Sunday afternoon.
Gent to Gent
The 70th running of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad signals the start of the season proper for many. The first taste of the mud and the cobbles of Belgium and for some the first races in the cold and wet following a month in the sun of the middle-east. The Omloop can be run in brutally harsh conditions compared to the 40° heat of Qatar or Oman, and the riders often face snow and icy conditions.
Allauch to Marseille
I wasn't going to do a preview for this race as I wasn't sure any bookie would price it up seeing as there have been no prices for the Majorca races. But Paddy Power have priced it up so I'm going to take a late and brief look to see if there is anyone appeals.
The Australian national championships take place from Wednesday the 7th to Sunday the 11th January in Balarat, Victoria,west of Melbourne. Although the championships consist of a diverse range of events, I'm going to take a look at the Elite mens TT and the Elite mens Road Race as they are the only races with betting odds available.
The race of the Falling Leaves gets a makeover this year with a new route that finishes in Bergamo. The previous route was predominantly an east to west route that finished in Lecco, this year's route goes almost the complete opposite direction across Lombardy, starting in Como on the west and finishing in Bergamo after a loop in to the mountains north of the city.
Milano-Torino takes place this Wednesday and it kicks off the post-World's set of season-closing races. This is a race for climbers and strong punchers with two ascents up the Colle Di Superga inside the last 25kms.
Milano-Torino is a semi-classic that has been run since 1876, making it Italy's oldest bike race and one of the the oldest races in the world.
