5 Cycling Races 2023 The 2023 season—which is being hosted by Southern Europe—has already lasted for about a month, which is unbelievable.
Despite the fact that some of the biggest names in sports have already won to start their seasons. The return of the best athletes, both male and female, makes us very happy. But these races are only a taste of what's to come; they're only the appetizer.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Being purists, we believe the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad marked the official start of the racing season. which, while technically starting in mid-January, is the first race to be staged in Belgium. It's affectionately called the "Omloop," and it provides everything. Rain, wind, cobblestones, and the many small, steep "bergs" that pepper the Flemish countryside are what we like about the springtime Classics. Men's and women's events are offered.
In the men's division, Belgian riders and teams are usually in the front. After an attack just before the Bosberg, the final climb of the day, Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma won the race the previous year. He will not, however, be coming back to defend his championship. This implies that one of Soudal-Quick Step's many stars has an opportunity to guide the Belgian powerhouse to a noteworthy home win.
The favorite in the women's class should be Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar) of the Netherlands, who overcame her countrymate Demi Vollering (SD Worx) in the previous year's race. Van Vleuten also made good use of the Bosberg as a launching pad, outlasting all except Vollering on the cobbled ascent. Van Vleuten, who is participating in her final season, intends to return and defend her title. To wreck her Omloop swan song, riders from Trek-Segafredo and SD Worx (final start list to be released) will be competing.
Bianche Road
Held on the white gravel roads of Tuscany, the Strade Bianche is one of the hardest and most beautiful events of the year. Since this is a race in which the strongest rider always wins, it makes sense that the list of winners is a Who's Who of the best riders in the sport.
For example, only a rider with the guts of Slovenia's Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates) would attempt (and pull off) the highly dangerous solo assault that won the race in Siena last year, fifty kilometers from the finish line. The previous winners of the competition were Frenchmen Mathieu van der Poel (2021), van Aert (2020), and Julian Alaphilippe (2019) before Pog. In this competition, of course, only the best can prevail.
Van Vleuten, who finished second behind Belgium's Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) last year, is once again the clear favorite in the women's classification after winning the event in 2019 and 2020. Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), an Italian who won the race in 2017, and Poland's Katherine Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM Cycling), a four-time third place finisher who is still vying for the top step, should also be watched.
The Milan Sanremo
The first of cycling's five Monuments, Milan-Sanremo (294 km), is the longest race to be conducted in a single day. Since the outcome is almost always determined in the final 10K, the riders argue that it's the easiest race to finish but the hardest event to win.
We love the way that Milan-Sanremo builds gradually to the finish line, as cyclists travel south from Milan toward the shore, then meander along the sea toward the mountains that make up the iconic conclusion of the Monument. The Poggio is particularly noteworthy. Only a few kilometers from the finish line, there's a short but strong rise whose treacherous descent often leaves more gaps than the climb itself. For instance. Using a dropper post, Matej Mohori of Slovenia (Bahrain Victorious) passed everyone else on the descent and took a chance to win his biggest triumph to yet.
Despite the lack of a women's Milan-Sanremo. The next day is a well-known women's World Tour tournament named. The staple, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Live coverage of the past women's World Cup series is available on GCN. The Italian winner was Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo). the competition the year before by surpassing her compatriots Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) and Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ).
The Tour of Flanders
The Flanders Tour, also known as the "Ronde van Vlaanderen," Many riders consider the area to be the hardest one-day race on the program. The Flemish area of Belgium has almost 250 kilometers of the most challenging terrain, including cobblestones, winding, small roads, and short distances. There will be steep ascents—referred to as "bergs"—in the male competition. The route is so hard that it might take years for a rider to get the necessary proficiency in its nuances to truly contend for the win.
Anticipate another competition in the women's section between the Italians and the Dutch. Van Vleuten is leading a field that should include two of her compatriots who have previously won the competition: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SD-Worx) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). It is now the Italians' turn to be led by Longo Borghini. Last year, Kopecky, the champion from Belgium, prevailed after SD Worx defeated van Vleuten by working over the Dutch sensation in the championship match.
Paris - The Roubaix
"Queen of the Classics," or rather, "Northern Hell." Call it what it may, but Paris-Roubaix is hands down our favorite event of the year. This 255km Monument's final part, comprising about 55km of Northern France's worst cobblestone roads (spread over 29 "sectors"), is dramatic and always produces a worthy winner, even if it's a dark horse. The event has returned to its customary time slot, one week after the Tour of Flanders, after being pushed back one week this year to accommodate the French national election of the previous year.
This Saturday is the third-ever women's Paris-Roubaix (145 kilometers). Starting in Denain, it will trace the final 17 cobbled sectors of the men's race all the way to the Roubaix velodrome finish line on Sunday. There is only one winner of both races: Lizzy Deignan of Great Britain (Trek-Segafredo) won the opening race of the season with a long-distance assault in muddy, wet conditions, while Long-Borghini won the event last year with a strong counterattack in the last hour when the lead group rejoined. Van Vleuten is aiming for the hillier Ardennes Classics two weeks later, even if he did not win this event. In her place, the Dutch will have Vos to root for, and she certainly wouldn't mind adding a Roubaix cobble to her palmares.
In the men's race last year, Dylan van Baarle of the Netherlands (INEOS-Grenadiers) took home the first-ever cobbled Monument for his team. He accomplished this after attacking the lead group at Roubaix, around 20 kilometers from the finish line. Moreover, the previous off-season. The Dutchman moved to Jumbo-Visma and gave van Aert one of the most experienced and competent teammates he could have imagined.
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