Is This The Best Week in Pro Cycling?.......

This coming week is going to to be sweet....with possibly the exception of the Ironman World Championship week in Kona, this coming week has to be the best week of pro cycling over the whole season. Yeah, the three tours are good but the Classics of Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday followed by Gent Wevelgem on Wednesday and then Paris-Roubaix on April 12th has to beat those hands down.

Ever since I got into cycling, these three have been my favorites. Eurosport used to have full-day coverage of the races and I would just sit down and watch the whole day....and on these races, particularly Flanders and Roubaix, you can do that as almost every part of the course plays an important role in how the race will be decided. One of my favorites had to be the year that Andrea Tafi rode away from the field to win Roubaix on a surprisingly dry and dusty day in 1999. If you ever get the chance make sure you watch the DVD " A Sunday in Hell", which presents the 1976 Paris-Roubaix. Unfortunately my copy is an old VHS (pal) video and so need to get a new copy!

Now you have to find the coverage online to get full day coverage of the races and then you have to try and brush up on your flemish/french to understand the commentary! It's either that or wait for the Versus to get your fix of Liggett, Sherwen and Roll.....



One year we will get over there and watch all three, until then I have to make do with getting my fix from the online sources, you can't get the atmosphere, the beer or the frites .....besides we have Ronde Van Walkersville this Saturday and then Tysons on Sunday!