Ardennes Classics take over from the Cobbled Classics
On Sunday Niki Terpstra (The Netherlands/Omega Pharma-QuickStep) won the Hell of the North, the famed Paris-Roubaix. Terpsta’s triumph brings the Cobbled Classics spring season to a close. Other WorldTour cobbled champions this spring were Peter Sagan (E3 Harelbeke), John Degenkolb (Gent-Wevelgem) and Fabian Cancellara (The Tour of Flanders).
On Sunday the Amstel Gold Race kicks off in Maastrict, the Netherlands. The Amstel is the first of three WorldTour Ardennes Classics. The Ardennes races take place in the rugged, forested Ardennes region of Belgium and the Limburg region of The Netherlands. Instead of the cobbles; short, steep hills; and cobbled, short, steep hills of the Cobbled Classics, the Ardennes Classics’ difficulty comes in the form of multiple narrow, steep hills – some 3 to 4 km in length – usually with a finishing climb.
The Amstel Gold used to end on the top of the Cauberg (1.2-km, 5.8% average, 12% max) in Valkenburg, but last year the organizers moved the finish line 1.8-km beyond the peak. April 23rd’s Fleche Wallonne ends on the dread Huy, a 1.3-km ascent that averages 9.3% and tilts up to a knee-shattering 26%. Four days later, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, also known as La Doyenne (the oldest), finishes on a hill in the city of Ans.
While the Cobbled Classic winners tend to be bigger, stronger riders, the Ardennes Classic champions are generally the fellows you see at the top of stage race GC’s. For instance, last year Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic/Tinkoff-Saxo) took the Amstel Gold honours, Daniel Moreno (Spain/Katusha) triumphed in Fleche Wallonne and Daniel Martin (Ireland/Garmin-Sharp) outfoxed Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha) for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege title.
Cobbled winners often come out of smaller, select groups or sometimes solo attacks that launch far from the finish. Ardennes champions usually come from larger packs of riders.
One professional cyclist who does well in the Ardennes is Ryder Hesjedal. Hesjedal came runner-up to Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/BMC) in 2010, placing 9th in the Fleche Wallonne the same year. Ryder finished in the top 10 of the L-B-L over the last two seasons, coming 8th last year while helping teammate Martin to victory.
Two men have managed to sweep the Ardennes Classics: Italian Davide Rebellin in 2004 and Philippe Gilbert in 2010.
