Cobbled Classics contenders Canadians should be cheering for in 2019
The spring races in Flemish Belgium and Northern France are a highlight of the cycling season but who should fans in Canada be rooting for?
The main part of the cobbled Classics season is about to start to the delight of cycling fans around the world. After the opening weekend of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, we had a brief respite with a return to stage racing at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. After Milan-San Remo, La Primavera, it’s time for the spotlight to move to cobbles country.
Canadians will be tuning in to the one-day classics in Flemish Belgium and Northern France but may be unsure about who they should cheer for. Canada doesn’t have a cobbled classic race favourite but that doesn’t mean there aren’t worthy contenders who are deserving of a boost of maple syrup and a yelp of ‘eh!’ to encourage them over the bumpiest terrain of the professional road cycling season.
Canadians racing the cobbled Classics
Of course, the easiest strategy for determining who to cheer for would be finding Canadians on the startlist and rooting for them. The problem is, while there are strong Canadians who will be lining up and may have a chance at a result, none of them are favourites.
In the men’s peloton, look for starts from a trio of Quebecois riders: Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy), Hugo Houle (Astana) and Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ). Each will be primarily on domestique duty when they line-up during the Classics but are capable of being active in breaks and in setting their teammates up for pivotal moments during the races. Houle is perhaps the one most capable of a top-20 finish on the right day.
In the women’s peloton, Canada has a very capable Classics contender in Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb) who has taken top placings in cobbled races in the past but is often called on for team duty. With a podium at Spar – Omloop van het Hageland, it’s yet to be seen whether she’s given opportunities by Sunweb to chase her own results.
Look for Karol-Ann Canuel lining up with perennial favourites Boels-Dolmans but the Ardennes suit her strengths better. Alison Jackson (Tibco-SVB) packs the finishing speed to finish in the top-20. Marie-Soleil Blais (Astana) is making her professional debut in Europe.
Peter Sagan
Slovakian champion Peter Sagan is a force on the cobbles and one of the most charismatic riders in professional cycling. He has wins on Canadian soil at the Grands Prix Cyclistes Québec et Montréal. That isn’t Sagan’s only calling card. Remember when he was so excited to be in Canada the first thing he wanted to do after the Grand Prix Cyclist de Montreal in 2016 was head straight to the Bell Center for a World Cup hockey game with former teammate and friend Guillaume Boivin? He couldn’t keep quiet about it in the post-race press conference. What’s more Canadian than getting really excited about hockey? Sagan’s personality attracts many fans but of course it’s his legs that also make him fun to cheer for and he’s worthy of Canadians support this cobbled season.
Michael Matthews
Michael Matthews made a come back to form at the GPCQM in 2018 sweeping the one-day races in Montreal and Quebec City. He’s also racing abroad a Cervélo, the Toronto-based company that sponsors Matthews and Kirchmann’s Team Sunweb. Matthews isn’t tackling the whole cobbled calendar but when he does line-up, he may just be the underdog you can get behind. He certainly isn’t favoured in the cobbled Classics but perhaps from a reduced bunch he could sprint for a solid result at De Ronde Van Vlaanderen where he is scheduled to race.
Arnaud Démare
French sprinter Arnaud Démare is the man Antoine Duchesne is tasked with protecting throughout the Classics. The Frenchman has a Monument on his palmares from Milan-San Remo in 2016 and has shown promise at the cobbled Classics. Another sprinter who can hang tough over cobbles, Démare was on the podium of Gent-Wevelgem last year and has finished in the top-10 at Paris-Roubaix. Behind those results is the work of teammates like Duchesne.
Israel Cycling Academy
Israeli team the Israel Cycling Academy is co-owned by Canadian Sylvain Adams. The team has lofty ambitions of going to the Tour de France and to do so they will need to begin with some notable WorldTour results. ICA have an interesting roster than has been more competitive than ever in 2019. In any cobbled Classic they start, you can almost bet they will try to make the breakaway.
Taylor Phinney
The winner of 2007 Tour de l’Abitibi, Taylor Phinney is as intriguing of a professional cyclist as any. Since his return from a devastating injury in 2014, he’s gotten back some of his mojo on the cobbles. Paris-Roubaix is the only race he really has a shot at but a good result there would get fans of the hipster American very excited. Amoung those fans may be some Canadians who have long supported Jonathan Vaughters’ team.
John Degenkolb
An extremely emotional win at the Tour de France in 2018 across the roads of Paris-Roubaix saw the former winner once again at his best. Degenkolb is also in tune with us Canadians, just listen to him on the first episode of our podcast list the three things he thinks of when asked about Canada (hint, it involves maple syrup).
