Are the classics over?

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Photo: David Stockman[/caption]

It seems like only yesterday we were saying, "The real season starts at the Omloop. Everything else has been a free ride." One by one, they've fallen, and we haven't even noticed. From the white roads of Tuscany to the Belgian peaks, via Flemish walls, French stones, and Dutch beer.

A classics season that will clearly mark a change of direction in terms of the protagonists. Riders who have taken up the mantle and will be the future of one-day racing.

Let's talk about the riders who are coming out of this spring classics season with the biggest boost.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Photo: El Periódico[/caption]

Julian Alaphilippe

He's probably the most reliable cyclist in the world . This season's number one. His times are stratospheric in one-day races. Last week, I compared his skills on this blog with those of Alejandro Valverde, and, as I said, this year it's become clear that they are very different cyclists. Alaphilippe is the new kingpin of the hillclimb classics. He has won 50% of the classics he's started. He started the year with a bang, winning the Strade Bianche with great authority. He confirmed his excellent form by winning his first Monument, the Milan-San Remo. He took the podium at the Flèche Brabantès and inexplicably lost the Amstel Gold Race, when he had everything to win. He swept the Flèche Wallonne and faltered in Liège. And on top of all this, we must add stage victories in Tirreno and the Basque Country. A near-perfect spring.

His problem? It seems obvious that he's a rider who isn't able to stretch his form as much as other cyclists. Being at his best already in Strade and San Remo (including Tirrenia) and maintaining that level of form until Liège is very complicated. His recovery issues are what's keeping him from ever fighting for overall titles in week-long stage races. He'll have to improve and pace himself more to arrive in top condition for a race he'll undoubtedly win one day: Liège.

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Mathieu van der Poel

Another of the protagonists of this blog weeks ago. He's the man of the moment. The true rock star of world cycling. To say van der Poel is to say power, ambition, hunger for victory. Above all, victories. Mathieu has won four of the six classics he's started this year. And he finished fourth in the other two. His performance at the Amstel Gold Race will go down in history as one of the best days of cycling in recent years . We can say he didn't win the Tour of Flanders because of his own mistakes, to put it negatively. Van der Poel HAS to make the jump to the road. It can't be that we haven't seen him race in Roubaix or Liège. This rider is a born winner. He's made for the classics.

He should never give up cyclocross, but should race more on the road. He's proven that a full season of CX is perfectly compatible with a full season of classics. The same goes for Wout van Aert. But combining it with MTB is too difficult, even for him. I think his real challenges lie here. After Tokyo, we'll see him much more frequently in road cycling.

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Jakob Fuglsang

The reborn . A cyclist who had almost always been in the shadow of other leaders, who almost always failed when receiving honors in the best races, and who has been the strongest man in the Ardennes. Many called him Bluffsang, and now they can do nothing but applaud his performance and his attitude. Because Fuglsang has ridden on the attack and with courage. No one believed more than he did in his chances of winning classics against Alaphilippe. His performance in Liège is incontestable and is frightening ahead of the Tour de France, where he will undoubtedly have a great team to take on the throne of the ex-Sky riders. His spring has confirmed what we've been seeing all year. Astana this year is on fire. From January to April. By the way, I can't remember anyone so dominant on the hills and with such a low top speed. Jakob was never a winner. Until this Liège, he had only won one Dauphiné in the World Tour. Now, he's a fearsome cyclist.

The crosses (of April, not May)

Of course, this spring we've also had several cyclists who haven't lived up to expectations, or at least haven't performed at the level we expected.

The first of them is Peter Sagan . The Slovakian has been only 50% of what he is. He's been at the top through pure character. This was the year he had earmarked for a storm in the Ardennes. He wasn't. His preparation hasn't been what it's been in other years, and it's shown. A true X-Files case. We mustn't forget that cyclists are people too, and that personal circumstances also affect their work. When things aren't going well in life, it's harder to concentrate and summon the willpower necessary to reach your peak, in a sport as tough as cycling.

Ah, but don't bury Peter. The season is long, very long. Don't be surprised to see him in rainbows before the year's out.

Alejandro Valverde is another of the great disappointments. It pains me because I admire him, but there's no doubt his performance has been far below everyone's expectations, including his own. Reasons? Has his decline finally arrived? All signs indicate that the best Valverde won't return. But I don't care. He's left his touches of quality; we had the pleasure of seeing him at his best in Sanremo and Flanders, and this year he still has something big to win. I have no doubt his winter hasn't been what it always was, with the rainbow-colored relaxation and the tributes. I say the same thing I said with Sagan. The season is long, and Alejandro is still here. We shouldn't bury him until he's gone.

And now, let's think in pink , as the Giro d'Italia is just around the corner.

An article by Fran Alarcón for Baggicase, the waterproof case for cyclists' phones and belongings.