Ghent - Ninove
Sat 29th February, 204.2kms
It's long been said that the Omloop was the 'traditional' start of the season, the 'purists' almost disregarding the earlier races of the season as 'training races'. I sort of used to be one, looking forward to the start of the European season proper..
Sunday 4th April, 263.7kms
My favourite race of the year. A lot of fans and riders favourite race of the year. A race that always seems to deliver drama, hard-luck stories, and heroics. There are no hiding places on the bergs and cobbles of Flanders, it's every man for himself.
Friday 26th March, 204kms
The E3 Saxobank Classic, or the E3 Harelbeke to most of us, kicks off the 'Flanders Week' with Gent Wevelgem coming two days later on Sunday and the king of the Belgian Classics, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen on April 4th.
Saturday 20th March
Milan to Sanremo, 299Km
Back to the normal spring time running of MSR after the highly unusual August race in 30 degree heat last year. Wout was a great winner for us last year at 13/2, he's a lot shorter this year, can he make it two wins in a row?
Siena to Siena
It's hard to believe that the Strade Bianche will only be 15 years old this year.. It's now such a well-established race, both for riders and fans, that it feels like it is part of cycling's history, helped by some epic races over the last few years.
Saturday 8th August
Milan to Sanremo, 305Km
Milan - Sanremo.. In August.. In 30 degree heat.. with a new, longer course.. as if it wasn't hard enough to pick a winner of the first monument of the season, we have all of this to contend with too.
Sunday 1st March 2020, 200kms
After the cobbles and the hellingen of the Omloop, the sprinters will be hoping for their chance to shine on the second day of this weekend's double-header, with the flatter parcours of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Merelbeke - Ninove
Sat 29th February, 200kms
Just like in 2019 the traditional opener of the Classics season starts at ’t Kuipke in Ghent and finishes on the Onderwijslaan in Ninove. Not only is it unusual this year in that it occurs on a leap day, it's also the 75th edition of the race.
The World Championships comes to England, with a lumpy and difficult course around the roads of Yorkshire, culminating in seven laps of a 14km circuit in Harrogate and an uphill sprint finish on Parliament Street.
San Sebastian, Spain
Sat Aug 4th, 231kms
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa, or Clasica Cycliste San Sebastian as it's known to us non-Basques, takes place this Saturday in its traditional slot one week after the Tour de France climax.
Liège to Liège
Sunday 28th April, 256kms
There was a surprise result last year, as Quick-Step (no surprise there) took the win again, but not with Julian Alaphilippe, one of the favourites on the day. Instead it was the brilliant Bob Jungels who escaped to take an epic win.
Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt
Sunday 21st April, 265.7kms
The 54th running of the Amstel Gold Race starts in Maastricht Sunday, as focus switches from the Belgo/French cobbles to first the hills of Holland, and then the Ardennes, culminating in 'La Doyenne', Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday week.
Sunday 14th April, 257kms
What a race we were treated to last year, and it almost turned out to be the second massive-price winner in three years, as 500/1 outsider Silvan Dillier danced along the cobbles, the only one able to stay with a rampaging Peter Sagan.
Sunday 7th April, 270kms
The race I look forward to most every year, which almost always seems to deliver drama, hard-luck stories, but always a deserving winner. There are no hiding places on the bergs and cobbles of Flanders, no sitting in waiting for a sprint.
Friday 29th March, 204kms
The E3 Binckbank Classic, or the E3 Harelbeke to most of us, kicks off the 'Flanders Week' with Gent Wevelgem coming two days later on Sunday and the king of the Belgian Classics, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen on April 7th.
Saturday 23rd March
Milan to Sanremo, 291Km
So we move on to the first 'Monument' of the season with the monster trek through northern Italy that is Milan San Remo. The Classics have been dominated by Deceuninck Quick Step so far this year, can they continue their winning streak?
Siena to Siena
The 13th running of the Strade Bianche takes place Saturday, and although it is only in its infancy compared to the other Classics, it's firmly establishing itself as a riders and fans favourite with some epic races over the last few years.
Sunday 3rd March 2019, 200kms
After the cobbles and the hellingen of the Omloop, the sprinters supposedly get their chance to shine on the second day of this weekend's double-header with the flatter parcours of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Merelbeke - Ninove
Sat 2nd March, 200kms
The season proper starts this weekend as far as most cycling fans are concerned, with the arrival of proper racing in wind, wet, cold, frost and mud on the roads of Belgium with the 74th running of the Omloop.
Sat. October 13th, 241kms
And so we come to the end of another season, and no better way to end it than with with the 'Race of the Falling Leaves', often one of the most exciting races of the year, Il Lombardia!
The unstoppable Peter Sagan made it an astonishing hat-trick of wins with an amazing victory in Bergen last year, hanging in there over the final climb and winning the sprint from a reduced group of 26 riders.
Innsbruck, Austria
Wed 26th Sept, 52.5kms
Tom Dumoulin is going for another World Championships gold medal, after taking home two last year in the ITT and TTT. His performance in last year's TT was simply sensational, winning by almost a minute from Primoz Roglic.
Innsbruck, Austria
Sunday 23rd Sept, 62.8kms
Sunweb caused quite the shock this time last year when they beat the hot favourites Sky, QuickStep and BMC with a stunning performance driven on by Tom Dumoulin, who also became the World TT Champion just a few days later.
San Sebastian, Spain
Sat Aug 4th, 231kms
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa, or Clasica Cycliste San Sebastian as it's known to us non-Basques, takes place this Saturday in it's traditional slot one week after the Tour de France climax.
Who will win the KOM Jersey at the 2018 Giro?
The competition for the 'Maglia Azzura' for the King of the Mountains of the Giro is always a really hard one to call, as there are just so many riders who could have their eyes on this prestigious prize.
Who will win the Points Jersey at the 2018 Giro?
Not only does the Giro have a very different and distinct leader's jersey compared to the ubiquitous yellow jerseys of so many other races, but it also has slightly unusual colours for the winners of the Mountains and Sprinters jerseys.
Jerusalem to Rome, 3562.9km
4th May to 27th May
The 101st Edition of the Giro d’Italia starts on Friday the 5th May in Israel, the first time a Grand Tour has started outside of Europe. The course is varied and challenging, with eight summit finishes and two time trials.
Liège to Ans
Sunday 22rd April, 258kms
On to the 4th monument of the season, and one of the oldest races on the calendar, Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Alejandro Valverde stormed away with yet another victory in 2017, and was hot favourite for this, up until his failure to win Fleche-Wallone on Wednesday..
Seraing to Mur de Huy
Wed. 18th April, 198.5kms
We move on to the famous climb of the 'Wall of Huy' in La Flèche Wallone Wednesday, or the 'Mur de Valverde' as it could soon be known. It's a very different finish to the AGR with the finish line at the top of an extremely steep climb, where only the punchiest of riders have a chance.
Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt
Sunday 15th April, 261kms
The 53rd running of the Amstel Gold Race starts in Maastricht Sunday, as focus switches from the cobbles of Flanders and northern France to first the hills of Holland, and then the Ardennes, culminating in Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday week.
Leuven to Schoten
Wed 11th April, 201.9kms
After an amazing Paris-Roubaix last Sunday, we move on to the final race of the 'Flanders Classics' on Wednesday with the Brabantse Pijl or 'the Brabantse arrow'. This is a race for the puncheurs, with plenty of little hills, some cobbles, but almost always ends in a reduced sprint finish of some sort.
Sunday 8th April, 257kms
After a Tour of Flanders to remember, it's on to the cobbles of northern France and the 'Hell of the North', Paris-Roubaix. No hills to speak of compared to Flanders, but lots more cobbles - 54.5kms of them in total..
Wed 4th April, 202kms
The sprinters get a chance to have some fun Wednesday in the Scheldeprijs, the traditional sprinters classic of the northern cobbled races. Marcel Kittel has dominated this race in recent years, winning it five times in total now.
Sunday 1st April, 266.5kms
The pièce de résistance of the Flanders week, the jewel in the crown.. The warm-ups were interesting to say the least but now it's the big one.. 266kms around the hills and cobbles of Flanders.
Wed 28th March, 181kms
A change in the calendar sees the Dwars Door move from before the E3 and GW right in to the middle of the 'Flanders Week', with the organisers hoping that the change will bring a stronger field to the startline than in the past.
Sunday 25th March, 250.4kms
The Flanders festival of cycling moves on to Gent on Sunday for what is traditionally a Classic for the sprinters, in Gent Wevelgem. What a race we saw on Friday in the E3 Harelbeke, with QuickStep Floors bossing the race from start to finish to deliver an incredible win for Niki Terpstra.
Friday 23rd March, 206.4kms
The E3 Harelbeke kicks off the 'Flanders Week' on Friday with Gent Wevelgem coming up on Sunday and the daddy of the Belgian Classics, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen on April 1st.
Saturday 17th March
Milan to Sanremo, 291Km
When does the season proper start? Some say Down Under, some say with the OHN/KBK weekend in Belgium, some say Paris-Nice, while some more say it's only with the first Monument of the season of Milan San Remo.
4th to 11th March
After the sunny stage races Down Under and in the Middle East, and an opening Flanders weekend that saw Valgren and Groenewegen take the spoils, we move on to the first major stage race in Europe with the 'Race to the Sun'.
4th to 11th March
After the sunny stage races Down Under and in the Middle East, and an opening Flanders weekend that saw Valgren and Groenewegen take the spoils, we move on to the first major stage race in Europe with the 'Race to the Sun'.
Siena to Siena
The 12th running of the Strade Bianche takes place this weekend, and although it is only in its infancy compared to the other Classics, it's firmly establishing itself as a riders and fans favourite, with some riders even going so far as to say it's one of their favourite races of the year now..
Sunday 25th Feb 2018, 200kms
After the cobbles and the hellingen of the Omloop, the sprinters supposedly get their chance to shine on the second day of this weekend's double-header with the flatter parcours of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Sat 24th Feb 2018, 196kms
The season proper starts this weekend as far as most cycling fans are concerned, although we have seen some excellent racing and some superb performances already this year.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
February 6th to 10th
The Dubai Tour is now in its 5th year and stays at 5 stages again this year after it was extended from 4 stages for the 2017 edition. No real change to the formula though, desert sprint stages and a charge up the Hatta Dam to decide it.
Geelong, Australia
28 January 2018, 164kms
So the TDU is over and it's on to the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race for the riders who are
still in Australia, with others like the AquaBlue squad coming across to join them for the fourth running of the race.
Mallorca, Spain
25-28th January 2018
I'm pretty certain we didn't get any prices quoted last year from any of the bookies for any of these races, and I wasn't sure whether I could be bothered to do a preview as a result..
Adelaide, South Australia
16-21 January 2018, 824.8kms
The off-season certainly was interesting, wasn't it? The Chris Froome AAF saga has kept us entertained for weeks now, with the real possibility that he will rightly lose the Vuelta and get a ban similar to Diego Ulissi on top.
Sat. October 7th, 247kms
The 'Race of the Falling Leaves' is one of the most exciting races of the year, a fantastic climax to the season where the top climbers in the world do battle over a challenging course with 4,000m of climbing in stunning countryside.
Sat October 30th, 223kms
The Giro dell'Emilia is a great little race that gets overshadowed by it's big brother the Giro de Lombardia which takes place the following weekend. It has a superb route with a great finish and makes for some exciting racing.
Sun 24th Sept, 267.5kms
The course may have been boring, the weather oppressive, it may have been a course for sprinters, but in the end it was the Classics men who came out on top in 2016 in Doha, with the maestro Peter Sagan taking his second world title in a row.
Bergen, Norway
Wed 20th Sept, 31kms
After the Team Time trial was won in stunning fashion by Sunweb on Sunday, we move on to the individual time trial over a challenging course of just 31kms, the shortest time trial distance ever in the World's.
Bergen, Norway
Sunday 17th Sept, 42.5kms
The World Team Time Trial Championships roll around once again, and in stark contrast to the baking heat and sand of Doha the riders will face the cool temperatures and rain of a September in Norway.
