Sit back and relax as the climbing specialists start to take centre stage for the first time in the spring classics, as they tackle the 54th edition of the Amstel Gold Race this Sunday. Although it is held in the Netherlands, the Amstel Gold is in fact the first of the three Ardennes Classics – the other two being La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege – and it pits riders against 265.7km and, for a country renowned for its overall lack of hills, a staggering 35 of them. Starting off smoothly at the Vrijthof in Maastricht, within 10km, the route presents riders with their first acid test – the opening hill of, Slingerberg. This short, sharp climb sets the template and the tempo for several loops through the Limburg region, with the Cauberg and Geulhemmerberg included three times. But it’s with 45km remaining that Amstel’s truly set alight thanks to the three-in-a-row steep ramps of Gulpenberg, Kruisberg and Eyserbosweg and the culminating 900m, 4.5% Bemelberg – the final test for legs and lungs before the narrow alley-like Franse Steeg gives way to the flowing wide finale. One man who knows this race better than most is Philippe Gilbert. The Belgian has won six Ardennes Classics, including four Amstel Golds. His most recent victory came in 2017 when he edged out Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski. Fresh from his victory at the ‘Queen of the Classics’, Paris-Roubaix, can he consolidate his form and make it Amstel win number five? Gilbert will face fearsome competition from Movistar Team’s Alejandro Valverde. The 38-year-old’s Ardennes record is even better than Gilbert’s, with nine to his name. However, Amstel remains elusive with Valverde’s best so far being second place. Michal Kwiatkowski looks Team Sky’s best bet. His second in 2017 followed victory in 2015, albeit his recent crash and withdrawal at the Tour of the Basque Country places question marks over his form. Wout Poels has shone in the Ardennes before, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2016, so could also challenge for Amstel honours. Wout van Aert once again seems set to lead Team Jumbo-Visma in their spring classics programme. The 24-year-old three-time cyclocross World Champion will seek out the experienced Robert Gesink to support his challenge for victory, this being the eighth time Gesink’s raced Amstel Gold. AG2R La Mondiale’s challenge is likely to come from Tour de France contender Romain Bardet, who showed with his third place at the 2018 edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege that he’s more than just a GrandTour rider. Clear your diary for Sunday 14th April, sit back and enjoy the 117th edition of Paris-Roubaix, comprising 257km and 29 sections of pave covering 54.5km. The ‘Queen of the Classics’ is arguably the most prestigious one-day race in cycling and begins in Compiegne, situated to the east of the French capital, before finishing in the iconic open-air velodrome at Roubaix. In between the riders face debilitating cobbles with the Troueé d’Arenberg (164.5km), Mons-en-Pévèle (212km) and Carrefour de l’Arbre (242.5km) given five-star status as the hardest and longest of the race. There’s a degree of respite before then with the 29 sectors of pave not beginning until the 97km mark. The biggest crowds of the day are often reserved for sector 5 (Camphin-en-Pévèle, 239.5km) and sector 4 (Carrefour de l’Arbre) where the final attacks are typically made. Will the biggest cheers be reserved for Philippe Gilbert (Infinito R1 shoes)? The 36-year-old legend made his Paris-Roubaix debut in 2018 and looked strong in the lead group before suffering from hydration issues. Has he learnt his fuelling lesson second time around? After a strong ride for World Champion Alejandro Valverde at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, Movistar Team’s hopes now rest on Belgian Jurgen Roelandts’ shoulders. The 33-year-old has been putting in some fine rides in the early part of the 2019 campaign – his first season with the Spanish team – and will relish the lead role, with support from a squad including the experience of Daniele Bennati, 38, and the youth of Jamie Castrillo who has just turned 23. Team Sky’s attacking intent could come from any number of riders. Dylan van Baarle lit up last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, forging a four-man breakaway for 20km of the 266km test. Van Baarle was reeled in but dug deep – again – in the final kilometer but lost out in a group sprint. Gianni Moscon and Luke Rowe both have Paris-Roubaix top-10s on their palmares. Wout van Aert leads Team Jumbo-Visma off the back of an assured Milan-Sanremo, third at Strade Bianche and second at the E3 BinckBank Classic. In his second Roubaix appearance, he’ll look for protection from the experienced Amund Grondahl Jansen and Maarten Wynants. AG2R La Mondiale has real strength in depth at Paris-Roubaix, specifically with Silvan Dillier and Oliver Naesen. Dillier was the only rider capable of staying with Peter Sagan at the 2018 edition, the two leaders entering the velodrome together before the Slovak pipped the Swiss at the line. Naesen has enjoyed spring, finishing second at Milan-Sanremo and third at Gent-Wevelgem… can the 28-year-old turn them into victory come Sunday 14th? As the road season gathers momentum, established and emerging fizik riders are finding superb early season performances around the globe – here are the brief highlights from the weekend. COLOMBIAN CLIMBERS With exciting ‘home’ riders and support from their European team-mates, the Tour Colombia provided a thrilling spectacle. It culminated in a Colombian 1-2 thanks to a solo final mountain stage win for Movistar Team’s Nairo Quintana eight seconds up the road from Team Sky’s Ivan Sosa. The 21-year-old missed out on GC victory by just 4 seconds but won the mountains classification and ignited the crowds alongside his 22-year-old team-mate Egan Bernal. RAINBOW STRIPES STEPS UP In Spain, at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia Costa Cálida, it was a smiling Alejandro Valverde who took to the second step of the podium both for the second stage and for the Overall. The 38-year-old World Champion broke away from the lead group with 15km to go on the Vuelta Murcia’s second and final stage, along with his 35-year-old compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez. El Bala went solo from the top of the final climb but was reeled in by his friend and rival – the old adversaries embracing after crossing the finish line. PROVENÇAL PERFORMANCES The four-stage Tour de La Provence was a happy hunting ground for both the most experienced hands, and the young riders. Team Sky’s new 22-year-old Italian signing Filippo Ganna used his track experience to take the opening time trial – before handing over to Movistar Team’s Spanish new recruit Eduard Prades who won Stage 2’s sprint from AG2R-La Mondial’s Tony Gallopin. Stage 3 went to the 36-year-old Belgian former World Champion Philippe Gilbert, outsprinting the group on France’s famous Paul Ricard motor racing circuit. And on the fourth and final stage in Aix-en-Provence it was Gallopin who wrote his own headlines: earning a one-second bonus on the first intermediate sprint meant that his Stage 1 TT effort was enough to claim a GC podium by just 13 hundredths of a second, and second in the Points competition. Former UCI Road World Champion Philippe Gilbert spent two days with us at Fizik HQ last month. It was a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the multiple Belgian national champion who, this spring, won the Tour of Flanders and claimed his fourth Amstel Gold Race victory. Philippe tried the new Infinito R1 shoes for the first time on a sunny ride with former teammate Alessandro Ballan. We organized a dedicated shoe fitting session for Philippe and when he tried the Infinito R1 in red he fell in love with them and just didn’t want to take them off! When he rode on the Italian pave, Philippe showed us that he really loves the cobblestones. We’re already looking forward to another great victory in a classic race next year, maybe the Milano-Sanremo. After the ride, we enjoyed a well-deserved Italian meal and even a special cake: better for the stomach than for the legs. Off-season is the best time for us to get feedback from our athletes, as they help us to make fi’zi:k products better and better. We are proud to support Philippe, who is preparing for his fourth season with us, and we can’t wait to see him at the finish line of his first race of the new season – in his new Infinito R1.
