It’s that time of year once again. The snowdrops are forcing their way through the earth from their winter slumber, the dawn choruses are becoming louder and more tuneful and finally, at long last, the Classics are upon us once again.

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It’s the backbone of the sport, it’s where it all cycle racing began, Liege – Bastogne – Liege, La Doyenne, after all dates back to 1892. It’s because of these races that we now recognise names such as the Poggio, the forest of Arenberg, the Muur de Huy, and the Kemmelberg. They are the races for the purists, the aficionados, people who know and love the history, the romance and the pain. Suffering is an occupational hazard for racing cyclists, there is almost a beauty to it, but over six hours in the saddle is beyond what a sportsperson should have to endure, but they do and they always will, this is why they become legends and heroes due to this suffering rather in spite of it. They are the convicts of the road.

They are duels held on every type of road surface imaginable. Roads only three riders wide, bergs so steep that riders have to ascend on foot, nerve jangling mountain descents at 60mph, trails only fit for tractors and every once in a while, asphalt. With circuits that resemble fallen ribbons over the battlefields of Belgium and France, looping their way across northern Italy taking in every type of weather that can be hurled at them. Driving rain and North Sea gales are almost a prerequisite for these races and fans seem almost disappointed if the sun comes out. Even snow has played its part in the drama causing cancellations and shortened routes.

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There are many other races contested throughout Northern Europe which are in the same mould and just as important as the five historical Monuments of cycle sport. These are known as the Semi - Classics. Kuurne - Brussels - Kuurne, Gent - Wavelgem and Fleche Walloone to name but three. These are the races which cover similar parcours but more often as not are held midweek and are somewhat shorter in length. A mere 200km for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad rather than leg destroying 270km for the Tour of Flanders!   

No one wins a Classic or Semi - Classic by chance. Yes there is heartbreak and misfortune, that’s the nature of sport, it reflects life, but the first rider over the line deserved to be there. The list of winners of the five great monuments of the sport; Milan – San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris – Roubaix, Liege – Bastogne - Liege and the Tour of Lombardy are a who’s who of cycling’s greats. From Raas to van der Poel, de Vlaemnick to Boonen, van Looy to Gilbert, Museeuw to Cancellara. These riders and many others like them, begin training for these events the previous year, months before the event, just in the hope to enter the velodrome or crest the final berg a few seconds before their rivals. They target these races because having them on you palmares makes you a Classics specialist, someone who is somehow apart from the rest.

There are rare exceptions such as Coppi, Merckx, Kelly and Hinault who could compete and win the Classics and the grand tours but those who participate and enjoy participating in the Classics, especially in spring, are a completely different animal. They are riders with a mentality and physicality to suit the stress and the strain of putting it all on the line on one day, to take a gamble that they may work, that they may never recover from. If you miss the break on a cold wet windswept day in the Ardennes, you won’t gain the time back in next day’s stage, there is no next day, only next year.

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The Classics are well named. These races create myths, legends and villains. The smell of beer and frites float through the air, the effortless beauty of cathedral spires pointing skyward. The flag draped farm tracks with fans waiting patiently, hoping the day will end in a victory for their favourite. Talent which mixes with technology coated in tenacity; never does the old and the new combine so well. It’s that time of the year once again….