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27 Mar 14
20:40
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11 Jul 11
The Flemish Classic which sets the foundation for the tough-as-nails classics specialists looking to confirm their form ahead of the Tour of Flanders.
Boonen has arguably lost his crown in this race to Spartacus of late, who uses one of the varied climbs as his staging point to launch an attack and clear out in the lead to solo to victory. Bunch sprint finishes are rare, and with so many good riders and top teams on the start line this year, I would suggest that it’s unlikely to happen.
Of the four at the top of the betting market, Spartacus looks best for mine after his brilliant Milan-San Remo finish for second, and he will put everything into this race to further improve his condition.
Sagan impressed me on the Cipressa in Milan-San Remo, in so far as he looked to be climbing well, but a consensus exists that he isn’t going as well as last year and other things are getting in between his riding. If he can climb like he did in Italy than Spartacus will find it more difficult to shake him loose, nevertheless.
Boonen was never going to feature in Dwars door Vlaanderen last start, since he usually passes such races to team-mates to handle and Niki Terpstra certainly took the opportunity in both hands to win in fine fashion. This race obviously means a lot more to Boonen, having won it four times in a row from 2004-2007, so he should feature attentively at the pointy-end of the peloton when the suitable climbs to launch an attack appear.
Sep Vanmarcke riding for Belkin is being touted as a likely winner of one of the cobbled classics, and here in betting he is just behind the three already mentioned. His best finish here is 5th in 2012, and so far this year his best results are in the classics with a 3rd in KBK when his team-mate Hofland proved stronger in the sprint behind Boonen, and a 4th in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which came from a three man group with Terpstra and EBH. There isn’t really a reason I can find for him not winning this, but I would have preferred if Lars Boom was in the team and not out with a broken elbow as he has slowly been improving in such races and would have offered good support for Sep.
A British rider has never won this race in its history, but Ian Stannard might be the first in this the 57th edition this year. Stannard’s best ever result in this race is 23rd last year, an improvement on his 48th in 2012. However, he already has a win under the belt care of his strong kick in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to deny Greg Van Avermaet in tough conditions. A 44th in KBK was fair, and his 16h in Strade Bianche at over 3mins behind, showed he can do short and sharp climbs, when required. Even though he didn’t finish Tirreno-Adriatico and didn’t ride Milan-San Remo, he came out strong in Dwars door Vlaanderen to finish 15th behind Boonen and Kristoff, two winners this season. At 40/1 he represents special value on E/W terms 1/4, as he is a hard rider in excellent, consistent form, and in a strong team. If he can catch the tail of a selection, up the Paterberg for instance, then I think he can get back on terms soon after and be very strong in the finale.
Luca Paolini at better than 66/1 may be one to keep handy after his impressive ride in Italy for Kristoff, as might be Jurgen Roelandts at better than 50/1.
Ian Stannard 40/1 (Paddy Power)
Good luck to all,
SP
Boonen has arguably lost his crown in this race to Spartacus of late, who uses one of the varied climbs as his staging point to launch an attack and clear out in the lead to solo to victory. Bunch sprint finishes are rare, and with so many good riders and top teams on the start line this year, I would suggest that it’s unlikely to happen.
Of the four at the top of the betting market, Spartacus looks best for mine after his brilliant Milan-San Remo finish for second, and he will put everything into this race to further improve his condition.
Sagan impressed me on the Cipressa in Milan-San Remo, in so far as he looked to be climbing well, but a consensus exists that he isn’t going as well as last year and other things are getting in between his riding. If he can climb like he did in Italy than Spartacus will find it more difficult to shake him loose, nevertheless.
Boonen was never going to feature in Dwars door Vlaanderen last start, since he usually passes such races to team-mates to handle and Niki Terpstra certainly took the opportunity in both hands to win in fine fashion. This race obviously means a lot more to Boonen, having won it four times in a row from 2004-2007, so he should feature attentively at the pointy-end of the peloton when the suitable climbs to launch an attack appear.
Sep Vanmarcke riding for Belkin is being touted as a likely winner of one of the cobbled classics, and here in betting he is just behind the three already mentioned. His best finish here is 5th in 2012, and so far this year his best results are in the classics with a 3rd in KBK when his team-mate Hofland proved stronger in the sprint behind Boonen, and a 4th in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which came from a three man group with Terpstra and EBH. There isn’t really a reason I can find for him not winning this, but I would have preferred if Lars Boom was in the team and not out with a broken elbow as he has slowly been improving in such races and would have offered good support for Sep.
A British rider has never won this race in its history, but Ian Stannard might be the first in this the 57th edition this year. Stannard’s best ever result in this race is 23rd last year, an improvement on his 48th in 2012. However, he already has a win under the belt care of his strong kick in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to deny Greg Van Avermaet in tough conditions. A 44th in KBK was fair, and his 16h in Strade Bianche at over 3mins behind, showed he can do short and sharp climbs, when required. Even though he didn’t finish Tirreno-Adriatico and didn’t ride Milan-San Remo, he came out strong in Dwars door Vlaanderen to finish 15th behind Boonen and Kristoff, two winners this season. At 40/1 he represents special value on E/W terms 1/4, as he is a hard rider in excellent, consistent form, and in a strong team. If he can catch the tail of a selection, up the Paterberg for instance, then I think he can get back on terms soon after and be very strong in the finale.
Luca Paolini at better than 66/1 may be one to keep handy after his impressive ride in Italy for Kristoff, as might be Jurgen Roelandts at better than 50/1.
Ian Stannard 40/1 (Paddy Power)
Good luck to all,
SP
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