Today is the Belgian season opener and the start of hard man racing. Until last year it was Het Volk, and before that it was Gent-Gent. In my mind it will always be Het Volk.
There’s really nothing like the Classics, so it’s hard to pick who’ll wind up on the podium since there really aren’t any similar races this weekend. Qatar had some hills and extreme wind, so it might offer some insight. Not every cobbled contender will be toeing the line, notably Cancellara will be absent.
So who’s it going to be? Boonen is always in the hunt, but being Belgian in a Belgian race he’s going to have his hands full. I’m pretty sure there were some smaller teams who have based their entire classics strategy around trying to neutralize Boonen. Last year Flecha won, and he’s consistently a podium threat in races like this. Haussler is on the rise after some stage wins in Qatar. Boasson Hagen has the profile to excel on this sort of parcourse as well. I can’t forget Gilbert, either- he’s got some Monument wins to his name and has already tasted success this season. He also has unmatched tactical savvy and has benefited from Tom Boonen bearing the yoke of Belgian’s Classics expectations. When everyone is watching Boonen, Gilbert can attack, and as he’s shown before he doesn’t need much of an opportunity to get away.
I’m really not sure who could pull it off, but I’m going to bet on Gilbert winning, Haussler in second, Boasson Hagen in third, Flecha Fourth and Boonen fifth. That may be way off, but Gilbert has won Het Volk before and he either wins or misses the podium because he gets caught out by the group.
www.ipsaphoto.com |
Dark horses are Andreas Klier, Lief Hoste, Alessandro Ballan and Filippo Pozzato.
Tomorrow’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and the teams that miss the podium in Gent are always aggressive in Kuurne. Depending on how well my predictions work out today I may offer some for tomorrow as well. Of course if I totally blow it then I might very well stop this prediction thing completely.