Carbon Addiction

Okay, so I’m excited. Are you? The top guys might be in the Middle East this week. But it’s just over a month until the first of the big spring one-day races in Europe, aka the Classics. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, road surfaces and – as 2013 graphically demonstrated – weather patterns. There’s the big four spring Monuments, of course. Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. But there’s also a support cast of great races in the non-stop glut of two-wheeled awesomeness that is March and April in Europe. Will it snow? Probably. Will it rain? Probably. Will it be hot? Probably? Will it be windy? Probably. Will there be more crashes and Flemish flags that you can poke a paper cupful of pommes frites at? Probably. Will anyone be surprised? Not in your life.

Here are the dates. Lock ’em in. 

Milano-San Remo, Italy (circa 1907)
23^rd March 2014

E3 Harelbeke, Belgium (circa 1958)
28^th March 2014

Gent-Wevelgem, Belgium (circa 1934)
30^th March 2014

De Ronde van Vlaanderen (aka Tour of Flanders), Belgium (circa 1913)
6^th April 2014

Paris-Roubaix, France (circa 1896)
13^th April 2014

Amstel Gold Race, Netherlands (circa 1966) – Ardennes Classic
20^th April 2014

La Fleche Wallonne, Belgium (circa 1936) – Ardennes Classic
23^rd April 2014

Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Belgium (circa 1892, the oldest still-running one day race on the planet) – Ardennes Classic
27^th April 2014