The Best Week of the Year

My focus this week has unfortunately been on my legal practice. It made me miss Criterium International, which is one of my top ten favorite cycling events. It made me ignore last weekend's great racing in Flanders with both Boonen and Freire having impressive wins. It made me miss the NCAA finals. Yes the law really gets in the way of cycling.

However this next week is the one week of the year that I live for: this Sunday it is the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Wednesday, Ghent-Wevelgem, and next Sunday, Paris-Roubaix. That is like having Christmas, your birthday and your anniversary all in the same week. It is the week you wait for gleefully each year.

So for you neophytes, here is what you need to know about each:

De Ronde Van Vlaanderen: If you are Belgian and you win this race you will not have to buy your self for a beer for a year. If you win it twice you won't have to buy a beer every again. The winner of the Ronde, if he is Belgian is a hero for ever. They have an entire museum dedicated to this single race. While luck is important, the Ronde produces winners who have earned it. There are no flukes here. It is a race of pure aggression where each cobbled hill further reduces the size of the main group. It generally does not end in a sprint.

Ghent-Wevelgem: This is the entertaining intermission next Wednesday. It is the transition to Paris-Roubaix. Not as many of the hills as De Ronde, shorter, crazy stuff likely to happen. It produces great sprint finishes. Mario Cippolini won this race three times, including in 2002 when he bridged to the leaders on his own and outsprinted Americans Fred Rodriguez and George Hincapie.

Paris-Roubaix: If the Ronde is a race of pure aggression, Paris-Roubaix is a race of pure power. Not a single hill on the route. Pan flat. Riders head northeast from Compiègne to the Belgian border and then take a left heading northwest. The cobbled sections are not like in the Ronde where they are well maintained. These are farm roads and alleys. This race requires a monster chain ring, a strong team and a lot of luck.

So, if you have not already done so and you are in the United States, get to Cycling.tv, pay your annual subscription and get ready for the greatest week of the year in cycling.