2025 was another deeply memorable year in the world of professional road racing. Starting in January and ending in October, hundreds of race days provided the scenario for some truly incredible exploits, amongst them crowning new World Champions and deciding six Grand Tours.
It was also a year where the topic of predictability and excitement became a topic of debate. Did Tadej Pogačar‘s dominant form take some of the spice out of the big races, because we could predict he would win? Was the drama of the women’s calendar at times reduced by the near-certainty of a Lorena Wiebes victory on any sprint-friendly course?
Underdogs defy the odds at the Classics
The results sheets for the Spring Classics are, predictably, dominated by names like Mads Pedersen, Lotte Kopecky and Mathieu van der Poel, riders who won impressively but were always expected to be up there. But on two days this Spring, two riders really upset the apple cart.
The first came on the opening day of the Classics season, when Lotte Claes (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and her breakaway companions caught the peloton sleeping, and held off the chase to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. I don’t think anyone in the world had Claes down as their winner of Omloop, and it remains one of the most surprising and special wins of the season, plus the best in the Belgian’s career.
The other came at Dwars door Vlaanderen, when Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) found himself alone against three Visma-Lease a Bike riders, including Wout van Aert, in the finale. Surely there was no way…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…