Subscribe to Cyclingnews for an all-access pass to our unrivalled Spring Classics coverage

When we think of history, culture and tradition, no part of professional cycling exudes these values as much as the Classics. The earliest of these iconic one-day races stretches back to the late 1800s, over a decade before the first Tour de France, and they have remained steeped in this history right up to the modern day, with this year’s editions ready and waiting to be written into cycling’s almanacks.

While the Grand Tours have their coloured jerseys, what symbolises much of the Spring Classics is something rather less glamorous. The cobble. Yet for what it lacks in eye-catching beauty, it makes up for in bone-shaking and brave bike racing; the kind that can only be found on northern Europe’s pavé.