2026 Spring Classics Thread

[Dorset Boy]

Hookless rims

 

[Dogtrousers]

Hookless rims

That's what everyone seems to be talking about, but it's not immediately apparent how the shape of the rim has caused every single spoke to break.

Yeah, I know it's probably a case of "for the want of a nail the shoe was lost" and the rims are implicated in the unshipping of the tyre, and the bare rim on cobbles is probably what did for the spokes. But really, it's the failure of all the spokes that really catches the eye.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Hookless rims

We really need this:

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Hookless Hubless rims

Fixed that for you

 

[Blazing Saddles]

Well, he’s still on Le Samyn start list.
WVA that is…..fingers crossed.

 

[Blazing Saddles]

Aaargh…..Kirby is back. 79kms to go and Spring has sprung.
Tiz streams not working for me today, so I am stuck with ad breaks.

 

[matticus]

We really need this:

The nichest of niche references - like it!

 

[phreak]

No MvdP on Saturday. Says it's too hilly now. The usual Pogacar procession then.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The nichest of niche references - like it!

Too nice for me. Enlighten me please.

 

[Animo]

No MvdP on Saturday. Says it's too hilly now. The usual Pogacar procession then.

Is the course much different now to when he won it?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Is the course much different now to when he won it?

They were bemoaning the route changes on GCN - significantly more climbing and less ... er ... strade bianchi.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Yes, I'm not sure what they're aiming for there: 20th century RCS would have flattened the whole thing and added a prologue on the night before.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

They were bemoaning the route changes on GCN - significantly more climbing and less ... er ... strade bianchi.

I thought they were going to shorten it to make it more appealing to people not called Pogacar?

Having checked - it is shorter than last year, and has a little less gravel. I don't see any new climbs added, so I think whatever MVDP is saying is in relation to the last few years rather than this specific edition (still the third longest)

The last three (including this year) are definitely the hardest in recent times, but it was stable for quite a while including the years MDVP and WvA won it. "Profile score" is PCS's calculation of hardness of the parcours - climbs near the end weighted higher than near the beginning etc. It doesn't really matter that much in detail, as it's a consistent measurement* and you can see it gets harder after '23. It doesn't take gravel/cobbles into account - it's literally the profile score.

'26
TBD
Date:07/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (203 km)
Vertical meters:3567
ProfileScore:182
PS final 25k:69

'25
Pog
Date:08/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (213 km)
Vertical meters:3716
ProfileScore:182
PS final 25k:70

'24
Pog
Date:02/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (215 km)
Vertical meters:3669
ProfileScore:185
PS final 25k:71

'23
Pidcock
Date:04/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (184 km)
Vertical meters:3107
ProfileScore:168
PS final 25k:72

'22
Pog
Date:05/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (184 km)
Vertical meters:3107
ProfileScore:167
PS final 25k:71

'21
MVDP
Date:06/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (184 km)
Vertical meters:3072
ProfileScore:159
PS final 25k:69'

'20
WvA
Date:01/08
Stage:| Siena - Siena (184 km)
Vertical meters:3073
ProfileScore:159
PS final 25k:68

'19
Alan Philip
Date:09/03
Stage:| Siena - Siena (184 km)
Vertical meters:2993
ProfileScore:151
PS final 25k:58


*Occasional data quality issues notwithstanding, I think the poor Colombian Jnrs must have had to TT up a couple of hundred kilometers of vertical cliff face or something....

 

[Dogtrousers]

According to this https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cyc...vel-sectors-after-years-of-pogacar-dominance/

When they bumped up the distance and climbing in '24 they also increased the amount of gravel sectors. This years change rolls back the extra gravel but only reduces the climbing a bit. But there's still ~15% more climbing than there was in '23.

What does that all mean? Search me. Wibble.

 

[phreak]

Is the course much different now to when he won it?

His team was saying 25% more climbing.