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The Top Classic?
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The Top Classic?
Roubaix
57%
 57%  [ 66 ]
Flanders
28%
 28%  [ 33 ]
Liege Bastogne Liege
7%
 7%  [ 8 ]
Milan San Remo
4%
 4%  [ 5 ]
Tour of Lombardy
1%
 1%  [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 114

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Billy Boy
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:44 am    Post subject: The Top Classic? Reply with quote

Following on from a comment Royston made, which Classic is the most Classic Classic?

Which one is the big daddy of them all?
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legro
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

pointless
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Des
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They each have their own attributes and character, requiring different tactics and efforts by the riders. However I would have to go with La Doyenne or Paris - Rouxbaix
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Billy Boy
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

legro wrote:
pointless


Forgot to add the Melton Skegness Classic.
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Off The Back
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

4 are equal to me, with San Remo just below, but its a great classic season starter.
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Roy Gardiner
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:18 am    Post subject: Re: The Top Classic? Reply with quote

Billy Boy wrote:
Following on from a comment Royston made...
Harmon started it on Sunday banging on about his favourite being Flanders.

Roubaix
Flanders
Liege
San Remo

by Autumn I've kinda lost interest Very Happy

Lombardy
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Last edited by Roy Gardiner on Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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one man army
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder if in 30-40 years there'll be another one-day race that would make a poll like this? Or is that it now, that these monuments have become so engrained that nothing will be able to compete with them?

Maybe L'Eroica could develop into one? Didn't (or maybe still does)Denmark have a one-day race over cobbles?

What was the race just after the tour? was it the GP Zurich? That was alright with good parcours but it went bust.

Certainly the Rochester GP was never going to capture the imagination!
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Megman
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

one man army wrote:
I wonder if in 30-40 years there'll be another one-day race that would make a poll like this? Or is that it now, that these monuments have become so engrained that nothing will be able to compete with them?

Maybe L'Eroica could develop into one? Didn't (or maybe still does)Denmark have a one-day race over cobbles?

What was the race just after the tour? was it the GP Zurich? That was alright with good parcours but it went bust.

Certainly the Rochester GP was never going to capture the imagination!
Zurich was a good race, San Sebastian is also usually good. We rarely get to see Lombardy here, I have only seen it once on ES. As quite a few people here have either seen or ridden (sportif) Flanders or Roubaix we do appear to have a greater fondness for them.

Roubaix for me, there is never a dull race. Other seems to have good and bad editions. Roubaix is always fascinating.
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Rob of the Og
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's the close proximity (time and distance) between Flanders, Roubaix and la Doyenne that really give you the feeling of it being 'classic season'. The Italian races just seem a bit distinct from the northern three, especially now MSR is usually a sprint-fest.

Maybe Züri-Metzgete will return, apparently it ran as an amateur race last year. Sponsors for bike racing are particularly hard to find in the German-speaking world at the moment.

I love the Clasica de San Sebastian, but it's not even 30 years old yet so it's got to find a lot more history before it can be a monument!
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coops
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find the end of MSR is the most exciting finish to any race.
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Hans Datdodishes
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not a 'proper classic', but Het Volk (Nieuwsblad) is one I look forward to cos its like the signal that Winter is over.
Of BBs list, Paris Roubaix every time
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Melton skegness classic as it also tests the stomach, ring, and liver.
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Scalatore
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

one man army wrote:
I wonder if in 30-40 years there'll be another one-day race that would make a poll like this? Or is that it now, that these monuments have become so engrained that nothing will be able to compete with them?

Maybe L'Eroica could develop into one? Didn't (or maybe still does)Denmark have a one-day race over cobbles?

What was the race just after the tour? was it the GP Zurich? That was alright with good parcours but it went bust.

Certainly the Rochester GP was never going to capture the imagination!


Tro Bro Leon in Brittany?

I think these five are untouchable. Anything else will always be the newcomer and, hence, a step down in the pantheon. Amstel Gold's been going since the late sixties and even with a forty year history it's still not quite up there. Great race though even if the course is a little contrived as it weaves back and forth around Limburg - it doesn't have the out and back simplicity of Liege alas.
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one man army
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scalatore wrote:
Amstel Gold's a Great race though even if the course is a little contrived as it weaves back and forth around Limburg - it doesn't have the out and back simplicity of Liege alas.


Point-to-point is the best followed by an 0ut- and-back

A circuit race will struggle to ever become a 'classic'. I can however see why organisers like the simplicity of a smaller loop covered several times.
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Stotti
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Flanders is the one i would guess would have the most beneficial effect on a career. Roubaix a great race but more luck involved.
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tis
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hard to pick a favourite, all are great but Flanders just gets the nod from me.
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Joursans
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Flanders - any race where you see even modern day pro's having to get off and walk bits some years is fairly unique (although to be fair this often knackers the race as a contest if half of them get left behind Rolling Eyes ).

Is Paris Roubaix as "epic" on a sunny day?
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tis
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joursans wrote:
Flanders - any race where you see even modern day pro's having to get off and walk bits some years is fairly unique (although to be fair this often knackers the race as a contest if half of them get left behind Rolling Eyes )
It's great watching them wrestling for position before they turn right onto the Koppenberg, and inevitably the good riders make it to the front.
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AlbertHerring
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm all for variety (bring back Bordeaux-Paris!) but Paris-Roubaix is a bit too sui generis for me to put it at the top, so it would be between Liege and Flanders, with the latter getting the nod for not being owned by ASO.
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Billy Boy
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stotti wrote:
Flanders is the one i would guess would have the most beneficial effect on a career. Roubaix a great race but more luck involved.


How many Roubaix winners have been lucky? Was De Vlaeminck lucky to win it so many times?

Winning Roubaix demands so much of a rider, and one of those things is the ability to ride cobbles, which some riders can do much better than others. This is a skill alongside being able to climb or sprint in my book
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