Watch out for these 13 riders as cobbles season goes full-speed on Friday
- By Neal Rogers
- Published Mar. 21, 2013
- Updated Mar. 21, 2013 at 9:26 AM EDT
Pure sprinters
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step): Though he’s a three-time winner at Scheldeprijs, Cavendish has never won Ghent-Wevelgem; riding for a Belgian team, he’ll aim to win both this year. His ninth-place finish at Milano-Sanremo, which followed four stage wins and the overall victory at the Tour of Qatar, shows that the Manxman is on form again in 2013. Don’t expect him to take the start at Harelbeke, Flanders, or Roubaix, however, as Cavendish will steer clear of the crashes and chaos of the cobbles in order to stay healthy for his main objective come July.
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano): The winner at a wet and wild Scheldeprijs last year, Kittel has won two sprints this year, one at the Tour of Oman and one at Paris-Nice. A poor climber, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Kittel won’t bother with the hellingen of Flanders and will only start the semi-classic around Antwerp, opting to skip Roubaix for the second year running.
FILED UNDER: Analysis / Road TAGS: Classics / E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke / Fabian Cancellara / Filippo Pozzato / Geraint Thomas / Ghent-Wevelgem / Ian Stannard / John Degenkolb / Marcel Kittel / Mark Cavendish / Paris-Roubaix / Peter Sagan / Philippe Gilbert / Scheldeprijs / Sylvain Chavanel / Taylor Phinney / Thor Hushovd / Three Days of Panne / Tom Boonen / Tour of Flanders
Neal Rogers
An interest in all things rock 'n' roll led Neal into music journalism while attending UC Santa Cruz. After several post-grad years spent waiting tables, surfing, and mountain biking, Neal moved to San Francisco, working stints as a bike messenger and at a software startup. He moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 2001, taking an editorial internship at VeloNews. He never left, and is now Velo's editor in chief. When not traveling the world covering races, he can be found riding his bike, skiing, cooking, or attending a concert.