Chapeau!

Hats off to the week’s best riders.
The Ardennes and the spring classics are over. Cue sad song. It was a great spring, good racing, dominant performances, surprise performances, and of course disappointing performances.  Let’s take a look back and throw around some props for the most deserving racers of the spring.

Chapeau! to Tom Boonen. He was the clear MVP of the spring. Dominant on the cobbles, the cobbled double, and pretty while doing it. I really enjoyed watching Tommeke race this year and I am looking forward to seeing the Cancellara-Boonen duel next year.

Chapeau! to GreenEDGE. The team had a tremendous inaugural spring season. Simon Gerrans got the team started out by performing well at the Tour Down Under and then won Milan- San Remo, la Classica Primavera. Michael Albasini did what he had to do to win at Cataluyna and then the Albatross soared to a second place finish at Fleche Wallone.

Chapeau! to Astana. The Kazakh based team stole two victories during the Ardennes week. Enrico Gasparratto had the win of his career at Amstel Gold and at La Doyenne, Maxim Iglinsky rode away to take Liege, with the Gas Man taking third.

Chapeau! to Vincenzo Nibali. Nibbles won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race and almost rode away to take la Doyenne. Nibali looks to be one of the favorites going into the remainder of the season. Tour favorite? Maybe- the dude can climb and TT. You know Gregario Forza like his chances.

Chapeau! to Joaquin Rodriguez. El Purito finally got his classics win. It was a dominant win as well. J-Rod rode away from his competitors and showed that at a grade of 20-25%, no one can beat him.  El Purito smoked the competition.

Chapeau! to Peter Sagan, the young star is destined for a classics win someday. Sammy Sanchez, many high finishes, Pais Vasco. Alejandro Valverde deserves a little Chapeau! for his quick start and return from suspension. Although all but absent from the Ardennes, the Green Bullet will likely return to form during the hot summer fun.

Finally, Chapeau! to Team Volpe. What a spring from this team. However, don’t get too comfortable on the top. Gregario Forza is coming!

The Contra-performance of the spring has to go to Mr. Ardennes, Mr. Liege- Phillipe Gilbert. The number 1 overall pick in the Team Wiskota draft was not even close to the level he was at last year. So many expectations and so little results. The season certainly is not over for Phil Gil. He will want a stage win in his home region during le Tour, and is my current favorite to win the Worlds this season.  A second conta-performance goes to the Super-teams. Sky, BMC, and the Shack, with the exception of Quickstep, all failed to meet early season expectations.  Omega Pharma- Quickstep is currently the highest rated team according to UCI points, Chapeau!, but the others are currently rated 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th respectively.

Who did I miss? Who were some of the biggest disappointments thus far? Check back for your weekly Panache! For a breakdown of bad picks, great picks, transfer 1 strategy, and what to expect in the Giro/Cali portion of our season.

Chapeau!