For Milano-Sanremo and the cobbled classics the future was represented by Peter Sagan. In fact, Sagan has been the future for awhile now, and considering how long he has been in the front row of contenders, it is somewhat incredible that he is only 24. He started winning stages in the Tour of California in 2010, and already has two green jerseys at La Grande Boucle. As we move away from the cobbles, however, we will no longer have impatient commentators wondering when Sagan will win a sufficiently important one-day race to live up to his potential (given the talk comparing him to Eddy Merckx it will be difficult to satisfy everyone no matter what he does), instead, as we head for the punchy hills of the Netherlands and Belgium, the future will be represented by Polish National Champion Michał Kwiatkowski, himself only 23.
Although he is only six months younger than Sagan, as more of an all-rounder, Kwiatkowski does not have the mile-long list of palmarès like Sagan does. Nonetheless his rise is only slow compared to Sagan having finished 11th in the Tour de France last year, and more relevantly finishing fourth and fifth at Amstel and Flèche Wallonne last year. This year he got a big victory by out-kicking Sagan at Strade Bianchi, and, most recently, he finished second to a resurgent Alberto Contador at La Vuelta al País Vasco. So, it is not surprising that he will be getting the nod as the team leader heading into the Ardennes.
Having just had their classics season saved by Niki Terpstra, Kwiatkowski will be leading a strong Omega-Pharma team into the Ardennes with the big engine of Tony Martin to roll through the flats, Zdenek Stybar coming off his tour through the cobbles, and Jan Bakelants coming off a win of Stage 2 in last year’s Tour, followed by a couple days in yellow (incidentally, that day, riding for Radio Shack then, he was the last survivor of the break, holding off the peloton, led in by Peter Sagan and Michał Kwiatkowski, by one second). We will see whether Omega-Pharma will continue being the strongest team, as they were on the cobbles, and whether it will pay off for them. Although, if I were going to start handicapping teams, it would be hard to argue with Astana, led by Vincenzo Nibali, followed by 2012 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Maxim Iglinsky, 2012 Amstel Gold winner Enrico Gasparotto, and Jakob Fuglsang (fourth at Amstel in 2011).
As with the cobbles, we will see whether there will be a changing of the guard, whether one of the wily veterans adds to an already long list of victories, or whether the winner is someone completely unexpected. If the racing is anywhere near as good as it was at Roubaix and Flanders it will at least be a good show, and although Roman Kreuziger snuck away early last year and the finish is now past the summit, the Cauberg will likely have the final say.