We have made it! The 2024 road season is technically underway, and I’m excited for another dramatic racing season. Why technically? Although the season has started with the Santos Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race already completed I’m not sure I include those as MY start to the racing season. That distinction is given to the Belgian race Omloop Nieuwsblad. The beginning of the Spring Classics marks the beginning of the racing season for me.

But it doesn’t matter what I think as the calendar reigns supreme when it comes to calendaring.

Top 5 Things I’m Looking Forward To

1. The Spring Classics
   •  Not to continue the overuse of this saying in America but the Spring classics represent “Any Given Sunday.” There shouldn’t be any “pre-race favorites” because the parcourse are all so daunting and riddled with obstacles and potential mechanicals and crashes, that you need equal amounts of fitness and luck. But I am hella stoked on Campaernaets from LottoDsty and can’t wait to see what he does in the Spring Classics. Right now he’s slated to run Omloop and Paris-Nice so I will definitely be watching those! *WarnerBros/Discover whispers something in my ear.*                                                                                                          Oh… I’m sure highlights 24 hours later will be fine… But anyway! For the last year, I have wanted nothing more than to see Alison Jackson return to Paris-Roubaix. You will learn as you read my blog that Paris-Roubaix is far and away my favorite race. And last year’s Women’s Classic had it all! Between Alison Screaming at the breakaway to work harder and them ALMOST being caught at the velodrome entrance. Then Alison just gave it everything she had, bodies were flying everywhere, I had a trident and killed a man like a lot of things happened at that moment. And it ended with one of the most beautifully cringe dances ever performed. WIN IT AGAIN ALISON!!!!!!!
2. Mark Cavendish’s Last(?) Tour
   • Will Cav break Eddie Merckx’s record? I don’t think so… the tour is extremely difficult in 2024 and the peloton is just more crowded than ever with talent. But if anybody can do it, it’s the Manx Missile! Maybe a second lead out by G???? I know that was a once-in-a-lifetime event but man… it was powerful. I don’t think that Cav’s gonna be able to pull it off but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be yelling my head off at every tour spring stage in ’24. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET HIM WIN ONE MORE!
3. A Less Competitive Visma-LAB Team
   • Wait what? Holden is hoping for a less successful Visma LAB??? Yep. First off I love Roglic as a person and rider but not as a teammate. I think he is too much of a liability on the bike. The stat of “He’s podiumed every GT he’s finished” loses it’s luster when he’s crashing out of races left and right. But… That doesn’t take away the fact that he wins a lot of races. I think Bora-Hansgrohe are doing a good job at building a team and I think they’re only stronger with him. With the Soudal/Visma merger not happening, Remco is still up there as a very compeititive rider (more on that later…)of course we still have Tadej Pogačar proving he’s a generational talent. Uijterbroeks, Ayuso, Almeida, Tarling, maybe Voss(?), we have a lot of young talent that we don’t even know what their ceilings look like. I think this year’s going to be a much more competitive peloton, and I’m excited for it!
4. Remco’s Last Chance to Prove He Can Win a Grand Tour
   • I’m not going to go in-depth here, because it’s important to me to keep this blog positive. But when do we officially say that all Belgians ride alike (Lotte Kopecky excluded – see number 5 – editor), and he’s a 1 day – 1 week race killer and just call it that? That’s not a bad thing to be! Wout Van Aert is fantastic company to have.
5. The Continued Evolution Of Lotte Kopecky
   • I’m on PCS (https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/lotte-kopecky) and honestly? Her 2023 season is almost like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl. I’ll sum it up with this… She won everything, and when she didn’t she podiumed, and when she didn’t she got top 8. Grand Tour point jerseys, classics, one week races… the whole shebang. She won Stage One of last year’s tour after a grueling climb. Did anybody else know she could do that? Especially right as SD-Worx came out saying that they don’t want her training climbs. I mean okay… but you may have the best all-arounder on your team in the history of the sport. SHE GOT SECOND IN GENERAL CLASSIFICATION IN THE TOUR!!! She isn’t supposed to be doing this, but she is and I swear to God if anybody reminds her she’s doing the impossible and she stops… I’m fighting you in public.