Velo Magazine — June 2014

Cobbles, chaos, Cancellara — it must be the classics season.

The spring classics concluded with some nail-biting moments full of surprise, and in some cases, predictability. With Niki Terpstra’s victory at Paris-Roubaix and Fabian Cancellara’s 12th consecutive podium, the spring classics brought the most volatile, exciting, and brutal racing of the year. The June issue of Velo goes inside the races to give a comprehensive breakdown of what took place in the 2014 classics.

There’s no clear answer as to which rider had the best classics season. And this is precisely why it was such an exciting year. Paris-Roubaix, the coveted “Queen of the Classics,” lived up to its reputation, throwing a number of capricious elements at the riders where Niki Terpstra ultimately prevailed. With no guaranteed outcome in any of the classics this year, it was surely one of the most thrilling in recent memory. We take a look inside each of them.

“The Moment of Truth,” by editor-in-chief Neal Rogers, dissects the final 10 kilometers of Paris-Roubaix. The eleven riders that found themselves in the break after 247km of racing were some of the race favorites, such as Tom Boonen and Cancellara, but how did they all get there? Profiling the eleven different riders, each shares how they arrived to the moment and why they wouldn’t, or couldn’t, chase after Terpstra.

Managing editor Chris Case breaks down the winners and losers of the entire classics season, in “Highs and Lows, Cobbles and Bergs,” a comprehensive dissection of everyone’s performance from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“Don’t Call it a Comeback,” by senior writer Matthew Beaudin, profiles Phillipe Gilbert’s 2014 success at Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold. While Gilbert swept the Ardennes in 2011 — only the second rider to ever achieve such a feat — he fell backwards in the next two seasons, until 2014. Gilbert may have already made an exceptional name for himself in the sport, but he’s not done yet.

The men’s peloton wasn’t the only one battling the cobbles this classics season, and with an American woman standing on the podium, it was a result not to be overlooked. Lauren Hall rode to an impressive win at the women’s Gent-Wevelgem. We take a look across the women’s spring classics season.

Caley Fretz and Logan VonBokel kicked the tires, so to speak, on four endurance road bikes including the Cannondale Synapse, Bianchi Infinito, Calfee Manta Pro, and Orbea Avant M10. The comprehensive test, on the road and in the lab, revealed that the endurance bike category is only improving with age.

Pick up a copy of the June 2014 issue of Velo at your local bookstore or bike shop and prepare yourself for the rest of the season after an exciting spring.