The 6th Monument

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

pretty hard criterium.

^^
S-B can't be a monument, Italy has two, and thus this can never happen

 

[Barrus]

In every post you try to provoke the dutch maffia. It's too obvious
Your text should be "It's hard to fit in a interesting cycling race into Holland"
That would be true since the only place we got hills is in the province Limburg and that's where the AGR is.

Allthough it would be nice to have a race in the province Zeeland crossing the sea several times in March during a storm!

It's true though that AGR could never become an monument.

This is exactly what I was thinking about. We don't have a windy classic yet. We should get on it, that way we can also have 2 monuments

 

[Bike Boy]

Arghh Didn't see the last option until it was too late.
So there you have it, I voted Fleche

 

[The Hitch]

oh yeah, I propose we cut the giro and vuelta down a few notches too. perhaps two weeks for each? just to make clear that there is only one tour.

best post eva

are you being sarcastic?

 

[Throbbobank]

Personally I'd vote Donostia-Donostia for several reasons:

1. Basque country
2. Timing - just after the Tour and interesting to have a mid-season Monument
3. Parcors - this is no flattish run with a small climb or two in the last 50Km to spice things up - if you doubt it, take yer bike to Gipuzkoa and have a ride
4. Palmares - although newish, the list of winners is shaping up nicely - LLS winning over AV and CS this year showed that when the hard men come out to play there's no chance of a bunch finish....though...
5. Unpredictible - early August in San Seb is quite lovely when the sun is out, but, this is the Bay of Biscay and the weather can turn horrendous - the year I watched it Florencio won in a smallish bunch sprint
6. Spectator Value - If you can find a nicer place to be to watch the riders sign on, zip off to watch them crest a climb then be back for the finish please let me know - hell, if the weather is nice you can even spend a pleasant hour or two sunbathing on one of the most fantastic City beaches on the planet at La Concha

All in all, not a Monument yet but I think higher up the list of future possibles than most

 

[Parrulo]

are you being sarcastic?

ofc i am lol

 

[Echoes]

1 sprinter monument(MSR), [...] there are 2 cobbles monuments. the balance already sounds perfect

Merckx won Milan Sanremo for a staggering record 7 times ! He was not a sprinter. Not more so than Cancellara or Gilbert.

Do people here really see Fleche and AGR as classics? In my mind they are semi-classics

Nobody with any clue about cycling history will consider the Arrow as a semi-classic.

OK it capitalized on the Desgrange-Colombo status in the 50's to get an international field but it joined it in 1948 and Liège in 1951. Until the 70's, the Arrow's palmarès is way better than Liège.

Amstel is no glorified criterium coz it was huge climbs and Dutch Limburg is a great place to cycle. Yet I don't like this race. Having an extra-sport sponsor as name is something I show little regard for. It's MUCH younger than the Flèche and capitalized on the Superprestige then on the World Cup and then on the PT.

I also hate the fact that these races now have an uphill finish. Mostly the Amstel coz all its best climbs are in the final 20kms.

For me a classic is a race that did not capitalize on a special multi-race challenge to get international field.

So basically: Paris-Roubaix, Milan Sanremo, Lombardy, Paris-Tours, Paris-Brussels, the two deceased Bordeaux-Paris and Paris-Brest-Paris. You can also argue about Liège, Flèche, Ghent-Wevelgem and Flanders. Or even Zurich.

And certainly things like San Sebastian or whatever. These races were/are nothing without World Cup/PT. Spain and even the Basque country have a great tradition in stage races, they don't need "artificial" one-day classics.

 

[theyoungest]

Amstel is no glorified criterium coz it was huge climbs and Dutch Limburg is a great place to cycle. Yet I don't like this race. Having an extra-sport sponsor as name is something I show little regard for.

You must hate the Belgian football league then. If an intra-sport sponsor (whatever that may be) want to sponsor such a big race, they're more than welcome to do so, but in the mean time we'll have to do with Amstel Gold.

 

[ultimobici]

I voted for the status quo. 5 is enough, and the more there are the less prestigious the collective group is.

However, if - and it's a BIG if - there is to be a race elevated to monument status, the Amstel Gold Race is the one I'd pick.

Although it is only 45 years old next season it is a race with a fascinating history. Started by a couple of guys, one of whom was a failed DS, who managed to stage it despite stuffing up everything! The race has had a different winner each year for the last 30 years and there isn't a single fluke winner in there since the beginning. Pretty much every spring classics hardman of the last 40 years is there.

The others -

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - We have the Ronde
Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - As above
Montepaschi Strade Bianchi - Still too young but one day maybe
Gent Wevelgem - See KBK
Fleche Wallone - We have LBL
San Sebastian - Too soon after Le Tour and 40km too short
Paris Tours - Has had so many course changes and name changes it doesn't know what day of the week it is. Also, although it first ran in 1896, it only started properly in 1906.

 

[Matthijs]

I also hate the fact that these races now have an uphill finish. Mostly the Amstel coz all its best climbs are in the final 20kms.

Actually they cycle some climbs 2-3 times. Not exactly the same as in a crit-type race because they take some with a different aproach, making the riders who didn't check the route very well crazy.
But, uphill finishes have to be there in modern cycling. MSR wasn't a sprinters fest, PT eather, but especially the first is only once in a while won by breaks on the poggio. In the old days races just weren't controlled like now for 300k. So to stay on the same excitement-level routes have to be changed to the modern standerds a little...

 

[Pantani_lives]

I think the current quality of the Amstel and Paris-Tours is about the same as the five "monuments" They're just not as old as the other five.