Captaining The Classics
WORDS: TOM OWEN
IMAGES: HONOR ELLIOTT
The classics have arrived. Opening weekend is upon us, and with that we begin a concentrated run of intense competition in one-day races. As a small team, nearly every member of our squad will be in action at some point throughout the spring, with the large number of races leading to both high fatigue and also a broad variety in the types of course, and the talents needed to perform well.
To put it another way, the perfect racer for the pavé of Paris–Roubaix has different strengths to the one who will come out victorious in the climber-friendly Volta Limburg.
Of course, some of our team will be in action more than others and for the likes of Majo van’t Geloof and Jesse Vandenbulcke – who together will be leading our classics effort from the front – the secret to a successful spring is consistency.
“It’s all about steady results, several times in the top ten, having two or three podiums,” Jesse explains.
Majo is of the same mind, “Maybe even a win. We can dream! That’s what we want to try to do.”
At 25 and 26 respectively, Majo and Jesse are a long way from being over the hill, but they are also immensely experienced – particularly when it comes to the grim and gritty nature of classics racing.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
This is a unique part of the season with races that have been run over the same or very similar routes for decades. In some cases the men’s versions of the races we’ll be competing in have been using a similar parcours for a century. As such, experience and knowledge of the roads becomes invaluable. Both Jesse and Majo took part in our Omloop course recon this week, a perfect opportunity to convey some of that they have learned from past editions.
“It’s really nice to be able to share that and strengthen the team as a whole,” says Majo. “We’re not trying to ‘teach’ the others, but share all our knowledge of the courses; the way it has been ridden before, and how the race has been defined in the past.”
Jesse is not worried about the fitness of the squad going into the first classics races, and even if she were, there is only so much one rider can do to mitigate that sort of problem for another. Instead, she is focusing on what she can help with.
“Throughout the team, the physical level is really good, but the experience needs to come from us. It’s our job if we know a point where the wind will blow hard, to warn the others that they are too far in the back.
“Also, if there are dangerous parts of the course – just sharing that with the girls. ‘Ride the left side of the road here’, ‘you can cut the corner on this turn’, that sort of thing.”
“We can even do that beforehand,” adds Majo. “Talking through scenarios, ‘there are attacks here often’, or maybe there have been crashes at a certain point on the course. Those little things – learning about the competition – that’s really important for us to share.”
It can be a tricky position for a leader on the road, if other riders don’t want to be led. Luckily for Jesse that’s not a problem.
“Everyone [on this team] really wants to learn this stuff as well – when you’re a captain that’s really nice.”
To which Majo adds.
“Yeah, we make each other better and better.”