In praise of the breakaway
The last two races on the UCI WorldTour calendar have provided two clear examples of the excitement wrought by a breakaway of elite riders. Paris-Roubaix briefly offered the mouth watering prospect of Boonen, Cancellara, Wiggins et al rolling into the velodrome at Roubaix to contest victory, and the fact that their final duel was fought for the minor placings mattered little. At the Amstel Gold Race, a similar contempt for the odds among riders who have made a specialty of breaking away added lustre to the run to the Cauberg.
We have dealt already with Greg Van Avermaet’s heroic approach to Spring, and it was little surprise to see him bound forward in response to a move from another arch instigator, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). Of equal interest was the willingness to embrace the long-shot of Jacob Fuglsang (Astana) and Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quickstep).
Their move, however, was the second of the day. The first saw ten riders break clear in the first 15 kilometres, and while such an early assault may have looked doomed ultimately to fail, it spoke volumes for the tenacity of Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Preben Van Hecke (Topsport-Vlaanderen) a rider who showed his relish for the breakaway in the vastly different surroundings of Oman, that they remained ahead until the final ten kilometres.
Bike racing would be as processional as Formula One were it not for the courage of the men prepared to strike out alone or in small parties. Shifting alliances are played out before the television cameras; the politics of the group visible in the division of labour between the markers hoping to slow things for leaders in the peloton and the men who have hung everything on the success of the break. All the intrigue, turmoil, and heroics of the break were on show yesterday at the Amstel Gold Race. We doff our hat to Riblon, Van Hecke, Van Avermaet, Voeckler and their companions.
