Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Just two days after the conclusion of Milan-San Remo, from March 18th to 24th, came the Catalonia Grand Prix, the third of the seven great stage races of the World Tour.

The race was held in Spain.

Since Pogačar of the UAE Team had announced his race calendar for the year well in advance, the leaders of other teams naturally steered clear of the race.

After all, everyone in the peloton knew that in any multi-day race featuring one of the "Mars People"—with the exception of the Tour de France—they were all just competing for second place.

But no top-tier team is stupid. Nor would any team be foolish enough to send their own star rider just to finish second.

This was especially true when they saw the UAE Team's lineup for the Catalonia Grand Prix. Perhaps angered by Pogačar's mere third-place finish at Milan-San Remo, the team sent a squad that could only be described as a trial run for their Tour de France roster.

Leader: Pogačar

Domestiques: Almeida, Soler, Sivakov, Vine, Domen Novak, Felix Großschartner.

It was obvious that with a lineup so star-studded it was enviable, UAE could have taken this exact squad to the Tour de France and been a top contender for the title.

When Aldag saw that other general classification-focused teams like Vismar, Quick Step, and Ineos were keeping their own stars—Vingegaard, Evenepoel, and Thomas—on the sidelines, he wasn't about to lose his mind or act rashly. He certainly wasn't going to send his own Core Commanders, Roglič and Sindel, just to vie for second place.

So, after some consideration, he decided to use the race for training purposes as well. He appointed Vlasov—who had recently placed fifth overall in the Paris-Nice Stage Race—as the team leader. The rest of the squad was a mix of third-string veterans and new riders, including Lipowitz, Sergio Higuita, Anton Palzer, Frederik Wandahl, Ben Zwiehoff, and Cesare Benedetti.

As for the promising Huang Chong, Aldag certainly had no intention of sending him to be cannon fodder in a race where he knew there was no chance of winning.

The race unfolded much as the World Tour Teams had predicted. At the summit finish of Stage 2, Pogačar put in a small burst of effort on the climb and immediately created a gap. He crossed the finish line 1 minute and 23 seconds ahead of the second-place rider, Mikel Landa of the Quick Step Team, effectively ending all suspense for the overall title.

After that, Pogačar went on to win three more stages—S3, S6, and S7. He single-handedly claimed four stage victories in total and easily secured the overall title with a 3-minute and 41-second lead over the runner-up, Landa.

It's safe to say that, for anyone who wasn't a Pogačar fan, the race was utterly devoid of excitement.

As for Vlasov from the Bora Team, his performance remained consistent. He ultimately finished fourth in the general classification behind Pogačar, Landa, and Bernal of the Ineos Grenadiers Team, earning 220 UCI points.

Although his high ranking looked impressive on paper, he was actually 5 minutes and 56 seconds behind Pogačar. And that was with Pogačar deliberately taking it easy after securing his decisive lead.

This just went to show how vast the gap was between ordinary riders and the "Mars People."

The Bora Team, of course, had no reason to be regretful or dissatisfied with this result.

After all, Vlasov was essentially one of Roglič's domestiques. A top-five finish was already an excellent performance for him.

Meanwhile, during the Catalonia Grand Prix, a series of five one-day races held in Belgium had already kicked off on March 20th.

The races on the 20th, 22nd, and 24th—the Bruges-De Panne Classic, the E3 Classic, and the Gent-Wevelgem Classic, respectively—were a veritable triple-header for tough riders, attracting both classics specialists and sprinters.

For these races, the Bora Team sent out all of its sprinters, including Welsford, Meus, Van Poppel, and Ryan Mullen.

But as expected, these riders were a level below the top-tier sprinters, and they had no real chance of winning.

However, across the three races, their results weren't all bad, though their performance in the E3 Classic was particularly lackluster.

Van Poppel took third place in the Bruges-De Panne Classic, and Meus secured third in the Gent-Wevelgem Classic, earning the team 215 and 325 UCI points, respectively.

As for the winners of these three races, they were, unsurprisingly, all from the two major sprinter teams, Alpecin and Trek. The victories went to Philipsen and van der Poel of Alpecin, and Pedersen of Trek, in that order.

After this triple-header, two more one-day races remained: Crossing Flanders and the Tour of Flanders.

These two one-day races were significantly different from the previous three, as they featured far more climbs.

In particular, the routes included many of Belgium's famous cobbled sections (also known as "washboard roads") paired with short, steep climbs—the most exciting and defining feature of the Classics.

However, the fourth race, Crossing Flanders, is considered more of a warm-up for the Tour of Flanders—one of the five Monuments of cycling—and is somewhat similar in that regard to the Milan-Turin Race.

The course is shorter, and the teams' rosters are generally not as star-studded.

Of course, Aldag had already finalized his roster for the last two one-day races.

Huang Chong, who had been training with the team in Belgium, had not been given a spot in the first three races because the terrain didn't suit him. However, as expected, he was included in the lineup for the final two.