The spring classics are here – and the road.cc Podcast is hitting the road. Or the narrow, treacherously cobbled and ridiculously steep Flemish lane, to be exact.

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Yes, this spring we’ve set ourselves the somewhat lofty aim of traversing every part of Belgium and northern France during the classics season, covering every town centre, rural lane, cobbled berg, bus-filled car park, and stretch of brutal pavé.

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne marching band
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne marching band (Image Credit: Ryan Mallon)

I’ll be wielding a mic and soaking up the unique atmosphere, sounds, and culture of the best period of the entire cycling year, in one of the sport’s true heartlands, where bike racing seeps into everyday life, and (hopefully) giving you some behind-the-scenes insight into the classics and their stars.

So expect a lot of booming techno tunes, early-morning beers, rain, wind, fighting for position, frites and mayo, slippery stretches of steep cobbles, marching bands in retro cycling gear, and… errr, Status Quo tribute acts – at least judging by the choice of post-team presentation entertainment favoured by the organisers of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Whatever you want, whatever you like… I’ll get my coat.

Cat Ferguson, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026
Cat Ferguson, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026 (Image Credit: Ryan Mallon)

And earlier this month, I kicked off the road.cc Podcast’s classics campaign, naturally, in Flanders at Opening Weekend.

At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Mathieu van der Poel and Demi Vollering both laid down ominous markers for their 2026 campaigns, while Britain’s latest wonderkid Matthew Brennan confirmed his status as one of cycling’s hottest talents by winning his first classic in emphatic fashion the following day in Kuurne.

> “We can’t expect him to follow Tadej at the Tour of Flanders”: Visma-Lease a Bike urge caution after Matthew Brennan’s classics breakthrough – but believe British wonderkid can win cycling’s biggest races

It was no surprise, then, that Brennan’s Visma DS Grischa Niermann was in a good mood when I stopped him, unopened novelty-sized bottle of beer under his arm, outside the team’s big yellow bus following the 20-year-old’s win.

Between all the frenetic racing, I also chatted to Irish star Lara Gillespie, Picnic-PostNL duo Josie Nelson and Mia Griffin, Unibet Rose Rockets’ Irish champion Rory Townsend, and NSN classics man Lewis Askey about their plans for the season and their thoughts on the raft of road safety measures introduced by the UCI over the past year.

Have wider bars and shallower wheels made road racing safer? Well, judging their responses, it’s safe to say the jury’s still out on that one.

Frites and mayo, Geraardsbergen
Frites and mayo, Geraardsbergen (Image Credit: Ryan Mallon)

Since it was Opening Weekend, I had to make a pilgrimage to what is in my book cycling’s holiest place, the Muur van Geraardsbergen – where Van der Poel took flight and Vollering and Niewiadoma barged shoulders, Anquetil and Poulidor style – before I consumed an unholy amount of frites and beers later that evening…

When in Flanders, after all.

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