April is just around the corner, bringing no fewer than three Monuments for both men and women. In addition, the month is packed with other major one-day races like La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race, as well as big stage races like Itzulia Basque Country and Tour de Romandie. Get the full overview below!
The cobbled classics
We are entering the heart of the cobbled classics with the "holy week" where the riders will take on the two cobbled monuments Ronde van Vlaandern (6/4) and Paris-Roubaix (13/4). For the men, all eyes will be on whether Tadej Pogačar can challenge the more traditional classics specialists like Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, and on the women’s side, the question is whether Lotte Kopecky and Elisa Longo Borghini can reclaim their titles once again. But before the riders take on the monuments both the men and women will take on Dwars door Vlaanderen (2/4) where hopefully will not see a big crash like last year!
Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert, Jonathan Milan, Arnaud de Lie and Mads Pedersen are amongst the competitors in this years classics races.
The Ardennes classics
In addition to the cobbled classics, April also marks the start of the Ardennes Classics. One week after Paris-Roubaix (13/4), the action shifts to the hills with Amstel Gold Race (20/4), where Tom Pidcock will fight to defend his title against contenders like Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel. On the women’s side, Marianne Vos will take on rivals such as Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky in her bid for back-to-back victories. Just days later, many of the same riders will battle again at La Flèche Wallonne (23/4), before the final and biggest of the three Ardennes Classics: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (27/4) Marking an end to the classics
Stage races
Beyond the classics, April also offers plenty of action for the male GC riders with two WorldTour stage races. First up is Itzulia Basque Country (7-12/4), where contenders like João Almeida and Mattias Skjelmose will battle for the overall victory. Later in the month, once the classics have concluded, the focus shifts to the Tour de Romandie which will take os in to the months of May where both the men and women will take on their first Grand Tour of the year.
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