Cafe Roubaix

Rider of the week

Paris-Tours, the most underrated Classic in terms of prestige, was won this year by Matteo Trentin, one of the most underrated one-day riders of the current peloton, who found a great way to end his season, during which he raced 78 days, for a total of more than 13 000 kilometers. The 26-year-old cyclist was in a fantastic shape now that the season was reaching its conclusion, with a stage victory in the Tour of Britain, as well as two podiums in Coppa Bernocchi and Gran Piemonte, where he was each time among the most strongest riders in the race.

As always, the 231 km-long Paris-Tours was a fast and eventful race right from the start, with attacks galore and a thrilling finish, which saw a two-man battle between Trentin and Tosh Van Der Sande, after Greg Van Avermaet, the other rider to attack in the group, had a flat tire that took him out of contention. In the end, despite leading out for the last kilometer, the Etixx-Quick Step cyclist still had enough left in the tank to outsprint Lotto-Soudal’s Belgian and score his first win in a one-day race.

Besides the victory he landed on Sunday, Matteo Trentin also received the Ruban Jaune, which rewards the cyclist who records the fastest average speed in a cycling race of over 200 kilometers, this being for the ninth time in history that this honour goes to the winner of Paris-Tours (49,641 km/h in 2015). More important, after confirming he has what it takes to be a protagonist and taste success in the Classics, the Italian could now become one of Etixx-Quick Step’s protected riders for the 2016 Spring campaign, when he could get a chance to confirm last week’s victory by adding a Monument to his growing palmares.

Rider of the week

He’s only 30-years-old, but Vincenzo Nibali already can be regarded as a cycling legend, considering he’s won all three Grand Tours and the Giro di Lombardia, thus becoming only he fourth rider in history to do this feat, following Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. Going into the season’s final Monument with high ambitions and an excellent form, underlined by his recent victory in Tre Valli Varesine, just 24 hours after returning from the Richmond World Championships, the Italian champion was keen on doing everything he could to finally land a victory that has eluded him in the past seasons.

The overwhelming favourite at the start of the 109th Giro di Lombardia, Vincenzo Nibali made an excellent race, especially tactically, and ended his season on a high note, helped by an incredible team of Astana, with Mikel Landa and Diego Rosa ready to chase down every opponent and pull for him on the arduous climbs of a parcours which was dubbed by many as the toughest and the most thrilling in the history of the Classic.

Maybe Nibali wasn’t the best on the uphill, but he surely was by far the best descender in the group, making the most out of his skills once the Civiglio ascent was over, with 16 kilometers to go, and pushing himself to the limit on each hairpin. After giving it all on that terrain and extending his lead to more than 40 seconds, the Astana rider begin to lose some of this chunk on San Fermo della Battaglia, but his victory was still assured, as he entered the last three kilometers with a 15-second advantage over Daniel Moreno.

By winning the “Classic of the Falling Leaves” the way he did, Vincenzo Nibali – who took Italy’s first Monument victory in seven years – showed again his class, because even when on a day he wasn’t the strongest one out there, he was still capable of inventing something to surprise his opponents and take a Monumental triumph, which proved, once again, that he’s the most versatile Grand Tour cyclist of the current peloton.