The Cobbles Season is well underway, and we head to the UK next for the East Midlands Cicle Classic. Known locally as Britain's version of Paris - Roubaix, the riders will tackle England's Hell of the North around Rutland and the East Midlands.

	Fl	Cob	Sp			Fl	Cob	Spr
Bewley	78	83	83		Nolf	74	80	63
Summerhill	78	83	70		Daniel	73	79	76
Burghardt	78	83	68		Trentin	74	79	75
Van Avermaet	78	82	78		Fenn	72	79	70
Blythe	76	82	76		Veelers	74	78	76
Senechal	75	82	69		Ringheim	72	78	73
Vanspeybrouck	76	82	67		Van Keirsbulck	72	78	70
Kamyshev	77	82	66		David	74	78	70
Altur	75	80	72		Albert	75	78	63
Vanmarcke	76	80	70		Vandenbergh	76	78	62

Looking over the list of favourites, it is the usual suspects on the start line in Empingham. Winner of the last three editions Sam Bewley will be looking to make it four in a row, and following rides at the Omloop, K-B-K and San Remo, who would bet against him. The man is on fire, and Roman is more than happy with his contribution to the Becherovka's points total so far in the PT standings.

Danny Summerhill has been the dominate force in PCT, but in the PT races he has been left lacking. A flatter race does benefit him, so expect him to be towards the front contesting the win. Runner-up at the Omloop, Greg Van Avermaet will be wanting to get the bettering of Bewley to take the win here, and the same can be said for Burghardt, who finished 3rd on the day. The former has never really placed well in the race over the last few years, whilst the latter has never been higher than 4th (2013).

Behind them, there are a handful of riders who will be needing to do a lot better than how they currently have been so far this year. Senechal took 4th at the Omloop, but struggled at K-B-K, whilst the likes of Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Vanmarcke will be looking for much improved rides.

Kamyshev, Vandenburgh and Nolf must be looking for their respective teams to make the race hard for everyone else, as their sprinting ability and acceleration will not favour them in a bunch sprint against many of the other favourites, so if they are allowed to control the race, expect fireworks.

All I can say those is one thing - if the Omloop Het Niewsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne is anything to go by, it will be one hell of a race on the UK cobbles.

2015	Sam Bewley	Becherovka - Petrof
2014	Sam Bewley	Becherovka - Kiwibank
2013	Sam Bewley	Milka - AVG
2012	Tom Boonen	Nestlé Cycling Team
2011**	Luke Rowe	Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2010**	Oscar Freire	Nokia-Nike

****As CTour Race

SotD wrote:
You know what would be cool? A double header in the cobbles, so we dont see the same startlist 7 times. The hilly/GC riders are often spread out and makes the off season exciting. The cobblers are no brainers and you know exactly how your riders should be expected to do before the season and can easily measure up once the season is over. Riders like Bewley, GVA and Cancellara can obviously be spent differently, but 9/10 cobblers cant be expected to score decent anywhere else - so perhaps putting two cobbled races on the same date would be something to try for the future...