Before the race has even left the streets of Brugge, we put a tactical move into play. Flaksis attacks, with Kwiatkowski among those following.
To our delight, the move is successful. Six other riders make the junction, but none as strong on the cobbles as Kwiatkowski or even Flaksis.
On the first hellingen, some 100 kilometers later, a second group - solely made up of strong cobblers - break away too. Among them Paiani, who actually didn't intend to join, but sat in a good position and was dragged along.
The other names are Ladagnous, Mourey, Boasson Hagen, Gatto, Degenkolb and Gallopin.
Paiani is having a very bad day, unfortunately. He struggles on every hill and cobbled section, but fights back and is still hanging on when the two breakaway groups merge with 90 km to go.
The peloton is around six minutes down the road.
The leaders stay together for over 40 kilometers, but eventually breaks down on the first of two ascents of the Oude Kwaremont.
Kwiatkowski is the only member from the first breakaway to follow, alongside everyone from the second break except Paiani.
The Paterberg doesn't change much at all, but things are starting to happen in the peloton when they reach the Koppenberg a little while later. Pozzato accelerates, and opens a gap together with Gaudin, Boom, Vanmarcke, Turgot and Paolini.
Back at the front, the group starts to slim down. Mourey and Gallopin are dropped, while Boasson Hagen suffers from an unlucky mechanical.
The high speed's next victim is sadly Kwiatkowski. The long distance up front finally overwhelms him on the Hotond.
Not that it really matters. Cancellara, Vanmarcke and Pozzato are catching up with the leaders, meaning that the victory is out of reach anyway.
The trio link up with Degenkolb, Gatto and Ladagnous just before the final climb of Oude Kwaremont. Kwiatkowski is the closest pursuer, with Boonen, Sagan and Kristoff a little further back.
Surprisingly, the Kwaremont doesn't do anywhere near as much damage as expected to the leading group. Ladagnous is admittedly struggling near the end, but the six are still more or less together!
It's clear that Cancellara is determined to change that fact. After pacing up the entire Kwaremont, he also leads the way up Paterberg.
Still no clear gaps at the top, however. Every single rider in the group - Cancellara included - seems to be on their absolute limit!
Desperate to get rid of the fast Degenkolb, Cancellara continues his attack on the descent - and gaps are appearing!
Vanmarcke manages to stay with the Swiss machine, but the rest have lost contact when the road flattens out. Pozzato is only a few meters back, but is finding it incredibly hard to close the gap.
With three kilometers to go, he finally succeeds. Looks like we're set for a three-way sprint for the victory.
Determined to prevent more riders from re-entering the group, Cancellara opens a long sprint with 1500m to the finish.
Vanmarcke is finished, but Pozzato still seems to have something in the tank, as he tags onto Cancellara's wheel under the final kilometer-kite.
Here he comes!
An amazing comeback, but it's not enough. Cancellara gets his revenge for last year's failure, by winning his second Ronde van Vlaanderen!
4th for Degenkolb, who easily defeats Ladagnous and Gatto in the sprint. Their long-range attack really payed off, even though they missed the win.
Sagan and Kristoff are the next to finish, dumping Boonen in the sprint after he did almost all the work in the trio. Stybar takes 10th behind these, but OPQS are probably everything but happy with the outcome.
Around three minutes later, the day finally ends for an exhausted Kwiatkowski. He gets passed by many riders in the end, but hangs on to a very good 19th place - ahead of several far more qualified classics specialists.
Not bad considering he is only 73 Cobble I think? Not sure.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
A good attacking race from Kwiatek, he was unlucky not to finish higher in the end, with so many passing him on the line. Showing some good strength which is promising moving towards the Ardennes and the Tour.
Cancellara was lucky not to be beaten, not the smartest tactics by towing his rivals to the line. Luckily he had taken the sting out of their legs. Great report Pelli!
Great report - the tactics were there but unfortunately Kwiatek couldn't quite keep up - a good result nevertheless. at Cancellara pacing at the front all the way from the Kwaremont and still winning in the sprint.
Woah, what a stage, and very great report (worthy of the Ronde). Kwiatkowski with a very brave effort and a 19th place is very nice, still has a lot to learn though. Same goes apparently for Pagaini, who disappointed today. Cancellara very strong and Omega Pharma may have been the Movistar of cobblestones today, meaning they messed it up.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
What a race! Clever move in the morning by Kwiat, Flaksis and later on Paiani. The team really showed initiative, and made the race far less predictable. 19th is fine, judging from the outcome of the race.
Pity for Pozzato, but Cancellara is just a beast! No tactics, just pushing as hard as possible
Thank you so much for all the nice comments, and also for the nominations in the awards!
547984 - Correct, he's 73 COB
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Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco April 1st-6th, 2014
'The season of climber-friendly routes' continues with yet another race parcours that's more difficult than usual. Three summit finishes and two stages with tricky climbs near the finish join the traditional ending time trial in this year's Pais Vasco.
Really no reason to even show up for those who don't enjoy climbing and can't time trial!
Peter Sagan will start with bib #1 after rushing over here from a relatively invisible performance in the Ronde. He did of course get a fairly good result in the end, but never looked capable of challenging for the win. With two stages bordering between hilly and mountainous, he might be looking at a repeat of what happened in Paris-Nice earlier. A stage win is certainly possible, though.
Meanwhile, Nairo Quintana and Diego Ulissi (among others) come from a strong Volta a Catalunya last week. They are also accompanied by some protagonists from Tirreno: Vincenzo Nibali, Roman Kreuziger and Michal Kwiatkowski. With the exception of the latter - who rode yesterday's Ronde van Vlaanderen - they have taken it quite easy recently and may not be in the best of form.
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: Stage 1 April 1st, 2014
The profile doesn't look very tough, but we might in fact see the GC contenders testing their opponents already today. The top of the 2nd category Alto del Garate (2.9 km at 6.8%) is reached within the final ten kilometers of the race, so an attack on that ramp could certainly be successful.
The early breakaway was made by Javier Francisco Aramendia, Dennis Vanendert and Pierre Cazaux. Cazaux - being Basque - did everything in his power to claim the KoM jersey for a day, but eventually came short to Aramendia by a single point's margin.
Around the final intermediate sprint - just before the start of Alto del Garate - they are brought back to the main peloton. Immediately, a new move is launched by a much stronger rider: Rui Costa
It seemed like a pointless attack at a poorly chosen moment at first, but a strong Costa fends off the chasing field impressively and starts Alto del Garate some 30 seconds in front of everyone else.
Unwilling to wait for an ineffective Movistar train to bring the Lampre rider back, Kwiatkowski starts hunting as soon as the gradient increases.
Despite the acceleration, Costa stays in the lead over the summit. Kwiatkowski, Nibali, Gilbert and Betancur are his closest pursuers.
A complete lack of cooperation between the members of the quartet causes them to be re-absorbed by the peloton shortly after the descent begins.
Costa on the other hand, remains 30 seconds ahead with 4 km to the finish.
It looked like a complete waste of energy, but Rui Costa knew exactly what he was doing. The Portuguese rider claims solo victory on this opening stage!
Behind, Gilbert and Kwiatkowski sprint clear for 2nd and 3rd - and a new gap is registered between them and 4th placed Betancur.
All other notable riders, with the exception of Mikel Nieve, finish together.
Gora Kwiatkowski! The gap to Costa is okay, nothing to worry about for overall classification so far. Real strong performance by Kwiatkowski alongside Gilbert and Costa. Great to see that Cazaux got a chance to claim KoM jersey, but unfortunate that he just missed out by a point.
Nieve losing time on the first stage, not good though.
EDIT: And congratulations to nomination for story of the year. This story is pure quality, definitely one of the best on this board. Edited by Shonak on 08-01-2014 20:22
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
547984 - It's the biggest reason I love bigggassi's stages!
Cycleman - Highest settings on everything, light and satured filtering plus a bit of manually added sharpness to the screens.
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Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: Stage 2 April 2nd, 2014
After last year's exciting finish in here in Trapagaran, the Vuelta returns - trying out a different road into the town. It's nowhere near as steep as the previous one, but instead offers almost ten kilometers of climbing. The average gradient is admittedly 'only' 6.2%, however.
Costa impressed yesterday, but how will he hold up on a long climb like this? Keeping the leader's jersey wont be easy for him, but it's definitely possible.
None of the three riders who spent the opening stage as part of the long breakaway were part of today's escape group. Aleksandr Kolobnev, Karol Domagalski, Ben Hermans and Mathieu Sprick go on the attack instead.
They stay away for points at the first three climbs, making Hermans the new King of the Mountains leader. That's the end though, since Igor Antón, Esteban Chaves and Francesco Bongiorno come across and quickly go past them after attacking on the first ascent of La Lejana - 50 km from the finish.
In the peloton, it's clear that several riders have been inspired by Costa's seemingly poorly timed attack on the flat yesterday. World champion Betancur attack on the rolling terrain just before the start of the final climb; marked by Costa's team mate Ulissi, Quintana, Nibali and Kelderman.
The move brings an end to the breakaway, by shutting down the two last remaining members - Antón and Bongiorno - but fails to accomplish much more. Or well, they do get to begin the final climb a few seconds ahead.
Already on the very lowest slopes, Kwiatkowski, Kreuziger and Vandenbroeck come across thanks to a big acceleration from Koretzky.
Hesjedal, Kelderman, Schleck, Weening, Contador and the yellow jersey soon follow in those footsteps - increasing the size of the group to 14 riders.
Too many for some riders' liking, surely. Hesjedal makes his way to the front and puts in an acceleration.
He catches most of his rivals off guard, and actually manages to create a gap. Quintana and Vandenbroeck are the first to start chasing, and when they too gain a few meters, all eyes turn to Costa.
With the exception of Quintana shedding Vandenbroeck and joining Hesjedal, the situation stays the same way for the next few kilometers.
Finally, Kwiatkowski makes the awaited next move, 2.5 km away from the finish. Costa is forced to chase once again.
This time he can't do it, however. Costa pops and has to sit up, while Kwiatkowski links up with Vandenbroeck a little up the road.
Further ahead, Quintana tries to prevent Kwiatkowski from catching up by digging in with a new attack.
Hesjedal is unhitched in a matter of seconds, and Quintana disappears in the distance inside the final kilometer. With an absolutely insane acceleration, he blows everyone else out of the water and grabs the stage!
Hesjedal is 2nd, already more than half a minute down. Kreuziger also gains a few seconds with a late jump, passing Kwiatkowski - who falters towards the end and falls back into the group of favourites that Costa unfortunately just about hangs on to the back of.
Schleck, Betancur and Weening are on the other hand shed in the final kilometer, while Kelderman lost contact earlier on the climb.
Gesink is the first of those who missed the attacks at the bottom of the final climb, to finish. Along with Talansky, Spilak, Fuglsang and a few other pre-race favourites, he loses a truckload of time today.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Ronde van Vlaanderen
at Cancellara pacing at the front all the way from the Kwaremont and still winning in the sprint. 
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
The gap to Costa is okay, nothing to worry about for overall classification so far. Real strong performance by Kwiatkowski alongside Gilbert and Costa. Great to see that Cazaux got a chance to claim KoM jersey, but unfortunate that he just missed out by a point. 
