While a large crop of the world's best cobblers are occupied in America, those remaining are in the Netherlands for a cobbled classic of their own. They're joined by a collection of sprinters and fighters who also favor their own chances.
The story remains largely the same. This is the milder of the two clashing classics. Fewer cobbles, and fewer hills. Under 200 km. This means that it usually ends up being a faster race than its counterpart. That's why the sprinters come.
Indeed, it was a sprinter who won last season, Kristoffer Halverson, but it wasn't from a mass sprint. He was in the early breakaway and managed to outsprint his remaining counterpart. Then the favorites came home scattered, but close enough together to count as one group. It's certainly not common to have a true mass sprint here, but the winners tend to be the faster classics men who can win from reduced bunches.
Cobbles Favorites
Cob
Spr
Acc
Res
Summerhill
83
70
73
72
Spengler
83
61
70
73
Bewley
81
81
80
73
Teunissen
81
67
69
73
Daniel
80
76
72
76
Vanbilsen
80
72
71
74
Tiller
78
74
73
75
Breen
78
73
72
72
Neilands
78
71
67
73
Polanc
78
67
75
73
Anderberg
78
60
73
76
Kuroeda
77
74
78
73
Two former winners here, the first of whom is the most predictable in any PT or PTHC classic: Sam Bewley. In addition to winning a bajillion monuments, Bewley also won here in 2017. Not surprising, since he has always been one of the best cobblers and sprinters in the world. But in 2017, he actually won from a solo move, just because he could. He also finished 3rd as the first man behind the break last year. He's declined a bit from his peak, but he's still the best suited rider for this race, and as he showed in Roubaix this year, just don't question him.
His long time rival, Danny Summerhill has come here to take the throne. With his skillset as the world's best cobbler, he usually has chosen to race Battenkill on home soil, but he did finish 3rd here in 2016. He's got strong support behind him in Schreurs and Chatarunga, and no doubt he will be looking to tear this race apart and dispose of the fast men before the finish.
It will be a similar strategy for Spengler. He certainly doesn't have Summerhill's track record, but he can match him on the cobbles on a good day, especially when the race isn't too long. That said, he's a very poor sprinter, so he needs to come in alone to have a chance to win. If he can't get some distance, he might be looking at a similar result to 2019, when he made the front group of 12, but finished outside the top 10 in the sprint. He does have Bohli with him, who might be more suited if it stays together.
Teunissen is another cobbler who will want a tough race. He doesn't really have anyone backing him up to do it though, so he'll have to follow wheels. He tends to like to attack anyway though, so maybe that won't be too much of a detriment. Vanbilsen is a tick behind him on the cobbles, but he's even more of a grinder. He's also got a bit better sprint. And while he lacks a top lieutenant, Lierse gives him a bit of support.
Then there's Maxime Daniel. Of the true cobbles specialists, he has the best sprint behind Bewley. He's also got elder statesman Nolf to shelter him deep into the race. His best finish here was 4th in 2019.
Plenty of other contenders as well. Tiller and Breen are two well rounded Norwegians who can adjust to however the race goes. Evonik bring the duo of Neilands and Polanc. Anderberg is an up and coming diesel engine with seemingly endless energy, though he lacks a kick.
Sprinters
Cob
Spr
Acc
Res
Howard
63
82
79
70
Bewley
81
81
80
73
Saber
76
81
79
72
Van Asbroeck
74
80
78
72
Halvorsen
70
80
80
71
Liu
65
80
80
69
Lander
73
79
77
72
Boeckmans
72
79
80
68
Hofstetter
73
77
78
71
Silva
72
77
78
70
Dakteris
72
77
77
70
Kanter
70
77
78
71
Obviously the true favorites here are guys who can also make it over the cobbles, and besides Bewley, there's no one better for that than Saber. He spends a lot of his season competing in mass sprints, but these are the types of races he lives for. If he can hang onto a group of 15 or 20 guys here, he is very dangerous to say the least.
Similar deal for Van Asbroeck, though he's not quite as Saber's level in either discipline. Like the Moroccan, he doesn't have a ton of support thought. At least he's still his team's absolutely leader, and they can try to keep the race calm.
Don't forget the reigning winner though - Halvorsen. Yes, he did win from the break last year, and they're unlikely to let him join it again, but by being one of the final two survivors, he showed that he is more than capable of holding his own in a tough cobbled classic. He'll be eager to back up last year's performance.
It will be much harder for a couple of other sprinters though. Howard is by far than fastest sprinter present, but he lacks any history of success on the cobbles, and the scouting reports don't indicate that has changed. Same goes for Liu of Voyagin, and a host of other secondary guys from teams who don't fancy the cobbled classics much, but must show up to their PTHC band.
Some other names to look out for among the fast men. Lander will lead for Carlsberg, hoping to utilize his power at the end. Boeckmans isn't bad on the cobbles, though he's more known for his acceleration. With Daniel on his team, he can be a backup plan. Hofstetter, Silva, and Kanter will play similar roles.
TVA's last race of the season and he gets to lead in our home Goal race. We will be hoping the race can stay together till the end but that looks unlikely with the kind of startlist that have shown up. We will anyway not be a position to chase and will have to depend on others for the same. Maybe that is for the best though.
Probably should've done it the other way round and sent Per here. Thought about bringing Gaviria but we recon this is one for the attackers. We have a squad ready to do exactly that here.
Liu the most surprising here to have survived the whole way. Looked like Lander was in a good spot, and we got the big bunch at the end we were looking for, but the pure cobblers tended to have a bit more positioning and support given the proximity of the final cobbles section to the finish.
Lander was thereabouts, and 16th isn't too bad. Trentin probably could have done better, but we'll never know. Nice to see Cannister in the break too.
Congrats to Festina and thanks for the report!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Completely missed the preview. Thank you for that, and also of course the report, Nemolito!
Always hope for a more selective race than what we have got the last couple of seasons, and that counts for this edition as well. Though, we did very well having several guys near the front hitting the final cobbles section, and thus, Anderberg in 12th was probably the most we could get from here. Minor placings in 18th, 21st and 32nd is also decent, eventhough it doesn't bring many points.
From an Evonik racing perspective, this was one of my favourite races all season long. Very aggressive and using our depth riders nicely (particularly Stoltz who im sending to these races for years hoping for this kind of performance). Loved it.
Results wise, its okay. Could have been better - especially if one of those Polanc attempts would have stuck but could also be a lot worse.
Congrats to SotD for the win and thank you BBL for the race! I'm incredibly excited for Spengler pulling off third place here. Would never have expected that in a bunch sprint finish like this.
Surprising result at the very top, but congrats nonetheless to SotD! Still, taking away a "sure" win from Bewley feels... strange
Basso scored 2 points for us - the only ones in our 4 cobbled races all season long. Which was about all we could expect, so I'm mainly glad this terrain is over
Teunissen is not a quick sprinter so in this situation going all out on that last sector was probably his best bet. He got 5th in what was pretty much a bunch sprint, so I'm happy.
I think it still shocked me to actually see one of my domestique riders from Greece taking home a huge win. He has 1 single top 10 to his tally so far, so to upset the bunch and actually win - also after the team had been very aggressive throughout was very enjoyable to say the least. I guess this once-in-a-life time experience will be one of the more interesting ones for me.
Rheden GP 
Need a big result.
