I wanted to get this episode up before Omloop- the first European One-Day Classic this coming Saturday.

Indeed, it’s Spring Classics time and as always, I turn to my bike racing expert, Joe Lindsey, the managing director of Escape Collective, for his knowledge and insights.

Interestingly enough, as many times as we’ve spoken over the years, it never occurred to me to define certain terms until now! Duh! 

And so, we begin this early spring conversation with a few definitions such as – what is a classic?  Which races are termed Monuments and what does that mean? And, why are the cobbled races so difficult?

And, why hasn’t Tadej Pogacar won all 5 of the Monuments? Which women should we watch? And how about the exciting 4th place TdF finisher Oscar Onley?  What’s he up to for 2026?

We chat about team rider changes, bad-fan behavior, and whether state-sponsored teams are a good idea.

We delve into some of the questions that arose for me out of the protests at last year’s Tour of Spain and how racing might be changing in this time of short-attention spans and instant news.