José De Cauwer urges riders from other teams to "start thinking differently about cycling" to stand a chance against the big-3 at Classics

Talks about who are the favourites for the main classics this spring mostly shrunk to just three names. Quite predictably, you could argue. Over the past years, the trio Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert and Tadej Pogacar had proven to be out of everyone's reach and with Pogacar's return to Flanders this year, outsiders can't hope to profit from a stalemate between MVDP & WVA anymore.

"The fact that he is riding alone makes it different for a lot of riders," expert José De Cauwer assesses in an interview with WielerFlits. Surely there must be someone who'll benefit from the Slovenian's presence. "But is it better for Wout that Pogacar is riding? Or for Mathieu van der Poel. Who is that better for?" Maybe just his own teammates...

Two years ago, Pogacar made it clear that cobbles won't stop him on the way to victory when he powered to Tour of Flanders title. The plan for this year is to repeat this feat. "If you saw him ride away on the Oude Kwaremont a few years ago, you could only say: oh, what kind of level is that? The others can only hope that he does not start at that same level this year."

Looking back, you could note that often we had surprising winners at the biggest classics or specialists for certain races such as Johan Vansummeren at the Paris-Roubaix. Now it's mostly turned into a lottery between three men. De Cauwer doesn't find that surprising looking at the teams they come from:

Obviously, having the means to sign almost everyone helps at building superteams: "Just look at what is at UAE Emirates or Visma | Lease a Bike. Just get started, right? In terms of budget, they are unmatched, and if you can cook with the best ingredients, then you also have the best product."

"In the past, men like Nick Nuyens and Johan Vansummeren could still win monuments, but the leaders of other teams now make them domestiques in the team of the top riders. Roger De Vlaeminck always says: I would never do that. But that is what is happening now, and then it becomes difficult to make it difficult for those big boys," De Cauwer laments.

What can teams like Soudal - Quick-Step, without a top classics leader, do against the aliens in the league of their own? "I think that the teams and the riders should start thinking differently about cycling. Imagine you are riding ahead with one of those top riders, then you simply should not ride along. They will just ride with you to the slaughterhouse. Okay, those guys will probably ride you off anyway, but at least you made an attempt."

Sometimes it feels like team directors settle with being just second. De Cauwer warns that it's a bad habit. "The weak ones should defend themselves more and band together. That used to be the case more, I have the feeling. But now team leaders quickly think: okay, then we are second anyway."