Finding form at Opening Weekend - How good is too good?

NINOVE, BELGIUM - FEBRUARY 26: Wout Van Aert of Belgium and Team Jumbo - Visma competes during the 77th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2022 - Men's Race a 204,2km race from Ghent to Ninove / #OHN22 / @FlandersClassic / #WorldTour / on February 26, 2022 in Ninove, Belgium. (Photo by Vincent Kalut - Pool/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Opening Weekend might just be the most cliché-ridden event of the international cycling calendar. Alongside the purists' continued insistence that 'this is where the season really starts', there's also the question of riders' form and the idea that you want to be 'good but not too good'. 

But is this in danger of dying out?

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.