Luck certainly wasn't on George Hincapie's side(Image credit: Sirotti)
Watch out for Saxo Bank's Matti Breschel(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Rabobank's Juan Antonio Flecha feels the pain(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Quick Step's Allan Davis is the newest ProTour(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Danilo Di Luca's successful 2007 started with Liège-Bastogne-Liège(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Last year was good but with Quick Step Sylvain Chavanel(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Aurélien Clerc (Ag2R La Mondiale) came close to winning(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tom Boonen helped Filippo Pozzato win Milan-Sanremo in 2006,(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Lance, everyone knows I'll be back, but when will you be back for a classics win?(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Leif Hoste knows it's a long way to the top of Koppenberg(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tales from the peloton, February 27, 2009
Professional cyclists from around the world come out of hibernation as spring arrives for the classics season, the first major, historical races of the road calendar. For some it's not just winter they've been hibernating from, but also the spoils of success.
While a select few are in top form as classic favourites, there's another selection of rider whose need to perform well outweighs the expectation to perform well. Cyclingnews picked out 10 riders who could do with classic success - either because they're yet to get the job done or were once great but have been out of the limelight in the past 18 months. For the record, the following are in no specific order.
