There is more than one doubleheader to keep tabs on this weekend. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne may draw the eye as ever, but the twin races of the Boucles Drôme Ardèche have again drawn two of the best fields of the early season, with Julian Alaphilippe, Jai Hindley and Romain Bardet among the contenders in south-eastern France.
Saturday’s Faun Ardèche Classic around Guilherand-Granges sees the peloton take on some 3,100m of climbing in the space of 168km, with the steep and aptly-named Côte du Val d’Enfer serving as the final springboard for attackers.
A day later, the Faun Drôme Classic sees the bulk of the same field tackle another hilly parcours around Étoile-sur-Rhône. The 191km event boasts 17 ascents for a total of 2,400m of climbing, including the short but sharp haul to the finish on Côte Chaude.
The two races provided firm omens for the year ahead 12 months ago, with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) storming to a solo win in the Ardèche Classic before future Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) laid down a marker with victory at the Drôme Classic the following day.
Neither man returns this year, with McNulty on duty at the UAE Tour and Vingegaard choosing to start his season in Galicia this week at the Gran Camiño stage race. No matter, there is no shortage of talent on show in the Drôme and Ardèche this weekend, with Alaphilippe drawing much of the attention.
After an ill-starred 2022 season, Alaphilippe bore the brunt of some bracing criticism from Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere over the winter. He began his season in late January with three days of racing in Mallorca, but this weekend marks the true start to his Spring campaign.
After placing fifth at the Drôme Classic last year, Alaphilippe will look to run through the scales here in preparation for Strade Bianche the following weekend. Indeed, the Frenchman is currently scheduled to race every weekend bar one – he will not ride Paris-Roubaix – from here until the end of April.
Romain Bardet (DSM) began his season with 8th place overall at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var last week and he will look for a strong display on familiar roads. He won the Ardèche Classic in 2018 and the Drôme Classic four years earlier.
After placing 13th overall at last week’s Volta ao Algarve, 2022 Giro d’Italia champion Jai Hindley returns to the fray in France this weekend on a strong Bora-Hansgrohe team that will also include Sergio Higuita.
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), winner of the Ardèche Classic in 2021, is present as he builds towards Paris-Nice, as is Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), who placed second behind Vingegaard in last year’s Drôme Classic.
Other dangermen this weekend include the newly-crowned Colombian champion Esteban Chaves (EF Education-Easy Post), Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën), George Bennett, Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) and Rui Costa (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert).
The runes of Omloop and Kuurne this weekend will be scrutinised carefully with the cobbled Classics in mind, but, as recent history shows, events in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region have a tendency to provide clear indications as to who will shine later in the spring and even in the height of summer.
