The Spring Classics mark the thaw of winter and the end to training rides, coffee stops and team presentations as riders start to dig into the meat of the 2024 season.
Strade Bianche is the next major race after the intervening Le Samyn races and typically provides warmer, more pleasant racing conditions in which to tackle the unique challenge of racing over the 'white roads' of Tuscany.
The Women's WorldTour continues afterward at the Ronde van Drenthe, which has some cobbled sections and the selective and steep VAM Berg, a climb built over a former waste dump.
Next comes Nokere Koerse, a race that is based around the cobbled Nokereberg climb, with the finish coming atop a final ascent.
Milano-Torino is a new addition to the spring calendar in 2022. It used to take place in the autumn but now leads up to Milan-San Remo and uses a flatter course.
An alternative to the Italian semi-classic is the GP de Denain which serves as a small taste of the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
The first Monument of the season, Milan-San Remo is a venerable race that dates back to 1907. Also known as La Classicissima (the big classic) and La Primavera (the spring), it is the most important day in Italian cycling.
There is no women's version of Milan-San Remo. Instead, the Women's WorldTour heads to Cittiglio for the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, which dates back to 1974.
Racing then heads back to Belgium for the Classic Brugge-De Panne. A Women's Classic Brugge-De Panne was added in 2018. Both start in Bruges before heading into the windswept swamp plains of De Moeren, before heading for the finish in De Panne. If the race hasn't been broken apart in the wind, it's a likely bunch sprint.
Another warm-up race, the E3 Saxo Classic, a mini-Tour of Flanders, is exclusively for the men. It leads into Gent-Wevelgem, another historic Flandrien Classic that uses features of Brugge-De Panne and the climbs of West Flanders, along the French border including the iconic and decisive Kemmelberg.
The men's race was first held in 1934 while the Women's Gent-Wevelgem was created in 2012 and now acts as the fifth event on the WorldTour calendar.
The calendar culminates with the Tour of Flanders is one of the most iconic days on the cycling calendar.
Since 2004, there has also been a women's Tour of Flanders. The courses have changed over the years but the current iteration uses circuits that include the Oude Kwaremont and super-steep Paterberg, both serving as the grand finale ahead of the 13km run-in.
The sprinters get to shine in the Scheldeprijs, known as the 'world championship for sprinters'. The race takes its name from the Schelde river up near Antwerp in the east of Flanders, and there can be a threat of wind before the races heads to Schoten for laps of a finishing circuit.
The men's race was created in 1907 while a women's Scheldeprijs was introduced in 2021.
The Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix is the only French Classic but it is arguably the most important of the entire spring, with riders fighting across 50+ kilometres of rough cobbled roads to hoist the cobblestone trophy. The men's race was first held back in 1896, while a women's Paris-Roubaix was only introduced in 2021.
Between the cobbled and Ardennes Classics comes De Babantse Pijl which takes place between Flanders and Wallonia. First held in 1961 and the women's Brabantse Pijl since 2016, both races feature a variety of climbs both cobbled and paved.
The Amstel Gold Race, first held in 1966, is one of the three Ardennes Classics, even if it takes place in Limburg, the Netherlands. Named after a beer, it's a snaking and undulating ride through the hills of Limburg, with climbs like the Cauberg make for a chaotic finale.
A women's Amstel Gold Race was added in 2001 and both take place on the same day and start and finish near Valkenburg.
La Flèche Wallonne comes midweek with the annual showdown on the Mur de Huy. The men's race was first held in 1936 and the women's La Flèche Wallonne in 1998, and the winner invariably comes from a large group splintering into pieces on the steep climb in Huy.
The races start and finishes in Liège, heading south to Bastogne before returning back. A previous finale in Ans became too predictable so organisers moved the finish back to Liège.
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Most of the Spring Classics will be aired on television during the day across Europe and the rest of the world.
With the end of GCN+, watching cycling via live streaming became more complicated and expensive.
If you're in the UK, or any one of numerous European countries, the race will be aired live and in full on Eurosport. Live streaming will generally be available via Discovery+.
It is unclear which races will be included in the standard subscription, which costs £6.99/$9.15 per month, or £39.99/year and which will be a part of the "premium" tier that includes TNT Sports for an additional £29.99/month.
Some of the races will be broadcast via Warner Bros. Max streaming service via the TNT Sports package, which costs $29.99/month on top of the Max subscription fee of $9.99/month with ads or $19.99/month without.
In the USA, Canada, and Australia, Flobikes is the option for some of the races while Peacock will show Paris-Roubaix, the Amstel Gold races, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
A year-long subscription to Flobikes will set you back $150 in the USA and $209.99 in Canada, while Peacock can be had for just $5.99/month or $11.99 for ad-free premium viewing.
Home broadcasters Sporza and RTBF will be airing the races in Flanders and Wallonia if you fancy taking in the action with a Flemish or French soundtrack.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) took the victory in the men's elite race at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
It was a third year in a row that Visma-Lease a Bike claimed the title at the first European-based WorldTour race of the season, but it was an unexpected candidate, Jan Tratnik, who claimed the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win from a late two man break.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) wins the four way sprint at the women's elite race at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Image credit: Getty Images)
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) celebrates the 2024 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne win (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Opening Weekend celebrations continued for Visma-Lease a Bike, this time with Wout van Aert claiming the victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, outsprinting Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar).
Omloop van het Hageland
Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale) on her way to a solo victory at the 2024 Omloop van het Hageland (Image credit: Getty Images)
Kristen Faulkner delivered an emphatic victory for new team EF Education-Cannondale at Tielt-Winge after flying solo for 50km at Omloop van het Hageland and finishing with a gap of 1:41 to second-placed Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime).
Le Samyn Women
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Victoria Guazzini celebrates after winning the 'Grand Prix du Samyn' one day cycling race, 202km from Quaregnon to Dour on Tuesday 27 February 2024, the first (out of 10) race of the Lotto Cycling Cup. BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Laurenz Rex (center) wins Le Samyn in a photo finish(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Tadej Pogačar won Strade Bianche, responding to the additional circuit by attacking on the same Santa Maria sector that has been decisive in the past editions, soloing for 80 kilometres to victory, 30 kilometres more than in his 2022 win.
The Dutchman began to attack with 80 km to go and got away on the Paterberg with 43km to race. Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) crashed as he started to chase but got back up and started a lone pursuit, only to crack in the final ten kilometres.
He was caught and then beaten in the sprint by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) but they finished a significant 1:31 down on a dominant Van der Poel.
Elisa Longo-Borghini wins the 2024 Tour of Flanders (Image credit: Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) triumphed at the Tour of Flanders, winning her second edition after her 2015 victory. The Italian Champion won the sprint among the small group of three, ahead of runner-up Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and teammate Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) in Oudenaarde.
Scheldeprijs Men
Tim Merlier wins Scheldeprijs (Image credit: Getty Images)
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) made it two in a row in the Scheldeprijs, out-sprinting a poorly-positioned Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceunick) in a bunch sprint to win the 2024 edition in Schoten. The victory was Merlier's seventh of the season and the second of the Classics season, saving Soudal-Quickstep's campaign.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) beat Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) for the second year in a row at Scheldeprijs in a battle of the peloton’s top sprinters, capturing her fourth title in a row at the race.
Mathieu van der Poel wins Paris-Roubaix 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Mathieu van der Poel dominated the 2024 Paris-Roubaix with a 60km solo attack to win the fastest-ever edition of the Hell of the North. It was another 1-2 for Alpecin-Deceuninck as Jasper Philipsen won the chase-group sprint and took second place, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in third and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) in fourth.
De Brabantse Pijl Women
De Brabantse Pijl Women 2024: Elisa Longo Borghini wins (Image credit: Getty Images)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) claimed an impressive solo victory in Brabantse Pijl Women just ten days after she conquered the Tour of Flanders. Longo Borghini successfully dropped Demi Vollering, finally second, in the last 10 kilometres to claim her third win of the season. Alexandra Manly (Liv AIUIa Jayco) placed third.
De Brabantse Pijl Men
Benoit Cosnefroy wins De Brabantse Pijl (Image credit: Getty Images)
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) wins with a bike throw when Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) celebrated too early (Image credit: Getty Images)
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) won Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition with a bike throw on the line when Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) thinking she had won, celebrated before the line. Wiebes had to settle for second place and Ingvild Gåskjenn (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) finished third.
Amstel Gold Race
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) edges out Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win 2024 Amstel Gold Race (Image credit: Getty Images)
In was a cold, wet and snowy edition of La Flèche Wallonne, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) made a late attack on the Mur de Huy to take the victory beating Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
La Fléche Wallonne
Stevie Williams (Image credit: Getty Images)
Stevie Williams was one of only 44 survivors of a cold, wet and miserable edition of La Flèche Wallonne and parlayed a perfectly timed attack into the fifth non-GC victory of his career.
If you live outside a broadcast zone or are on holiday outside your country and find that the live streams are geo-restricted, you can get around this by getting access to them by simulating being back in your home country via a 'virtual private network', or VPN, for your laptop, tablet or mobile.
TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number-one VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
