{"id":37464,"title":"Top Spring Classics Rider 2024","description":"Who was the best rider of the 2024 Spring Classics? Last year, three riders, Tadej Poga\u010dar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert stood out as the best cyclists of the Spring Classics. Between them, they won a third of all the races.\nBut who was this year\u2019s King of the Spring Classics? Was it Van der Poel, Pogacar or Philipsen? Between them, they won all of the monuments.\nWhy do we think unsung Dylan Vandenstorme is a bit of a hero? And which were the best and worst performing teams? We cast our eye over the under as well as the overachievers.\nBut who will be this year\u2019s King of the Spring Classics? We crunch the numbers to provide the definitive answer and publish the official Rijden Spring Classics League Table.","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: COBBLES & CLASSICS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Who was Rijden's top rider of the 2024 Spring Classics? Last year it was Mathieu van der Poel ahead of Tadej <\/span>Poga\u010dar.<\/p>

But who was this year\u2019s King of the Spring Classics? Was it Van der Poel<\/strong>, Pogacar <\/strong>or Philipsen<\/strong>? Between them, they won all of the monuments. <\/p>

Why do we think unsung Dylan Vandenstorme<\/strong> is a bit of a hero? And which were the best and worst performing teams? We cast our eye over the under as well as the overachievers.<\/span><\/p>

With fantastic images by <\/em>@helene_cyclingpix.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

\"Rijden'sJasper Philipsen leads on the cobbles. Image: <\/em>@helene_cyclingpix<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

We like facts here at Rijden so we\u2019ve pushed the results of twenty one-day races through our supercomputer to come up with the definitive answers as to who was the top dog and who were the also-rans.<\/span><\/p>

Rijden\u2019s Spring Classics League<\/h2>

Which Spring Classics count?<\/h3>

As this is our league table, we make the rules about which races are included. We\u2019ve tried to reflect the consensus as to what constitutes a Spring Classic.<\/p>

The Spring Classics season starts with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and ends with Liege-Bastogne-Liege and we only consider one-day races as qualifying for Spring Classic status.<\/p>

We include all the World Tour races which incorporate four of the monuments: Milano Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.<\/p>

Then we add in all the Belgian 1.Pro races as the Spring Classics are primarily about Belgium. We also add Le Samyn because although only ranked as a UCI 1.1 race it has all the characteristics of a Belgian classic.<\/p>

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\"Subscribe<\/u><\/strong><\/a>Finally, we add Milano-Torino as the oldest classic and Grand Prix Denain because it\u2019s like a mini Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>

Points scoring<\/h3>

We use the UCI points from these races to determine who is the best rider and best team. We also add sub-categories for the best-cobbled classics rider and best rider of the Flandrian classics.<\/p>

\"LucaLuca Mozzato was outstanding in the Spring Classics. Image: <\/em>@helene_cyclingpix<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Although there\u2019s no official definition of a cycling monument, the UCI recognises their importance and awards the highest points to the four monuments that occur during Spring.<\/p>

Some of the other race rankings seem arguable. Why does Gent-Wevelgem garner more points than Strade Bianche?<\/p>

Here\u2019s how the points are allocated using the UCI\u2019s points system:<\/p>