Vicarious Driedaagse

As in Driedaagse De Panne. It's another one of the new races featured in the 2011 edition of the FGBC Spring Classics Pool. Driedaagse means three days. But in reality it's even better than that. They actually manage to squeeze four stages into those three days. We had four different winners for those four stages: LeAnn had a big 475 point day to win the first stage. Steve took the second stage in a photo finish ahead of Prince Dan. Charlene edged out Ian to claim the third stage. And Miriam finished first on the final stage ITT. There are no points awarded for the overall classification. Everyone who appears there has already been duly rewarded. Too many rewards just makes for spoiled cyclists. And whiny vicarious racers. We don't want anything to do with either of those possibilities.

The Tour of Flanders, which goes down on Sunday, marks the halfway point of the Classics season. We have had 13 races so far and 12 different winners. Only Charlene has managed to reach the top step of the podium twice. And each time she was wearing a different one of her sweet cycling caps.

In the overall race, the Fraggle has taken the lead. That is bad news for the rest of us. The Fraggle does not like to lose. Once she tastes the lead, she is less a cuddly little Fraggle than an insatiable raging bull. Does anybody happen to have a red cape handy? Our only hope is that the Fraggle only holds onto a slim lead. She is 70 points ahead of Prince Dan. Queen Val is another 145 points back. Olli and King Andy continue to hang around in the top 5. But Chris O and Miriam are knocking on the door.

Of course, there are big points on hand this Sunday, as it is the second of our four monuments. With potential 1000+ point performances, everything could change in a hurry. But probably not for Andrea. She seems to have a stranglehold on the lanterne rouge, with a grand total of 395 points for the season thus far. Bummer. Or maybe she's just saving her legs for the second half of the season.

Full results and standings here.