Sunday 27th March
The Trofeo Binda may be the race getting all the publicity today, but there’s another great race going on in the Netherlands, the Parkhotel Rooding Hills Classic, otherwise known as the Holland Hills Classic. This race loops around the same area used by the Amstel Gold, and includes three ascents of the Eyserbosweg and two of the Cauberg (down from four last year). Last year Grace Verbeke won, but she won’t be back to defend because she’s in Cittiglio for the World Cup. 2009 winner Marianne Vos is on the start-list, but I’m not sure how good preparation the track is for a race like this. Then again she’s Marianne Vos. Information’s always a bit tricky to find on this– here’s Pigeon’s preview from last year, most of which I could paste straight in here. The route’s changed, but if anyone wants to play with bikemap over their toast then here’s the roads they’re following. Last year NOS decided that it would be a good day to profile Kirsten Wild, so she had her own personal moto beside her as she watched the race vanish ahead of her up the road. Let’s hope they make a more suitable pick this time.
And this was on the VDS calendar when it was originally scheduled in August and a 1.2 UCI race. If you want it included then try to persuade Jens to reinstate it before they start.