Dan McLay looks like he can sprint
Let's first deal with the inevitable 'who?'
Dan McLay is a young British rider. Born in New Zealand and brought up in Leicester, he's been plugging away in Belgium for the last few years, trying to get a pro contract. Bretagne-Séché Environnement gave him one (a pro contract) and he's just won Grand Prix de Denain.
Now let's deal with the inevitable 'what?'
Grand Prix de Denain is, if I'm honest, not a particularly big race. That said, it has had some pretty big winners: Nacer Bouhanni last year and the year before, Milan-San Remo winner Arnaud Démare the year before that.
But more than anything it was the style of McLay's win that took the eye. You won't spot him the first time you watch this video of the finish, because he doesn't actually start in shot.
Keep an eye on McLay… #GPDenain pic.twitter.com/68s0q5ITxE
— CyclingHub.tv (@CyclingHubTV) April 14, 2016
Watch it again. I think you'll agree that Dan McLay was faster than everyone else in that sprint. Intriguing stuff.
The Tour of the Basque Country clashes with Paris-Roubaix, so I never actually gave you the result. It's a WorldTour (no space) race though, so it counts.
Alberto Contador won. He was there or thereabouts throughout the race and then won the final hilly time trial. Nairo Quintana came second in the time trial and finished third overall. Sergio Henao came third in the time trial and came second overall.
The Vuelta a Castilla y Leon is not a WorldTour race – not even nearly – but we're quickly going to mention it too because stage one was won by website pet Carlos Betancur. It's the first race he's won since bloody ages ago (can't be arsed checking – 2014, I think).
The Ardennes Classics – otherwise known as the racing segue from one-day racing to Grand Tours.
They're day races, same as the cobbled classics, but hillier and on asphalt. You tend to get specialists mixing it with a handful Grand Tour names. The Ardennes Classics comprise Amstel Gold on Sunday, La Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday and then Liege-Bastogne-Liege the Sunday after.
After that it's the Tour of Romandie, which is proper 'let's try and work out what's going to happen in this year's Tour de France?' territory.
Simon Gerrans wins a wearied sprint to take the lead in the Tour Down Under
Why I want Victoria Pendleton to win the Olympic women's sprint
Nacer Bouhanni manages to sprint
Tags: Alberto Contador, Carlos Betancur, Dan McLay