After the smoke was cleared on the cobblestones following the Tweedaagse, Roubaix and Pre-Roubaix let’s look at who’s sitting where. We don’t use statistics while we make our rankings, just nonsense and a bit of humour. A bit of review after what happened in the early season cobble classics, the only tour and the cobblestone CoN race in the calendar.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   1. Alexis Terrier
   ( TACXkin )
  
   The most consistent rider in the OCM, the highest scoring cobbler captain at the moment. He has many years to come and many more opportunities to win the Tweedaagse and his home race Roubaix Classic. His worst result was 9th place in the CoN Paris.
  
   2. Lowell Shingleton
   ( peddelen )
  
   One of the most successful teams in tour riding among OCM seems to know what to do in Tweedaagse, too. Shingleton do not have incredible talent as his opponents up and down in this list but he is cleverer and knows when to attack or not. That’s the only way one can win Tweedaagse. It is still doubtful he can ever win again, he cannot even captain England with Darian Hadfield, the unknown talent Medwin Whiddon who won Minsk Classic in Division 2.
  
   3. Edward Simon
  ( lastplace1414 )
  
   He is the stereotype beater. He was the lonely cowboy but passed all expectations by becoming the runner-up in Tweedaagse. He had a much stronger support including the early-retired but out of forum Julian Pope in Paris CoN and he finished fourth there.
  
  

4. Mauricio Viola
   ( Glamourade )
  
  
   If previous results should make send, Viola had to be the favourite for this years’ Tweedaagse but sixth place in Tweedaagse making a ‘Roubaix double’ in France should make someone very happy and maybe spotted somewhere higher in this list.
  
   5. Ignacy Pajak
  ( TACXkin )
  
   He is the revelation of the season among cobblestone specialists so far but young stars always have to be very careful. Every journalist in Belgium are chasing the young Polish for an interview but try to remember what happened to Semerjaks, if you can ever recall that name right now. The young Polish showed his potential by winning the CoN Paris edition, with a route which is derivative of the Roubaix Classic.
  
   6. Bartoli Rivera
   ( omega pharma lotto )
  
   Talent does not always bring victories. You have to have luck and a big heart, apparently Rivera trusts his capacity a bit too much, but in order to trust them you have to show them first. Rumour is that he bought a new house in Antwerpen, where you can see the cobble section Arendonk. No need to mention he trains there now.
  
   7. Heinrich Uttenberger
   ( Drapeau Noir )
  
  
   Uttenberger had a stronger group of lieutenants he had the best form and he was ready for the glory but sometimes this does not happen, as in Tweedagse. Bearing

in mind he is not getting any younger we should show him respect but not more than his result in Tweedaagse this year.
  
   7. Fred Dobbelaere
   ( Team Trier )
  
   The veteran Belgian is one of the consistent rider is the Division 1 peloton, he did not make any GC result and finished pre-Roubaix with the cursed tenth place but he was third in the Brussels Street Race and runner up in Gruzdovo, the Russian race
  
   8. Benjamin Zkumavka
   ( ABK )
  
  
   Even though your cobblestone skill is meagre, you can get on this list when you win the King’s Stage of a Division 1 cobblestone tour in the OCM. What a breakaway that was in the very eyes of the best cobblers of the OCM!
  
   9. Stewart Marzec
  ( Quick step minded )
  
  
   We are not sure whether his manager is satisfied with him but his result in Tweedagse and early season races were not so bad in general.
  
   10. Rytis Kondrotas
   ( Red Star )
  
   Finishing Tweedagse in top 9 again for a non-cobbler elite sprinter is a big success. He always stayed with the elite group of riders in the hard cobbled stages around Antwerp so he deserves this. He seems to have a secret cobble talent.
  
  
  Written by pundit Ozgur Akman from
  Manisaspor to OCM Magazine