The moment of decision for the cobblestone teams and riders has arrived. It is time to go to Flanders and watch the hardest cobble races unified in a single tour.
  
   The Big Three
  
   Looking at the line up is simply impressive. Three big teams should get particular attention: TACKXkin, Omega Pharma Lotto and Drapeau Noir. You might even struggle in guessing the rider that will captain them.
  
  
  
   TACXkin
   The strongest cobblestone team has three stars and three helpers. It is even difficult to guess who is going to lead the team. Both Echave and Terrier has the potential to win but last year even Pajak took the fourth spot in GC and won the YC. This time, Echave is close to win YC, even GC! Three captains can achieve anyting, looks like a nightmare for other managers. Echave looks even more stronger than Terrier, though we feel a lot of sympathy for Terrier, who seems to be losing his position as the captain.
  
  
  
   Drapeau Noir
   The French outfit has always been in the cobble races. Uttenberger won GC two seasons ago but after failed to repeat last year the manager of the team made a big move. Former Revolutie captain Julian Pope, has found a new home, where he can have his second spring. Both Uttenberger and Pope have top form. One would ask who would be the ultimate leader but the team manager says both shall captain. One GC one top 9, two top 9 and one winner and one top 9 are the combinations that the manager of this team is expecting. This has worked for TACKXkin.
   omega pharma lotto
   Bartoli Rivera came down to earth again to win. Can he succeed again? He skipped Pre-Roubaix this season and he as two big helpers here. Terevainen who can easily captain the team. It is difficult to rule out Bartoli Rivera but it is equally difficult to see why he should win this year. His biggest rivals look stronger this year. However, Rivera is 29 and the only big thing he misses is winning the Tweedaagsee but can the ‘top formless’ Martian fight against top formers? History says no, statistics says yes, he might.
  
  
  
  
  
   Contenders
  
  
  
   Glamourade
   Mauricio Viola, the top cobbler of the OCM is was sixth last year but won every important one-day race on cobblestone. Can he fight against the big three above? One a single day he has already done but a tour can always be different. He has support small in numbers but good in quality. However, this does not look enough for a result beter than a top 9, at least on paper. The cobblestone crashes papers on the paper-scissors-stone game of the OCM.
  
  
  
   Asymm Project
   The Asian team has secured its position in the top division and now it joins the Tweedaagse with an Asian captain, You Xiang. We know that Holger Czukay believes in Xiang, so much that he could have sold Terevainen. Personally, I did not approve that move however despite the set of skills are clear for cobblers, sprinting is the deadliest addition to those skills and the Xiang has that and he also has top form. He will have some decent helpers who might prove crucial in his quest for top 9 or even top 3.
  
  
  
   TEAM SERFIN97
   Medwin Whiddon and his strong domestics are not listed above only because they are contending for the first time. However, the young Brit has every reason to believe he will be successful in TvA, even a top three result. Furthermore, he is the outstanding favourite for the YC. He could easily become the third British to conquer the hearts of Flanders, with an impressive support Medwin is hoping to get specialists. The problem is, all of them being under 40 AV might not be helpful enough.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Team Tirilla
   One of the most successful teams last season, a solid second in the OCM standings, Tirilla is here with Botelho, the former GC winner again. He seems to get rid of the early season build-up problems since he finished second in the Roubaix Classic. Vangale and Rumiantseva are also there for him. He would make no-nonsense and will be in top9. Other than that is always a grant of the capricious cobbles so we should just wait and see.
  
  
  
   Black Horses
  
  
  
   Luveaucek
   The Czech team is here with a shoe maker from Flanders. Schoenmakers has some helpers with him and he was second in Pre-Roubaix. Despite his skills we doubt that his shoes will make him fast enough on the trembling cobbles in such an impressive line up. However, one should never underestimate a shoe maker, he always work while the others boast. We also heard that Daniel Day-Lewis will be in Arendonk to show his support to Schoenmakers.
  
  
  
   Onie

   The Dutch outfit is in Belgium with Filipiak who has concentrated in TvA. Filipiak is a very good rider and stage result is likely. He will be co-captained by Moretta who looks like the best candidate for becoming the upset of the tour. There are four major obstacles to that: the long hairs of Filipiak, the strong opposition, the breakaways and the lack of sufficient support.
  
  
  
  
  
   Lonely Boys
  
  
  
   The biggest lonely boy is the winner of the last edition, Edward Shingleton. In our humble opinion he will not be able to defend his title but a winner is always a winner. The writer of these lines is ready to look for regrets for not putting Shingleton at higher ranks in the power ranking if he wins again. This does not mean they are not contenders, but they are lonely contenders.
  
  
  
   peddelen
   Master of the tours, Pete, is back here looking for a second win but it looks unlikely for Shingleton to repeat his success last year without any specialized helpers against such a strong field. However, we are talking about a capable champion. Beware! He was sixth in Roubaix Classic and looked strong despite not being able to catch up with the break away. A good result is likely because his skills fit every stage except the prologue.
  
  
  
   Lastplace1414
   The runner-up last year was a loner too, Edward Simon is so good on cobbles that he does not need much support. The team dropped to Zyte Division so he crushed the field Roubaix Classic G2 with top form before coming to Tweedaagse, thanks to the wildcard. Simon is a very strong cobbler and he will be a top 9 candidate at least. We have already seen, like Shingleton, that on his own, he is capable of anything so no surprise he achieves more.
  
  
  
   Quick Step Minded
   Stewart Marzec is back in Belgium once again for glory. There were transfer rumours about him but he is stil in the team, concentrated on TvA. Roubaix Classic did not went particularly well for the ‘Cayman’ but we might find out it was just a build up. However, not looking strong anymore and not getting results since the last edition in any of the division 1 races, Marzec might be forced to return to Cayman Islands after he arrives in Antwerpen.
  
  
  
   Scilian
   One of the richest teams around, the English team is here with Severo Vivas, another +50 AV cobbler from Spain, who has already won YC in the past. Vivas will helped by the experienced Ashford and Juszcak but they might be just too experienced, aged 32 and 35 respectively. A top 9 result is not beyond reach.
  
  
  
   Spot Stealers
  
  
  
   The abundance of time trial races have been criticized by other managers before the OCM. We do not know if OCM management will fine them but time trialer managers are intending might well do the business if they manage to spoil TvA standings, stealing the spots from the cobblers. The greatest nightmare of captains like Rivera, Terrier, Viola or Uttenberger. A time trialer breaking away in Arendonk after winning the time trial stage. Let’s have a look at the pirates of the cobblestone races. We will see if they can succeed against the big fleets.
  
  
  
  
  
   Nairobi City Cycling Club
   The Kenya-based club has established itself one of the top time trialing teams in the OCM. They are in Flanders again. They represent the pure evil for cobblers and they threaten every top 9 spot in the opening time trial. They just do this for the reason that there is not much TT-race early season Schedule of Division 1. The world TT-champion Tingmann, Mikaitas, Wesley Nisbet, Bogoljub Bratic all have perfect chances for good results in the time trial. The rest…If they suceed in breakaways, we might see a few outbursts from the riders and managers. Nispet means ‘defiance’ in Turkish and Arabic and that would be what happens if Nisbet or another NCCC rider gets too lucky.
  
  
  
  
  
   NECFTW
   Another time trial team led by Van Der Eyde but there is another threat. Ivan Martinato, a time trialer who can at least stand on the cobblestone without falling might be another threat. The teams with favourites should particularly look out for him and prevent him from getting lucky while they fight against each other at all costs.
  
  
  
   sprint4live
   The top team of the OCM have been avoiding tours and classics but lack of TT races forced the most successful manager slico to try his chance in TvA. Age looks like a problem for the future of sprint4live but Buso, Figueira, Markowski and Foss can all pull up good results in the prologue. The presence of them will make the prologue tougher for the other TTers, if not a nightmare.
  
  
  
  
  
   Megaman

   Another TT specialist team, here with all of its specialists hunting a result in the first stage. Teodro is the first rider that one should expect to do well but Alemao or world championship bronz medalist Olmedo should not surprise anyone.
  
  
  
  
  
   Red Star
   Rytis Kondrotas should be mentioned as a pure sprinter but his success in the prologue makes him a spoiler. He was ninth in the GC last year and one should also bear in mind that Dino Velloso has some cobble eating skills which might make him the Black Horse of the year, who knows.
  
  
  
  
  
   Die Tour Phantome
   The Dutch team is also similar to Red Star, it has time trialers but Andreo Toledo can become a real threat for GC if he does well in the first stage because he has some time trial skill. Other than that he is just here to lay a curse on the fate of the seasons of the cobblers, spoiling the day with good time trialers.
  
  
  
   Lusitano
   The Portugese-only outfit looks to be very strong….for Netherlands or a sprint race with good specialists but what are they doing in Flanders? They probably want to have cobbles as breakfast and maybe they want to see if they can spoil the days of the spoilers by spoiling even the spoilers’ chances, surpassing the TTers who will look for break aways in the crucial stages. In the last stage, Germano Boaentura might even find an opportunity to show how good technique he has.
  
  
  
   Stage Predictions
  
  
  
   Stage 1: Hoogstraten Prologue
  
  
  
   **** Buso (sprint4live), Mikaitas (Nairobi City Cycling Club)
  
   *** Isac Tingmann (Nairobi City Cycling Club), Michel Aelemans (NECFTW), Elias Van Der Eyde (NECFTW), Valentin Figueira (sprint4live), Aaron Alemao (Megaman)
  
   ** Flavio Olmedo (Megaman), Mauritio Romero (sprint 4live)
  
   * Bogoljub Bratic (Nairobi City Cycling Club), Xever Teodro (Megaman)
  
   Commentators’ Black Horses: Rytis Kondrotas (Red Star), Ivan Martinato (NECFTW)
  
  
  
   Stage 2: Hoogstraten-Arendonk
  
  
  
   **** Bartoli Rivera (omega pharma lotto), Heinrich Uttenberger (Drapeau Noir)
  
   *** Mauricio Viola (Glamourade), Edward Simon (lastplace1414), You Xiang (Asymm Project), Rogerio Echave (TACXkin)
  
   ** Lowell Shingleton (peddelen), Klaudian Filipiak (Onie)
  
   * Alexis Terrier (TACXkin), Julian Pope (Drapeau Noir), Medwin Whiddon (TEAMSERFIN97)
  
  
  
   Commentators’ Black Horses: Johannes Schoenmakers(Luveaucek), Ignacy Pajak (TACXkin)
  
  
  
   Stage 3: Arendonk-Geel
  
  
  
   ***** Heinrich Uttenberger (Drapeau Noir), Edward Simon (lastplace1414)
  
   **** Lowell Shingleton (peddelen), Bartoli Rivera (omega pharma lotto), Mauricio Viola (Glamourade), Rogerio Echave (TACXkin)
  
   *** You Xiang (Asymm Project), Klaudian Filipiak (Onie), Ignacy Pajak (TACXkin)
  
   ** Alexis Terrier (TACXkin), Medwin Whiddon (TEAMSERFIN97),
  
   * Johannes Schoenmakers(Luveaucek)
  
  
  
   Commentators’ Black Horses: Stewart Marzec (Quick Step Minded), Firmino Botelho (Team Tirilla), Severo Vivas (Scilian)
  
  
  
   Stage 4: Geel-Antwerpen
  
  
  
   ***** Heinrich Uttenberger (Drapeau Noir)
  
   **** Mauricio Viola (Glamourade), Bartoli Rivera (omega pharma lotto)
  
   *** Lowell Shingleton (peddelen), You Xiang (Asymm Project), Edward Simon (lastplace1414)
  
   ** Rogerio Echave (TACXkin), Klaudian Filipiak (Onie)
  
   * Medwin Whiddon (TEAMSERFIN97) , Julian Pope (Drapeau Noir), Stewart Marzec (Quick Step Minded), Klaudian Filipiak (Onie)
  
  
  
   Commentators’ Black Horses: Andreo Toledo (Die Tour Phantome), Severo Vivas (Scilian)
  
  
  
   GC
  
  
  
   ***** Heinrich Uttenberger (Drapeau Noir), Lowell Shingleton (peddelen), Rogerio Echave (TACXkin)
  
   **** You Xiang (Asymm Project), Edward Simon (lastplace1414), Bartoli Rivera (omega pharma lotto)
  
   *** Medwin Whiddon (TEAMSERFIN97) , Klaudian Filipiak (Onie), Mauricio Viola (Glamourade)
  
   ** Severo Vivas (Scilian), Ignacy Pajak (TACXkin)
  
   * Stewart Marzec (Quick Step Minded), Julian Pope (Drapeau Noir)
  
  
  
   YC
  
   ***** Rogerio Echave (TACXkin)
  
   **** Medwin Whiddon (TEAMSERFIN97)
  
   *** Nikanor Somov (Luveaucek)
  
   ** Abraão Quintas (TEAM SERFIN97)
  
  
  
  
   Written by pundit Ozgur Akman from
   Manisaspor to OCM Magazine