10 conclusions from the Tour of Flanders

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The Flanders crowds are some of the most enthusiastic in cycling.

Kristoff's new status

When BMC added Philippe Gilbert and Thor Hushovd to a roster that already included Alessandro Ballan and Greg Van Avermaet ahead of the 2012 season, the expectation was that Andy Rihs' group of galacticos would become the dominant force in the classics, a sort of latter-day Mapei. Yet three years on, BMC are still to win a Monument, while a man who left the team that winter with precious little fanfare has now helped himself to two.

Kristoff's victory at the Tour of Flanders marks another stage in his career, the transition from being a sprinter who can last the distance to a bona fide classics rider. Tracking Niki Terpstra's move on the Kruisberg took strength, but perhaps more importantly, it showed both confidence and nous for the fastest man in the front group to take a gamble on going up the road with 30 kilometres still to race.

The win – along with Luca Paolini's at Gent-Wevelgem last week – comes at an opportune time for Katusha, whose existence is not guaranteed beyond the end of this season. "A decision on applying for license renewal in the WorldTour will be made on the basis of the performance of Katusha in the first half of 2015," backer Igor Makarov said last winter, though much may also depend on whether his ITERA natural gas company is willing to keep footing the bill at a time of economic crisis in Russia. Whatever happens, of course, Kristoff will have no shortage of suitors. (BR)

It was the first time that both of the riders didn't take to the start of the Flemish classic in more than a decade, and it had an almost overwhelming impact on the race. The race didn't really kick off until the final 50 kilometres when the day's break was finally brought back. Team Sky were perhaps the most dominant at the front but Geraint Thomas lacked the legs to finish off the work. With a number advantage throughout most of the race, many were looking to BMC to manage the chasing but they opted to sit back and let the others fight among themselves.

Crashes are part and parcel of bike racing but we don't often see cars getting involved. Unfortunately for Jesse Sergent and Sébastien Chavanel, they found themselves on the blunt end of some bad driving in Flanders. They are two separate incidents with entirely different factors but with two crashes like this occurring in one of the biggest races of the year, should we reconsider how neutral service is delivered and the rules surrounding the race convoy?

It is unclear why, in the case of Sergent's accident, the neutral service car was trying to overtake the leaders. With so much time between themselves and the peloton, there was little need for it. In many races, vehicles must get permission to pass the break. We don’t know if this occurred prior to the incident but perhaps car movement should be better regulated and in the tights confines of a cobbled classic, are neutral service motorbikes the way to go?

Chavanel's crash was a slightly different story. The FDJ car had pulled over in a tightly packed convoy when the Shimano car shunted it from behind. Again, the exact details of the incident are not known, perhaps the Shimano driver was distracted by something but it brings into question the regulations surrounding the race convoy. Perhaps a simple measure stating that a stopped car must use its hazard lights may have been enough to avoid the crash.

Having dissected the team's internal politics on the eve of the race, however, L'Équipe revisited the issue on Monday morning, and was stinging in its analysis of Terpstra's willingness to collaborate with Kristoff in the finale, which it described as an act of vanity. "He was already too happy just to confirm his ascendancy on the QuickStep team a week before Paris-Roubaix," the newspaper noted archly.

Whether that truly was the case or not, there was certainly no doubt that Lotto-Soudal were all pulling resolutely in the same direction, and it Roelandts himself who encouraged Benoot to clip off the front in the last two kilometres to take 5th. As individuals, of course, Roelandts and Greipel are not on quite the same level as Terpstra and Stybar, and so Lotto have no real option but to race devotedly as a unit – though if Benoot's progress continues, Sergeant's team may yet have a star to match any in the QuickStep firmament in the years ahead. (BR)

Van Avermaet had Jean-Pierre Drucker, Daniel Oss and Marcus Burghardt but they stayed at the back of the chasing group during the 10km of wide roads before Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg. They would have been better working to close the gap before the final climbs, so that Van Avermaet could have tried to make it across the gap on the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg or at least before the finish. Van Avermaet also made a significant mistake after the Oude Kwaremont by launching an attack instead of trying to inspire the chase.

It seems the riders and their tacticians are finally starting to understand and unlock the secrets of the route. Everyone now knows the first assault of the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg makes a huge selection with 50km to go and that it can be launch pad to victory the second time. In between are the Koppenberg, the Mariaborrestraat two-kilometre sector of cobbles, the Steenbekdries climb, the Tienberg and the Kruisberg. Individually or in combination, they offer numerous possibilities.

This year, Terpstra made his move after the Kruisberg, as everyone caught their breath but as the road still rose gradually. He committed to the move and knew he had a chance when Kristoff joined him and also did some big turns. It caught their rivals off-guard, as many awaited or even feared the final selection the Kwaremont-Paterberg would cause. It was a costly mistake letting the two go clear but the attack paid off big time for Kristoff and even Terpstra. It also confirmed that there is still room for interpretation and inspiration if a rider has the intelligence and bravely to match their physical strength.

The Flanders-Roubaix double has become so common during the Boonen-Cancellara duopoly of the past decade – they have achieved it four times between them – that it has often felt as if the cobbled classics had been put to bed after the first weekend in April. After Cancellara's dominant Ronde victory in 2010 or Boonen's cool-headed triumph in 2012, for instance, who truly believed the following Sunday would throw up a different winner? For all its reputation as a lottery, the Queen of the Classics has a habit of simply smiling upon the strongest man rather than rewarding invention.

This time around, however, with Boonen and Cancellara out of action, and given Kristoff's mixed back catalogue on the pavé of northern France, there is a wider array of genuine contenders than normal, a greater uncertainty about the outcome and greater scope for tactical complexity. And, most intriguingly of all, there are a number of riders who fell flat at the Tour of Flanders who will be desperately seeking to make amends next weekend.

Chief among them is Sep Vanmarcke, who was one of the top favourites for Flanders but then inexplicably missed the selection on the Taaienberg and finished a lowly 53rd. Two years ago he followed up an off-colour Ronde by pushing Cancellara to the limit in Roubaix, and he will hope for a similar seven-day turnaround here. Peter Sagan, too, will hope that he can put a different slant on his spring.

For Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Sky, Paris-Roubaix is a chance to dream it up all over again after a Tour of Flanders that promised so much and delivered so little. Crashes hampered Lars Boom's Flanders build-up, but he still took sixth place on Sunday and will be better again come next Sunday, as will John Degenkolb. Greg Van Avermaet and Etixx-QuickStep, too, will relish the opportunity for a do-over. (BR)