Eastern Michigan beating Western Michigan in beer brewing has gotta sting

I'm bummed Remco Evenepoel dropped out of this one at the last minute, but to be honest this probably isn't the ideal race for him. Instead I think this is the perfect chance for Paul Seixas to get his first major classic win.

5:50am on Peacock! Should finish around 10:30 or so

An extremely steep hill with a lone bike rider riding up it

Cyclists riding up the Mur de Huy

This race is pretty much defined by 1 iconic hill: the Mur de Huy, an impossibly steep climb that they take on 3 times, including the finish of the race. Because of the Mur, this race strongly favors the explosive climbing specialists.

Profile of La Fleche Wallonne

Map of La Fleche Wallonne

Map of finishing circuit of La Fleche Wallonne

The Ardennes Classics continue tomorrow with La Flèche Wallonne, a race in and around the town of Huy in the French-speaking region of southern Belgium.

Michal Kwiatkowski holding a class of beer that is almost as large as his entire torso

As the name suggests, this is another race where the prize is a comically gigantic beer. A few more races in beer country before we switch to the wine regions of the Giro.

Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar, and Mattias Skjelmose crossing the finish line at Amstel Gold. Pogačar is throwing is bike forward but Skjelmose is slightly ahead of him

Last year this race was one of the upsets of the year, as Mattias Skjelmose out-sprinted both Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel to get the win. He's back to defend his title, but I'd say Evenepoel is a strong favorite to win this year.

Cyclists riding up a hill

Cyclists riding up a hill

32 categorized climbs might be the most of any individual race all year. None are very big, but they are relentless and add up to 11,000 feet of climbing. As a result, this race toes the line between favoring the classic specialists and the grand tour riders, attracting a wide variety of riders.

Profile of the Amstel Gold Race

Map of the Amstel Gold Race

This Sunday is the start of the "Ardennes Classics," a series of races in southern Belgium/Netherlands. First up is the Amstel Gold Race! A zig-zagging 159-mile race around the Dutch Limburg region.

Profile of De Brabantse Pijl

Map of De Brabantse Pijl

Tomorrow's race is De Brabantse Pijl, a relatively short (100 mile) race outside of Brussels. This is typically a warmup for the Ardennes Classics that start this weekend in Netherlands and Wallonia, but the start list is a bit shallow this year. Mauro Schmid and Romain Gregoire are the favorites.

Honestly, the answer is E.T. As a little kid I found the alien creepy and the plot too slow and sad. Now it makes me cry every time

Paul's Here | Defector I like to think of myself as quite the optimist, which explains a career-long, pan-sport fascination with prospects, prodigies, and up-and-comers of all sorts. The future of every sport is out there…

Paul's here:

Wout van Aert Forever | Defector Before Sunday, Wout van Aert’s professional cycling career looked most like a testament to the irresistible force of entropy. Before Sunday, the Belgian had never won either of the two biggest one-day...

Wout van Aert forever: defector.com/wout-van-aer...

Paris-Roubaix is essentially a Mario Kart race: van der Poel got blue shelled, Pogačar used up all his good items to get back to the front, but van Aert saved that one last mushroom for the finish line

One of the best races I’ve ever seen. Wout van Aert hangs with the best rider in the world and then beats him in a 1v1 sprint. A legendary performance

We had lots of strict additions to our childhood: chores, bedtimes, church, etc. but none of the classic restrictions like Harry Potter, Pokémon, or anything like that

Despite my fairly religious upbringing I don’t have anything too crazy here, HOWEVER for some reason the one Nickelodeon show we weren’t allowed to watch was Rocket Power? Never really got an explanation on that one

Cyclists coming around the final corner at the Roubaix Velodrome, with people in the stands cheering them on

One cool detail: This race finishes on an outdoor velodrome, making it one of the only bike races of the year with true stadium seating. I'd love to see Pogačar and MVDP (and maybe Wout van Aert?) get to race around the track together. The race is on Peacock at 5 AM! Should finish around 10:30

Mathieu van der Poel at the finish of Paris-Roubaix, holding his bike above his head

It will be a massive challenge though, as this is Mathieu van der Poel's race. He's won it 3 straight years and is the favorite again, but Pogačar's performance in Sanremo makes me wonder if he's going to break through this year.

Tadej Pogačar off the road after a crash in Paris-Roubaix

Last year Tadej Pogačar shocked the world by even signing up for this race, something Tour de France winners almost never do. Being who he is, he crashed late in the race and still rallied to finish 2nd. It's the only monument he hasn't won, and no one has ever won all 5 in a season.

A gnarly cobblestone road in France, with uneven stones and grass growing in between the cracks in the stones

2 bikers on the cobblestone ground after a crash

Nicknamed "Hell of the North," the 160-mile race across northern France is mostly flat, but it includes 34 miles of absolutely brutal cobblestones. It's rough, dirty, and sometimes slippery, so the race is all about staying upright and enduring the pain

Profile of Paris-Roubaix

Map of Paris-Roubaix

If you're new to cycling, do not let this profile deceive you! This is Paris-Roubaix, the 3rd monument, the biggest one day race in France, and one of the most grueling races of the year.

Elite uniform matchup between Michigan and Denver

I want to eat all of these

Looking back at Michigan's season stats, and here are the % of shots taken when each player is on the court:

Yaxel: 21%
Mara: 21%
Nimari: 21%
Morez: 21%
McKenney: 21%
Cason: 21%
Cadeau: 20%
Roddy: 17%
Tschetter: 14%

We will never see a team this balanced ever again.

Profile of Scheldeprijs

Map of Scheldeprijs

Flemish Cycling Week is over, but that doesn't mean we're done racing in Flanders, this time with the extremely flat Sheldeprijs, which starts in the Netherlands before heading back to Belgium.

An obvious sprint classic, this one sees the return of Tim Merlier, who has been injured all spring.

I always feel extremely spoiled to get to read Lauren write about some of our shared experiences, and she puts it into words better than I ever could. I'm proud to have slept on the floor of East Quad that night, and to text the old group chat from the game yesterday.

Lucas Oil Stadium for the national championship

We have arrived!

Alright, time to leave to drive down to Indy. Say hi if you'll be there too.

But you know what? We're not winning any money this year. No consolation prizes. Go Blue.

Somehow, lightning has struck twice, and for the second time, I am in first place in my pool, but will only hold onto the winning spot if UConn wins. I suppose this is a side effect of being in a group full of Michigan fans. So this year a Michigan loss will win me even more money than last time.