The Cobbled classics season ends but the Ardennes is still to come

Sunday's Paris-Roubaix brought with it the end to the cobbled classic season, but what a run of races it was. We probably say that every year but I think I watched more intently this year than in any previous season and no time felt wasted. Eight major races in total and I watched them all, and throughout I kept a little league table on the sidebar of this site that I've now updated and completed. More on that below.

From the the Omloop Het Niewsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in late February, followed by a slight break in proceedings as riders and teams accessed their form ahead of the quick succession of Flandrian races in late March and early April up to Flanders and Scheldeprijs, before Paris-Roubaix in early April brought us to the climax. There was high drama throughout spring that built to a crescendo for the Monuments of Flanders and Roubaix. New hero's were made, new Monument men crowned and some old hero's said goodbye. And, sadly, there was tragedy with the death of young Belgian rider Antoine Demoitié at Gent-Wevelgem.

Demoitié's death naturally left a shadow over further racing, not to mention the awful terrorist attacks on Belgian soil in the days leading into Flanders, but the riders done their best to keep spirits up and put on a show for the fans throughout, and nobody can say they failed us.

We had the good early form of Greg Van Avermaet (winning at Omloop), followed by an injury at Flanders; the continued rise of young Belgian hopeful Tiesj Benoot before he himself crashed out of the Flandrian epic; the attempt by Fabian Cancellara to go out in style with one last big win but which fell short, though through no shortage of panache; wins for two other new Belgian hopefuls: Jesper Stuyven (Kuurne) and Jens Debusschere (Dwars Door); Michal Kwiatkowski out dueling Peter Sagan in a two-up sprint (E3); Sagan bouncing back (Gent-Wevelgem) to round into perfrect form for his first Monument win in brilliant style (Ronde Van Vlaanderen); Tom Boonen coming oh-so-close to making it five Paris-Rouabix wins only to be beaten on the line by the popular veteran Mat Hayman.

There was so much to soak up and digest, so much to talk about afterwords and so much to miss now that those races are over. But, unless you are from Flanders and thus lamenting the passing of this calendar, you've probably already looked ahead and quickly remembered that the Wallonia classics are right upon us. The beauty in the diversity of the cycling calendar: Something for everyone across a long season, and if you're like me, enjoying each season within the season. From those early season stage races to these brilliant cobbled classics to the Ardennes classics to come, continued stage racing and into the summer with the Grand Tours.

So while it briefly felt like the end of Christmas when Mat Hayman took victory in the Roubaix Velodrome, the reality is that in the cycling season the day after boxing day is Christmas again. But before moving onto what's to come in these spring classics, a look at how the top 10 in that Cobbled Classics league table played out. Remember, it was the eight races in which point distribution was equal: 25 points for the win, 18 for 2nd, 15 for 3rd and working down to 1 point for 10th...following the Formula One point format essentially. No bias on Monument races versus regular World Tour race versus 1.HC race; just a table to see who the most consistent cobbled performer was in 2016. I bet you've a fair idea who it was...

Final Cobbled Classic league table after 7 races:

1. Peter Sagan, 92 pts (2x 1st, 2x 2nd, 1x 7th)

2. Sep Vanmarcke, 49 pts (1x 2nd, 1x 3rd, 1x 4th, 1x 8th)

3. Fabian Cancellara, 42 pts (2x 4th, 1x 2nd)

4. Jasper Stuyven, 37 pts (1x 1st, 1x 5th, 1x 9th)

5. Edward Theuns, 25 pts (1x 3rd, 1x 4th, 2x 8th)

6. Jens Debusschere, 33 pts (1x 1st, 1x 6th)

T7. Alexander Kristoff, 30 pts (1x 2nd, 1x 4th)

T7. Ian Stannard, 30 pts (2x 3rd)

9. Greg Van Avermaet, 27 pts (1x 1st, 1x 8th)

10. Michal Kwiatkowski, 25 pts (1x 1st)

It's been fun following this so I figure I might as well keep it going in a separate table tracking the spring classics as a whole. I'll add in the already completed Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo and then continue with the four final hilly classics: Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

Sagan, Vanmarcke, Cancellara et al. won't be racing those and new names will arrive in to take the spotlight. Can any of them win enough to make an impact on the standings? If Alejandro Valverde has the kind of run in the Ardennes that he did last year then he might feature though I think the only one that might threaten Sagan on the top of the standings is Kwiatkowski (already on 25 points) if he shines big time in what's to come.

And we don't have to wait long to start finding out. Brabantse Pijl is Thursday.

Below is the standings with Strande and San Remo added:

1. Peter Sagan, 104 pts
2. Fabian Cancellara, 67 pts
3. Sep Vanmarcke, 49 pts
4. Greg Van Avermaet, 45 pts
5. Alexander Kristoff, 38 pts
6. Jasper Stuyven, 37 pts
7. Edward Theuns, 35 pts
8. Arnaud Demare, 35 pts
9. Jens Debusschere, 33 pts
10. Ian Stannard, 30 pts