Wout van Aert started his road racing season in emphatic style at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, finishing off a Jumbo-Visma one-two started by Tiesj Benoot. Richard Moore was in Gent for 'Opening Weekend' and he joins Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe to discuss the beginning of the classics campaign. We also dissect Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, which ended in the predictable sprint showdown between Fabio Jakobsen and Caleb Ewan but got there in far more surprising fashion. Daniel describes the concept of the 'cassoulet Taco' as the worst fusion cuisine imaginable, we highlight some of the other stars of the cobbles, and wrap up the rest of the week's racing action, which has been dominated by a handful of teams. In the final part, we discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it relates to professional cycling after Gazprom, the team sponsored by the Russian state-owned energy company, starred at the UAE Tour. The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport.

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For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout. The Cycling Podcast has a new collaboration with MAAP. See: maap.cc The Cycling Podcast is on Strava Friends of the Podcast Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to more than 60 exclusive episodes including the Christmas Selection Box collection. This episode is sponsored by Hammerhead. For a limited time, our listeners can get a free Custom Color Kit and an exclusive premium water bottle with the purchase of a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io and use promo code CYCLE at the checkout to take advantage of this limited time offer.