The "Grand Tours" (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España) seem to fill the largest space in the public's attention when it comes to professional bicycle racing, but as time has gone by, I've become much more a fan of the Spring Classics. These one-day races pack more excitement and action into a few hours than the Tour de France does in a double handful of stages (or, often, the whole race). There's no sitting back and letting somebody else win the stage because the leader has such a large time advantage in the bag; no, in a Classic, the only thing that counts is who crosses the finish line first. Whether it's a veteran pro or a new guy with not a single win in his palmares yet, every rider who pulls away from the peloton could be a threat.

The 2005 Het Volk and Ghent-Wevelgem races are exemplars of great Classics racing. Each race is one of the most exciting editions of that race that I've seen in a long time, making the overall package one with real punch to it.

Before I go into details, I'll point out that this DVD continues the (to my mind) rather odd practice of putting the races in reverse order. Though it's the second DVD in the set, Het Volk takes place before Ghent-Wevelgem, and for greatest enjoyment, you should definitely watch it first. In fact, for maximum enjoyment, the only way to go is to watch the Spring Classics in order from beginning to end: Het Volk, (Paris-Nice would come next, though it's not a Classic), Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, Paris-Roubaix, Fleche Wallonne, Liege-Bastogne-Liege. In particular, this year's Ghent-Wevelgem coverage is made much more interesting if you had just watched the Tour of Flanders DVD, since the questions that Paul Sherwen asks of the riders in the pre-race interviews directly relate to their performances in the previous race and their plans for this one (and for the upcoming Paris-Roubaix).

For both races, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen provide the commentary, and do a great job of it as usual.

Het Volk

The chilly, early-season Het Volk (taking place on a snowy February 26) is the first major race in the pro cycling calendar, and as such it's always of interest to cycling fans, who get to see riders on new teams after the winter trading season. Of course, the question of who's fit and who's not is also very much on everyone's mind... including that of the riders, many of whom are struggling to get used to the cold Belgian weather after a winter spent training in sunnier climes.

The Het Volk course is an interesting one, winding through the Belgian countryside (at this time of year, looking stark but still beautiful) and spiced up with cobbled climbs. In that sense, it's more challenging than Paris-Roubaix, which is famous for its cobbled sections but is generally quite flat.

The peloton includes a number of big names out for an early-season victory, such as veteran Peter van Petegem; the young Tom Boonen, heralded as perhaps the successor of Johann Museeuw; Steffen Wesemann for T-Mobile; and George Hincapie for the US team Discovery Channel; and others. Most importantly, everyone is eager and aggressive, so we get a lot of action. An early breakaway is very threatening, and there's a big fight to get it back, with plenty of give and take in the peloton. The finale is something special as well, with unexpected action and a very exciting finish.

Running approximately an hour in length, the Het Volk DVD coverage is perfect: not too much, not too little, and well edited. All in all, the 2005 Het Volk is one to remember.

Ghent-Wevelgem

I took a break after watching Het Volk to watch the next races in the Classics series, namely Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. The latter race in particular provides a great lead-in to Ghent-Wevelgem. Paul Sherwen does an outstanding job of getting pre-race interviews with the key riders. Sure, we get to hear from a lot of the more minor riders just because they happen to be British or Australian, but it's still fun to hear what they have to say, and Sherwen also gets great interviews with the "heads of state" as well. His questions help put Ghent-Wevelgem into perspective, as he references both the recent performances in the Tour of Flanders and the riders' hopes for the more prestigious Paris-Roubaix that will happen in just a few days.

The 2005 Ghent-Wevelgem ranks right up there with the most exciting Classics I've seen, and certainly this is probably the best Ghent-Wevelgem I've seen. It's a relatively flat course, with two climbs up the Monteberg and the Kemmelberg late in the race adding a hurdle for the sprinters but an opportunity for explosive climbers. Tom Boonen is an obvious favorite for this race, but other quite strong contenders include Erik Zabel, George Hincapie, Tom Steels, Magnus Backstedt, Andreas Klier, and Thor Hushovd. Eternal favorite Andrea Tafi is on the start list as well, cheerfully refusing to commit to whether he's going to retire this year or not.

In terms of racing action, the way that Ghent-Wevelgem unfolds this time just can't be beat. There's aggressive riding, breakaways, and chases the whole way, and on various occasions it looks like we have "the break" of the day... only to find that the race is re-shaping once again. In particular, the final twelve kilometers or so of the race are positively nail-biting, especially the last three kilometers. I'd really recommend trying not to look at the cover of the DVD, the menu of the DVD, or the images that play behind the opening credits, as any of these could spoil the surprise and excitement of a simply fabulous Ghent-Wevelgem finish.

The hour-long coverage is just right, giving a smooth and well-edited flow of events. Paul Sherwen also does a nice job of wrapping up the race with some interesting post-race interviews with the riders.

The DVD

The two races are conveniently packaged in a single-wide keepcase; Het Volk has one disc, and Ghent-Wevelgem the other. The only fault I would find is that the cover art spoils the finish of Ghent-Wevelgem, and that the menus and the opening credit montage give away key moments in each race. On the other hand, the disc art for both is nicely done, as it's attractive while not spoiling anything, and the art and menus for Het Volk are perfect.

Video

Both Het Volk and Ghent-Wevelgem both look quite satisfactory. The image quality isn't perfect, as it's somewhat soft overall, but considering that it's live television footage, it's reasonably good. Het Volk looks more subdued, as it took place on a gray and slightly rainy day, but in both this race footage and that of Ghent-Wevelgem, colors look natural and there are no real flaws or issues.

Audio

First the good track: Het Volk sounds very good. The overall track is crisp and clean, with a natural-sounding commentary that's always distinct and clear. The track also includes a nice "race ambiance" background, so below Liggett and Sherwen's commentary we hear the cars, the sounds of the peloton on the road, the crowd, and so on. It's a pleasing track.

Ghent-Wevelgem sounds odd at first, so that it took me a little while to figure out what was the matter. Here, there's absolutely no race sound at all: it's just the commentary on top of a totally soundless image. While Liggett and Sherwen sound clear and natural, the overall effect is much less engaging. It's not until it disappeared that I realized how much more interesting the soundtrack is when we hear more of the race itself in the background. On top of that, there's also a brief moment in the middle of the track when the commentary cuts out, leaving a gap of dead silence for a few seconds before picking up again.

Extras

The only special feature is a start list for each race, printed on the reverse side of the DVD cover.

Final thoughts

The 2005 DVD of Het Volk and Ghent-Wevelgem is really as good as it gets for these one-day Spring Classics. The quality of the field is outstanding, the races are action-packed from start to finish, and the finale is extremely exciting in both cases. The hour of coverage given to each race is just right, with the footage being well edited to cover all the most exciting parts of the race. While the audio track for Ghent-Wevelgem is disappointing, overall the DVD transfer is satisfactory. Highly recommended.