Diabolical. You don't often hear riders use such strong language when assessing their own performances, but Luke Rowe is under no illusions as to how seriously Team Sky have underperformed at the cobbled classics so far this spring, with a big turnaround needed at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday and Paris-Roubaix a week later.
Rowe finished fifth at Flanders last year, while Ian Stannard made the podium at Paris-Roubaix but, despite a podium finish from the former at the 'opening weekend' in February, the duo have had little impact on affairs since the start of the so-called Flemish cycling week.
Rowe was 15th at E3-Harelbeke last Friday but missed the key splits, while Stannard's hopes ended with a puncture. At Gent-Wevelgem on the Sunday, Rowe had a jours sans and abandoned while Stannard got boxed in ahead of the Kemmelberg.
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"Last weekend was diabolical. We've got to do better," said Rowe, sitting down with a small group of journalists at Team Sky's hotel in Kortrijk on Friday evening.
"There are no excuses really. We're one of the top teams, we have all the support, and to perform like that on one of the biggest weekends of year wasn't good enough really, so we've got to up our game."
Rowe and Stannard, along with their directeur sportif, Servais Knaven, both admitted to being caught slightly off guard by the way those two races played out, with the action kicking off earlier than expected. At E3, the first decisive selection came when Philippe Gilbert attacked just after the Taaienberg, and those who weren't alive to it wouldn't see the front of the race again.
Early hostilities
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