Classics Machine: With Boonen, Barredo, Chavanel and Devolder, Quick Step is Heavy Favorite for All One Day Races in 2010

The Quick Step team is absolutely stacked with one day talent for 2010, and the Belgian team will have a race day favorite throughout the year in every one day classic they line up for in the coming year. The linchpin of their team is the same as in the past, as Tom Boonen will lead the squad in the cobbled classics and grand tours, but behind Boonen sits a stable of riders who are all capable of scoring big wins at multiple classics throughout the season.

Stijn Devolder will act again as the 2nd in command at the cobbled classics in 2010, where he will once again hope to profit when Boonen is heavily marked in the early spring classics. As the peloton focuses on three-time Paris-Roubaix winner Boonen, Devolder is free to fly, and for the past two years he has used that dynamic to his advantage as he has won the Tour of Flanders twice on solo breakaways. Devolder is also a decent climber, and he should be around to contest the finales of the Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege hilly classics.

Sylvain Chavanel is a third option on Quick Step for the spring classics, but on any other team he would likely be an undisputed team leader. Good things happen to those who wait, and Chavanel may be poised for a huge 2010. With so many high profile teammates surrounding him, Chavanel, like Devolder will be able to try to catch the peloton off guard at select one day races throughout the year. He is a tough, savvy rider on the precipice of great things, and 2010 could well be the year that he scores his first major classic victory to add to his grand tour success.

Carlos Barredo finally broke through in 2009, taking the win at the only Spanish classic, the Clasica San Sebastian in impressive style. The win was a long time coming for the climbing-oriented rider who had been oh so close in the past but had never been able to grab a huge win. All that has changed now though, and Barredo will be keen to stretch his legs in the hilly classics as a co-captain with Devolder and then again in fall at San Sebastian and the Giro di Lombardia.

While there are many other teams that will bring strong lineups to the classics for 2010, none are as well-equipped to win classics throughout the year than Quick Step. Boonen, a hardened battle ax capable of handling the pressure of being a favorite at the year's most important races will be in the mix, but so will his three lieutenants, each in his own right an out sized cycling talent. Add to all of that the fact that they are directed by the veteran manager Patrick Lefevre, and Quick Step positions themselves as a fearsome adversary at every big one day race for 2010.