It’s here. The big one. The Hollywood of one-day racing. The climax of Flemish week, when the bergs of Belgium captivate not just a nation, but the entirety of the cycling world. Ronde Van Vlaanderen, the second monument in the season calendar, returns on Sunday in all its gruesome glory: 278 km made up of 16 ‘helllingen’, six flat cobbled sections, and a dog-fight until the very end.
Half the beauty of the race is the crescendo of its build-up, made up of the four races in the week preceding its start in Antwerp. To the joy of journalists and fans, Tour of Bruges, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, In Flanders Fields, and Dwars van Vlaanderen leave talking points about fitness and form on the toothed parcours ahead of the main event, whose title has been shared between two men only in the last half decade: Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu Van der Poel.
But there are, of course, others. We had only just processed the excitement of a potential Wout van Aert cobbled comeback when Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe played their hand in what looked to be some kind of April fools prank. Except it wasn’t. Remco is racing.
It’s just as well we’ll have Easter Monday off to recover.
Contenders
Tadej Pogačar
When Pogačar soloed 72 km to victory at Strade Bianche, there were feelings of frustration. The headlines had become difficult to reinvent. Give us something to talk about, a battle to chew on, we cried. And that he did. At Milan-San Remo two weeks later, Pogačar showed not only can he outride the lot when things go to plan, but that he can do so when just about all odds are against him. A crash, an urgent chase, an attack and then a lightning descent on a broken frame and a photo finish at the line was the two-fingered response from Pogačar to the critics who branded him as boring.
The world champion and Ronde van Vlaanderen title-defender looks to be at his absolute best going into the weekend, where last year he delivered a devastating 19km solo attack from the Oude Kwaremont climb to ride off his rivals and secure his second win at the race.
Of all Pogačar’s qualities, it is his exceptional positioning that so often gives him the edge in what is a relentless and brutal fight for a spot near the front. With the decisive phase of Tour of Flanders increasingly igniting from earlier on, the key question is not if he will attack, but where he chooses to make his move.
Victory on Sunday will mean the Slovenian will be level with Van der Poel on three Tour of Flanders wins. The two are currently tied 11-11 in their history of Classics head-to-heads.
Pogačar returns to this year's edition as the defending champion (Image credit: SWpix.com)
Mathieu Van der Poel
After slumping to an eighth place finish at San-Remo, Van der Poel came back to win E3, accelerating with around 70 kilometres to go clear on the Boigneberg. On paper, that win bodes well for another record to be crossed off at Flanders, where the Dutchman hopes to become the first to win the race for a fourth time. However, he won’t have enjoyed how close the chasers got to him by the finish.
Van der Poel’s command of the cobbles shone early this season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – an event which, despite falling five weeks before Flanders, often offers an exciting gauge of cobbled Classics form. Could the oft-quoted statistic that no winner of Omloop has ever gone to win the Tour of Flanders be overturned this weekend? It’s certainly an enticing prospect, and a definite possibility were it not for the differences between Sunday’s race compared to Opening Weekend – starting with the small startlist inconvenience that is Pogačar.
If Pogačar goes early, it’ll be a matter of whether MVDP can stay on his wheel for the duration of the race. While his successful defense of the E3 title showcased his strength on a route closely resembling the Tour of Flanders, that effort didn’t come easy, relentlessly pressured by the chasing duo of Hagenes and Vermeersch. Van der Poel will have his work cut out for him this weekend no doubt.
The Dutchman shone at E3 Sax Bank Classic last week, and will be looking to hold onto Poga čar this weekend (Image credit: Getty)
Read more: The star and the cyclist: How Van der Poel balances fame and focus
Wout Van Aert
An unexpected podium finish in Sanremo, a storming performance at In Flanders Field, and a dogged battle at Dwars door Vlaanderen has put Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) back in the spotlight, to the delight of Belgian fans who will no doubt be rooting for their home hero on Sunday.
If there’s any barometer of Flanders fitness to go by, being able to hold onto the wheel of Van der Poel makes for a decent start. At In Flanders Fields, Van Aert did just that, staying with the Dutchman over the Kemmelberg with 38 km into the ride.
But Van Aert’s comeback has also been tainted with bad luck, as each gusty performance comes within margins of something greater. At In Flanders Field, the Belgian attacked 40km from the finish, riding solo in the final 10km before Filippo Ganna stormed past with 150m to go. The Visma rider will be looking to break that curse on Sunday.
Van Aert will look to ride with the greats once more at this years edition following a return of form (Image credit: Getty)
Read more: Doubt him at your peril: Wout van Aert is in Classics-winning form
Remco Evenepoel
The most intriguing inclusion on the startline is Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The Belgian has conquered the other Monument of his home country, Liège-Bastogne-Liège on two occasions, but has never started the most important race on the Flemish side of the Taalgrens / Frontière Linguistique (the Belgian language border), De Ronde. Despite what the marketing team at Red Bull would perhaps want us to believe, this was not a last-minute decision. It’s clear that Evenepoel and his team have been planning his debut for weeks if not months. His participation certainly changes the narrative of the race. The Olympic champion is a rider who is almost impossible to catch once he has a gap. But can he match the positioning, endurance, and punch of the main man Pogačar?
Evenepoel is set to make his de Ronde debut (Image credit: Getty)
Other contenders
A disrupted build-up to the Classics season has meant that Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has been playing catch-up so far this spring, but the former podium finisher is still a rider to keep an eye on at De Ronde.
Despite not having a win to his name, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has been in the form of his during this cobbled Classics campaign. If Pogačar goes out on the attack early, Vermeersch could look to follow counter moves without the need to work in the wind, saving his legs for later in the race.
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United)was strong in the break at Dwars and the sheer amount of climbing in Flanders will favour him. Expect Bahrain-Victorious pair Alec Segaert and Matej Mohorič to be active as the race begins to fragment.
One of – if not the – strongest teams going into the race is Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, who will be riding in support of Evenepoel. But don’t count against Gianni Vermeersch, Tim and Mick van Dijke and Laurence Pithie being present late into the race. Another squad which will look to use numerical strength is Soudal Quick-Step through the likes of Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven.
Read more: Back on the Wolf Tracks: Will Soudal Quick-Step regain their cobbled Classics crown?
Other riders to look out for are Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Per Strand Hagenes and Christophe Laporte (both Visma), Aimé De Gendt (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos) and António Morgado (UAE).
Prediction
We can’t see beyond Tadej Pogačar’s greatness and believe he will win his third De Ronde title.
