At last, it’s nearly time for the classic we’ve all been waiting for: the Tour of Flanders. Every one of the many cobbled Classics that have taken place since Omloop Het Nieuwsblad five weeks ago has been building up to this day, the first Sunday of April, which every year sees seemingly all of Belgium come to a standstill to witness the biggest event on the national cycling calendar.
Team Jumbo-Visma have been the undisputed winners of the Classics so far this spring, with Dylan van Baarle winning Het Nieuwsblad, Tiesj Benoot Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Wout van Aert E3 Saxo Bank Classic, and most recently Christophe Laporte both Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
But at the Tour of Flanders the Dutch squad must reckon with a plethora of talent all hungry for success — most notably, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), riders who, along with Jumbo’s Van Aert, have looked so superior to everyone else that they’ve been deemed The Big Three.
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At last year’s Ronde, Van der Poel and Pogačar went clear together on the Oude Kwaremont, before embarking in a risky cat and mouse game on the finishing straight that, in thrilling circumstances, enabled Van Baarle and Valentin Madouas to catch them. Van der Poel still managed to win from the sprint, while Pogačar floundered in a frustrated fourth.
With such a stacked line up, we’re bracing ourselves for more unpredictable drama this year.
Mathieu van der Poel
No rider competing on Sunday can claim to have as strong a Tour of Flanders pedigree as Van der Poel. Not only is he defending champion, he’s been the main protagonist of all three of the last Tour of Flanders, narrowly fishing runner-up to Kasper Asgreen the year before, and getting the better of Wout van Aert in another two-up sprint to win the 2020 edition.
Van der Poel’s two wins make him the Ronde favourite (Zac Williams/SWPix)
He’s kept his racing to a minimum this spring, but has been in top form in his last two appearances, winning the third monument of his career at Milan-Sanremo, and finishing second at E3 Saxo Bank Classic.
His tactics in the latter race, where he attacked early and attacked hard to take Van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma teammates out of contention and turn the race into a straightforward three-way contest between himself, Van Aert and Pogačar, may well be a blueprint for how he is…