This is a promotional feature with GCN+
We’ve had the prequel, now are you ready for the blockbuster sequel?
The E3 Saxo Bank Classic was an epic. The three biggest names in the men’s peloton – Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tadej Pogačar – battling it out for over an hour, with a finish line sprint won by Van Aert the only thing that could separate them after an intense tussle.
Now it’s the time for the big one. The Ronde. The Classic. The one that all the cobbled races before them slowly build up to. It’s the Tour of Flanders, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and both the men’s and women’s races are primed to be the best showdowns in recent memory, every kilometre of which will be available to watch on GCN+.
They are legendary races for so many reasons, but the reason they are so unmissable every year is the unpredictability of them. Stacked with 19 bergs for the men and 13 for the women, the fan-lined Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg both await the riders in the final 20 kilometres. Will the double ascent be the launchpad for a winning move, or will the victors have already set off in pursuit of glory before then?
There are so many narratives, so many storylines. Will Van Aert, the man of the moment, win again? Did he gift Christophe Laporte Gent-Wevelgem knowing that his Jumbo-Visma teammate would repay him handsomely at Flanders?
Will his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel, the defending champion, bounce back from second at E3 and wrap up his third Ronde? He has, bit by bit, been making this race, and the cobbled Classics, his.
What of Tadej Pogačar? The indomitable Slovenian. He who cannot be suppressed. He who seems to glide over cobbles with the same ease as he flies up the mountains. He was so close on debut 12 months ago – is he going to add this Monument to his collection?
And then there’s Soudal – Quick-Step. They desperately need a result – only a win will do, really – to end their barren run of form in the Classics that stretches back two years. Kasper Asgreen, the winner in 2021, seems their most likely hope, even if former world champion Julian Alaphilippe is their designated leader.
The easiest way to check out who is riding and who isn’t is by logging onto the GCN+ app and swotting up on the startlist, route and parcours. While there, you can relive the drama of last year when SD Worx produced a phenomenal team performance to set up Lotte Kopecky for the win, the Belgian champion outsprinting Annemiek van…