The Tour of Flanders is just around the corner and we have not one, not two, but three big favourites. That’s something special already, and I’m super excited for Sunday – I think it’s going to be a fantastic moment for our sport.
It is rare to have three guys, three superstars, all on such a high level for the Classics. You often have one guy who is looking stronger than the rest, or perhaps a rivalry between two – I would know something about that – but to have three guys like Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tadej Pogačar doing battle will bring a whole new dimension to the race.
The three of them are all very different riders, and It will be fascinating to see how they all use their respective strengths, and how they all play off one another. Mathieu is explosive and likes a slow sprint, Van Aert is strong all-round and likes a fast sprint, Tadej is best on the longer climbs but has the weaker sprint.
Their strengths don’t match up, but they do even out, and that’s what makes this Tour of Flanders so hard to predict.
Let’s start with Wout, given we’re in Belgium and everyone wants him to win his first Tour of Flanders. This comes with a lot of pressure, and it’s up to him to block out all the stress from the outside. Just treat it like any other bike race – easier said than done.
There’s a lot of talk that time is running out for Wout to win his first Ronde, but that’s nonsense. I was 29 when I won it for the first time – that’s a year older than Wout is now. It’s never too late.
Wout has not raced since Gent-Wevelgem so we have no further updates on his form but I believe he’s coming with his 100% top condition right now. He showed some weakness on the Oude Kwaremont at E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, but it wasn’t really weakness; it was just that last little ingredient and I suspect he got it at Gent-Wevelgem.
That will have given him the intensity and depth of hard racing to make up for what he was lacking, not to mention the confidence that comes with winning E3 and gifting Gent-Wevelgem away. I wrote last time that he showed humanity there, and maybe this has given him some sort of freedom or peace for Flanders.
As for Mathieu, he has no pressure to block out. He has won Flanders twice, and that gives him a certain psychological advantage.
I don’t think he was really wounded by losing the sprint to Wout at E3. I wrote last week that it was still 3-1 to Van der…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…