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Tour of Flanders men’s race preview: The favorites, the course, the storylines

Everything you need to know about 2022 men's tour of flanders, from the climbs and cobbles to the contenders and conditions..

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106th Tour of Flanders Date: Sunday, April 3, 2022 Start: Antwerp-Grotemarket Finish: Oudenaarde, Belgium Distance: 272.5km

Tour of Flanders: Everything you need to know

De Ronde. The  Tour of Flanders . Few races evoke such awe and excitement as the Belgian monument.

From Mathieu van der Poel to Greg Van Avermaet, Kasper Asgreen , and Tadej Pogačar , the world’s best one-day riders and the odd grand tour specialist line up for one of the season’s most anticipated and important one-day races Sunday.

The hype cannot be overstated for the Ronde van Vlaanderen , which has emerged during the past two decades to be a season highlight for fans, riders, and media alike.

Fans turn out en masse for what many call a national day in Flemish Belgium. An estimated one million fans cheer from the roadside, beer tents, and bars along the winding route that takes in some of the emblematic climbs and cobbles in the Belgian monument.

Also read: How to watch Tour of Flanders 2022: Live streaming and TV

Following two years of COVID restrictions, things look almost normal for this year. With springlike weather and a top-flight start list despite a few final-hour misses from the likes of Peter Sagan, Wout van Aert and the entire Israel-Premier Tech team, everything is in place for a thrilling race, start to finish.

The race lives up to its nickname “ Vlaanderens mooist ” — Flanders’ most beautiful — so pass the beer and frites, this is must-see TV from start to finish.

Who to watch for: Rivalries, comebacks, and debuts

Every edition of Flanders brings its own subplots and intrigue, and this year is no exception.

One of the top stories will be the return of Mathieu Van der Poel in time for Flanders. Cycling’s “everyman” was sidelined all winter due to nagging back pain, and the rest seems to have done him good.

“MVDP” returned with a flourish, hitting the podium with third — in his first road race since Paris-Roubaix — at Milan-San Remo, and then hitting out for a stage win at Coppi e Bartali last week.

Of course, monument distance and a much harder parcours will test his limits. Tanned, rested, and ready, the Alpecin-Fenix rider is the center of every race he starts.

Right behind him will be the mighty wind of Jumbo-Visma. COVID took out Van Aert, leaving Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot to try to wave the team flag.

All eyes will be on Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, and the erstwhile Belgian powerhouse seems a bit stuck in the ruts. Take away Fabio Jakobsen’s win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Patrick Lefevere’s “Wolfpack” has been rather toothless so far in the 2022 spring classics.

Injuries and illnesses haven’t helped and the team’s been on the back foot all season. But this team races on pride, and Kasper Asgreen seems poised to carry team colors deep into the race even if he has to do it by himself.

Quick-Step’s won three of the past five editions, but this year the eternal favorites find themselves with something to prove.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ronde van Vlaanderen (@rondevanvlaanderenofficial)

Enter Tadej Pogačar.

The two-time Tour de France champion is unstoppable so far in 2022, and the UAE Team Emirates star makes his highly anticipated Flanders debut. He’s already proven he can win monuments, with Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège already on his trophy shelf.

Flanders is a different type of racing, where the climbs are short and rough instead of the longer, more jagged pills of pain he dishes out in the Alps and Pyrenees. All eyes will be on Pogačar and whether or not he will try to make a long-range attack to blow open the race.

Every edition has its fairytale story or unsung hero, and Sunday could see a rider emerge to be this year’s Alberto Bettiol. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) have impressed so far in the classics.

And it’s in that magical sixth hour of racing in the monuments where all the good stuff happens. That’s what helps make the monuments stand out. The distance on top of an already never-ending series of bergs, cobbles, narrow roads, and wind present a unique kind of challenge.

There are never any fluke winners at Flanders.

Route: One for the ages

There are a few tweaks in the Ronde route for 2022, with Antwerp playing host for the sixth time, and Oudenaarde once again the finish line.

The route is now about 20km longer, kicking the distance up to 272.5km.

The move from Bruges to Antwerp a few years saw some alteration of the first hour or so of racing, meaning it takes a bit longer to get the first climbs as the route pushes west and then south into the heart of the “ Vlaamse Ardennen ,” the Flemish Ardennes.

The iconic Kapel-Muur is not on the docket this year, and the course dips and dives southwest out of Antwerp toward the cobbles and climbs.

Oude Kwaremont is tackled three times and plays a key role in the final finishing loops. The climbs come in quick succession in the final hours of racing. With nerves, crashes and positioning all playing a key role, being at the front is absolutely necessary for anyone with ambitions for victory.

The final laps are an attacker’s paradise, with the Oude Kwaremont, Koppenberg and Paterberg lined up like a murderer’s row on the penultimate lap.

The combination of cobbled climbs, flat pavé sectors, narrow roads, and paved climbs reaches a new dimension of pain and tactics in the closing laps.

The penultimate passage up Oude Kwaremont is quickly followed by the Paterberg, one passage up the brutal Koppenberg followed by Steenbeekdries, Tom Boonen’s favorite launching pad at the Taaienbarg, and finally Kruisberg/Hotond.

By then, the peloton is usually shattered into shards.

The modern classic combo of the final passage up Oude Kwaremont followed by the Paterberg sets the stage for the 13km drag race to the line in Oudenaarde, where thousands of fans have been guzzling beer and watching the race on big-screen TVs all afternoon.

Weather: Cold, wet, and windy

Weather is a factor in any race, and after a decade of relatively mild weather, that trend looks to change this weekend.

Despite snow on Friday, which left some of the climbs caked in white stuff, the sun broke out Sunday morning.

By Sunday morning, temperatures were in the the mid-30s (2C) at sign-in and warmed up into the high 40s (9C) by the finish.

There’s a slim percent chance of rain in the afternoon, with light northerly winds. That could mean a mix of cross/headwinds in the closing loops and the final run into Oudenaarde.

Tour of Flanders: The winners from the past decade 2021: Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quick-Step 2020: Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 2019: Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Education First 2018: Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 2017: Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 2016: Peter Sagan (Slo) Tinkoff 2015: Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 2014: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 2013: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Leopard 2012: Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step

WorldTour teams AG2R-Citroën Astana-Qazaqstan Bahrain Victorious Bora-Hansgrohe Cofidis EF Education-EasyPost Groupama-FDJ Ineos Grenadiers Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Israel-Premier Tech Jumbo-Visma Lotto Soudal Movistar Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl BikeExchange-Jayco Team DSM Trek-Segafredo UAE Team Emirates

ProTeam wildcard teams: Alpecin-Fenix B&B hotels-KTM Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles Sport Vlaanderein Baloise Team Arkéa-Samsic TotalEnergies Uno-X

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There are still five days to go until the Tour of Flanders, but one fan is already camping out to secure his spot

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The breakaway at the 2016 Tour of Flanders

If you think you're a committed cycling fan, then we've got bad news for you, as you're simply never going to be able to compete with the dedication of one Belgian fan who is already camping out on the route of the Tour of Flanders with five days still to go until the big day.

Patrick Debondt (who we're going to assume is retired, self-employed, or has a very understanding employer) has already parked his campervan at the bottom of the Paterberg in order to secure the best spot for the big day on Sunday, as well as to make sure his van does not sink into the mud.

>>> Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard named in Team Sky's Dwars Door Vlaanderen squad

"I've come already because rain is forecast," Debondt told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad .

"Because of the rain in recent weeks, the field is soggy. I have to install road plates [metal or wooden boards that go underneath the wheels of the van to stop it sinking into the field] now, because that's going to give help if several campers arrive and the field gets more swampy."

Watch: Cobbled Classics essential guide 2018

Debondt is parked at the bottom of the Paterberg, which will be climbed twice by the men and once by the women on Sunday, and be the final climb in both races.

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>>> Niki Terpstra's Strava upload shows the incredible story of his solo victory in E3 Harelbeke

However Debondt does not intend to simply sit in his field for the next five days, and will travel to watch Dwars door Vlaanderen, which does not use the Paterberg, on Wednesday.

"I'll go to the Kluisberg for Dwars door Vlaanderen. The rest of the days you always experience something here. Riders who explore, cycling tourists, it is buzzing with activity here. I am not going to get bored."

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Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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How to Watch the Tour of Flanders

The fields for Sunday are absolutely stacked for one of the most exciting races on the spring calendar.

This season’s second Monument just might be the best.

The warm-up races with names we can barely pronounce wrapped-up with Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, which means it’s time for the biggest race in Belgium and one of the hardest races on the men’s and women’s calendars: the Tour of Flanders (known locally as the Ronde van Vlaanderen , or more simply as the Ronde ). Here’s everything you need to know about the season’s second Monument.

For the first time since 2016, the 273K men’s race begins in Bruges. The course then zig-zags its way southeast toward the hills of the Flemish Ardennes, a region packed with short, steep (often cobbled) climbs which the locals call bergs . Once the race passes through Oudenaarde (home to the Tour of Flanders Museum), the action centers around two big loops, each featuring two climbs—the Oude Kwaremont (long, steady, and cobbled) and the Paterberg (short, steep, and cobbled)—that often determine the outcome of the race.

Filled with narrow farm roads (more like bike paths) that seem to wind endlessly around the Flemish countryside, it often takes years for riders to master the nuances of the course. And it’s early April, which means weather can be a factor as well (there’s nothing more slippery than cobblestones covered in wet manure). No wonder Belgians have won the race 69 times.

Of the 19 climbs in this year’s men’s race, the Koppenberg (44K from the finish line) is probably the most famous. Super-steep, cobbled, and narrow, this is where the race’s final phase begins. Riders who don’t hit the climb at the front of the peloton are often forced to get off their bikes and walk as the sudden deceleration caused by the abrupt change in terrain ripples backwards through the pack. The race is essentially over for anyone who doesn’t make it over the top in the top-25.

After the Koppenberg, five climbs remain, and recent editions of the Ronde have seen race-winning attacks launched on just about all of them. Lately it’s all come down to the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg combo, with special attention often given to the rolling road in between as riders try and surprise their rivals while they recover from the Kwaremont and prepare for the Paterberg.

Leaving out the portion from Bruges, the 156K women’s race begins and ends in Oudenaarde, with 13 of the bergs featured in the men’s event including–for the first time last year–the Koppenberg. In fact, the women’s and men’s finales are identical, with the Kruisberg, the Oude Kwaremont, and the Paterberg coming in quick succession providing the final launchpad for riders hoping to escape.

From the top of the final ascent of the Paterberg it’s only 13K to the finish line in Oudenaarde, a distance that several riders have covered alone in recent years. Sprints are rare in the Ronde–the race is too hard to see large groups make it to the finish line still in contention for the win–so if they happen they only happen in groups of 3 or 4.

How to Watch

We’ll be up early on Sunday, April 2 to watch the men as they hit the Oude Kwaremont for the first time (about 7:30 a.m. EDT). If that’s too early for you, set an alarm for about 9:30 a.m. EDT, the second passage over the cobbled ascent on the first of the Ronde’s two final circuits.

The men’s race should finish around 10:45 a.m. EDT, at which point the women (depending on their average speed) should be nearing or just over the Koppenberg. Their race should finish around 11:45 a.m. EDT, which means you’re in for at least 2+ hours of fantastic racing.

What Happened Last Year

With Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) out after testing positive for COVID-19, the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) entered the day as the top favorite. But van der Poel had a new foe: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was making his Flanders debut 1) to get a taste of the cobblestones in preparation for July’s Tour de France, and 2) because he’s Tadej Pogačar and he can pretty much be a contender in any race he enters.

And that proved to be the case as the two-time Tour de France champion attacked on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, then again on the Koppenberg, and finally on the last ascent of the Oude Kwaremont–with van der Poel the only rider able to follow him. The duo worked well together until the final kilometer, when van der Poel slowed, almost daring Pogačar to start the sprint. His deceleration allowed a small group of chasers to rejoin the duo, at which point the Dutchman accelerated, winning the race for the second time in three years. His compatriot Dylan van Baarle (INEOS Grenadiers) finished second, and France’s Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) took third. After botching the sprint, Pogačar was forced to settle for a disappointing fourth-place finish.

About an hour later, Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) saved the day for the home fans, winning the women’s Tour of Flanders in the black-yellow-red jersey of the Belgian national champion.

An elite group of six came together after the final ascent of the Paterberg, including Kopecky, her teammates Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (who won the Ronde in 2021) and Marlen Reusser, and Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten (the defending champion).

With strength in numbers, SD Worx played its cards well. Reusser was the first to attack, a move quickly countered by van Vleuten. Then van den Broek-Blaak went, initially catching van Vleuten off-guard. The two-time Ronde winner recovered though, chasing down van den Broek-Blaak–but bringing Kopecky along for the ride. Once caught, van den Broek-Blaak rode for her teammate, leading out the sprint for the Belgian champion. She’s only the second Belgian to win the women’s Ronde.

Riders to Watch

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Winner of two of the last three editions–and Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago–van der Poel is the top favorite heading into Sunday’s men’s event. Yes, he lost last Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic (a mini-Tour of Flanders) to van Aert, but he was clearly the strongest rider in the race and would have won had van Aert not (wisely) opted for a long-distance sprint (the Dutchman prefers shorter, more sudden accelerations). A win Sunday would put van der Poel alongside some of the sport’s greatest Classics riders atop the Ronde’s record books with an incredible three wins in five starts.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

Van Aert missed last year’s race after testing positive for COVID-19 a few days before the event, a big shame since the Belgian was in the form of his life and looked ready to avenge his narrow loss to van der Poel in 2020. Belgian seems to have timed his form just right again: he won Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic and finished second after giving the win to his teammate, France’s Christophe Laporte , in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem.

Van Aert seems to have finally learned to play a bit more poker, saving his energy for well-timed attacks and forcing other riders to share the responsibility of chasing other moves and driving key breakaways. If all goes as planned, on Sunday he’ll win his first cobbled Monument, becoming the first Belgian to win the Ronde since 2017.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Pogačar raced in two of last year’s cobbled Classics–Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders–seemingly just as preparation for the cobbled stage of July’s Tour de France. But Pog doesn’t start races for training: he finished 10th in Dwars door Vlaanderen and 4th in Flanders. Well, after messing up last year, he’s back and committed to winning it. Forming the third piece of a star-studded breakaway in Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic, the Slovenian joined van der Poel and van Aert in the winning move. But winning Flanders is a tall order for the Slovenian: the climbs in Flanders aren’t long enough for him to drop the other two–and he can’t outsprint them. Watching Pogačar try and figure out a way to win could be this year’s most exciting storyline.

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ)

We won’t be surprised if this plays out in a way similar to the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, with van der Poel, van Aert, and Pogačar breaking away to hog all the glory for themselves. But if there is an “upset,” we won’t be shocked if Mohorič or Küng is the rider to pull it off. Over the past two seasons they’ve put themselves firmly on a tier right below the “Big Three” in the cobbled Classics. Their teams are deep and experienced, and they both could profit should there be a stalemate among the top three contenders. Mohorič is an opportunist and will likely try and escape earlier than the others might expect; Küng is a time trialist and could prove hard to catch if he gets a gap late in the race.

Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx)

Team SD Worx is far and away the strongest in the race, and as they showed last year, they have several cards to play. Their captain will likely be Kopecky , the defending champion. Able to win alone or in a small group sprint, she should be the focal point of the team’s plans.

Marlen Reusser (Team SD Worx)

Kopecky’s toughest competition might come from within her own team, most likely in the form of a rider who played a big role in helping her win last year: Reusser. The Swiss time trialist scored an amazing solo victory in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem . A strong time trialist, if she gets away late in the race and other teams refuse to chase her (for fear of giving Kopecky a free ride to the finish line) they may never see her again.

Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx)

A stark contrast to Laporte and van Aert’s 1-2 finish in Ghent-Wevelgem (in which van Aert openly gifted the win to his teammate), Vollering outsprinted Kopecky to win Strade Bianche in March, a result that certainly made for some awkward post-race comments. Well, we could be in for a repeat: Vollering won Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen , and we’re wondering how she and Kopecky will coexist on Sunday. Will Vollering ride for her Belgian teammate? Will Kopecky chase her if she doesn’t? The race within this team will go a long way toward determining the Ronde’s final outcome.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)

Racing her final season as a professional, van Vleuten has had a relatively quiet spring thus far: she hasn’t competed since Strade Bianche (in early March) and shockingly hasn’t won a race yet this year. That said, we’ve learned to never discount the current world champion, who had a quiet spring in 2021 but then won both Dwars door Vlaanderen and Flanders in the same week. Overlooking her could prove fatal for the opposition.

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Vos has only raced twice so far this season, but the Dutch rider finished third in Dwars door Vlaanderen, a result that shows she’s right where she needs to be to add another Tour of Flanders to her resume (she won the race way back in 2013). She could be using Flanders to put the finishing touches on her form for next weekend’s Paris-Roubaix (one of the only major races missing from her palmares), but if a large group hits the finish line in Oudenaarde, she’s a good bet to win the field sprint.

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How to watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders | Global options for live TV, streaming and highlights

How to catch the women’s and men’s racing in the second monument of the season

POOL JAN DE MEULENEIR/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

The 2024 men's and women's Tour of Flanders takes place on Sunday 31 March.

The second monument of the season, the Ronde van Vlaanderen is defined by its steep cobbled climbs.

The 270.8km men's race starts in Antwerp and finishes in Oudenaarde, which has hosted the finish since Peter Sagan's win in 2016. The men's route features 17 cobbled climbs in total, including the Koppenberg, Valkenberg, Wolvenberg and others.

The women's race is 163km, starting and finishing in Oudenaarde. The women's route includes 12 bergs, finishing with a double-headed ascent of the Kwaremont and Paterberg.

Here's how to see the action live on TV, streaming online or on catch-up.

2024 Tour of Flanders race schedule

The women’s race starts in Oudenaarde at 1.24pm CEST and is expected to finish around 5.55pm.

The men's race starts at 10am CEST and is due to finish around 4:45pm.

How can I watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders live in the UK?

Eurosport 1 and Discovery+ will show live coverage of the men's and women's editions of the 2024 Tour of Flanders.

Discovery+ coverage of the men's race kicks off at 8.30am UK time, finishing up at 3.45pm. Eurosport 1 starts at 9.45am, wrapping up at 4.45pm.

For a full bumper day of racing viewing, you can tune in at 2pm on Discover+ for the women's race, or 4.45pm on Eurosport 1. Coverage ends at 5.50pm and 6.30pm respectively.

If you fancy a Sunday lie-in, don't forget the clocks change on Sunday 31 March.

A standard Eurosport/Discovery+ subscription costs £6.99 per month and is available on a range of platforms, including tablet, mobile, TV with Chromecast or AirPlay, Android TV and Apple TV.

How can I watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders live in the US?

FloBikes will show the Tour of Flanders in the US. Coverage starts for the men's race at 3.55am EST and the women's race at 9am EST. FloBikes requires a subscription.

How can I watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders live in Australia?

SBS will be covering the women’s and men’s racing live and on-demand. Coverage starts at 9.55am AEDT for the men's race and 3pm AEDT for the women's event.

How else can I watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders?

There’s live terrestrial coverage in many European countries.

Italian national broadcaster RAI will be broadcasting the race live and on-demand. RTBF and VRT will be showing the race in full in Belgium. ESPN will also show the event in many territories outside of Europe.

If you’ve got a VPN, you may be able to register, log in to its website and watch live.

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Cycling route Tour of Flanders

5.0 2 reviews | 1 photo | 16 climbs | 6 regions

Tour of Flanders is a 113.8 kilometer bicycle route with a total ascent of 1257 meters. 31.3 kilometers of the tour are uphill. There are 16 official climbs on the route. Climbfinder users shared 2 reviews of this route and uploaded 1 photo.

This route contains streets paved with cobbles that can be ridden with a road bike.

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Time on bike, reviews (2).

Good route that has the best climbs from the Ronde in it. If you only have 1 day and don't want to cycle the red/yellow/blue loops, this is highly recommended.

Goede route die de mooiste beklimmingen uit de Ronde erin heeft zitten. Als je maar 1 dag de tijd hebt en niet de rode/gele/blauwe lusjes wilt fietsen is dit een aanrader.

I rode this tour in the summer of 2021. Nice route and with this you have done most of the known climbs of the RVV. What's nice is that each climb is indicated on the tarmac, including where the Strava segment starts and ends.

There are some short sections that are only 1 car wide. Unfortunately on one of these parts I met an oncoming car in a blind descent bend on a wet concrete road (between the Mariaborrestraat and Ronse) which led to a crash with grazes.

Despite this I can recommend the tour. PS: near the Ouwe Kwaremont you have the "Ronde van Vlaanderen straat", here all winners are mentioned on the asphalt. Very impressive list and only a small detour compared to the original circuit.

Rondje in de zomer van 2021 gereden. Mooie route en hiermee heb je grotendeels alle bekende klimmen uit de RVV gedaan. Wat leuk is, is dat elke klim wordt aangeven op het asfalt incl. waar het Strava segment start en eindigt.

Er zitten een aantal korte stukken tussen die maar 1 auto breed zijn. Helaas kwam ik op 1 van deze stukken een tegenligger tegen in een blinde afdaling bocht op een nat betonpad (tussen de Mariaborrestraat en Ronse) wat tot een valpartij met schaafwonden heeft geleidt.

Ondanks dit kan ik het rondje aanraden. PS: vlakbij de Ouwe Kwaremont heb je de "Ronde van Vlaanderen straat", hier staan alle winnaars op het asfalt genoemd. Zeer imposante lijst en slechts een kleine omweg t.o.v. originele rondje.

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Tour of Flanders

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Heading across to take part in the Tour of Flanders sportive in the first weekend in April staying at Camping Panorama just outside Oudenaarde http://www.campingpanorama.be/e/contact.html Anybody stayed there before?  

No, we'll be wilding :wink: tony  

Just realised that we are going to be in the area so will be able to watch the race. Are there any good places to watch the race with motorhome parking close by? Thanks Peter  

Bump (again) (sorry)  

Just drive the route and pull over and park at or near a suitable spot to watch the race. tony  

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Five things to look out for ahead of the Tour of Flanders

A fter his display of supreme dominance at the E3 Classic on Friday , much of the talk going into Gent-Wevelgem was around whether or not Mathieu van der Poel was beatable. Last year, the question was how do you disrupt the winning machine that was Visma-Lease a Bike. This year, it's the Classics winning double act of Jasper Philipsen and the reigning world champion. 

Mads Pedersen and his teammates answered that question in some style last weekend. It had been evident that Lidl-Trek had a battle plan in place for the Classics. Signs of it coming to life were clear at Milan-San Remo, it was fine tuned at E3, and it came together perfectly on Sunday . 

One rider's, or team’s, dominance in any field of racing can make for a somewhat dull affair for those watching on. Fortunately, Lidl-Trek seem to have grabbed their newfound status with both hands and look capable of upsetting the proverbial apple cart in both the men’s and women’s pelotons in the weeks and races to come. 

Elisa Balsamo has already underlined her status as chief SD Worx disruptor and it looks like Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven are set to follow suit in the men’s field in the coming weeks too. 

As well as this, we have picked out some other plotlines to follow in the coming fortnight once the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix arrive. 

Visma-Lease a Bike weakened by Laporte absence

The reigning European champion, Christophe Laporte, proved himself to be instrumental in much of his team’s Classic success last year. Since joining from Cofidis, Laporte has become a vital cog in the Visma-Lease a Bike machine and a key ally to the likes of Wout van Aert as they go in search of Flanders and Roubaix victory. 

The team announced on Monday that Laporte has been ruled out of Dwars door Vlaanderen, a race he won last year, and the Tour of Flanders this week in what will come as a hammer blow to Van Aert’s big plans. 

According to Visma-Lease a Bike, Laporte is suffering with a stomach bug as well as a problematic saddle sore. 

Since winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Opening Weekend , the team has struggled to reassert its dominance in the races that followed. A spate of illness and injury affecting key riders has been the main issue and Laporte’s condition will only add to their woes. 

The Frenchman will have been one rider earmarked to be last man standing alongside Van Aert in terms of teammates when the sharp end of both upcoming Monuments arrives. 

Laporte’s absence will only add to the expectation already on the shoulders of recently crowned Paris-Nice champion, Matteo Jorgenson . He’s the man that we predict will be highlighted as Van Aert's potential right hand man instead. 

Lidl-Trek continue to flex their tactical muscles

Numbers is the key, according to Lidl-Trek, combined with experience if you want to isolate and ultimately beat Van der Poel in his own backyard this Spring. 

The American team had both in abundance last weekend and the core of the squad will almost certainly stay the same for both Flanders and Roubaix. 

In Stuyven and Pedersen, Trek have two riders as in sync as Alpecin-Deceuninck's Van der Poel and Philipsen and who are both just as willing as the Alpecin duo to bury themselves for one another, a quality not all teams are lucky to possess. 

Expect to see their tactical plan continue to gather momentum as the Classics roll on. It was evident that it was starting to build at San Remo, and has all the qualities to reach the perfect crescendo in the Roubaix velodrome soon. 

FDJ-Suez and Movistar look to upset the favourites

After watching Lidl-Trek of late in the women’s peloton, Sunday showed that other teams are starting to take note of where the likes of SD Worx-Protime may be fallible. 

The general consensus seems to be to go long in order to put them under pressure, or ignite the final kilometres as SD Worx look to assemble their sprint train for Lorena Wiebes. Both Movistar and FDJ-Suez threw caution to the wind and did just that in the closing stages of Sunday’s women’s edition of Gent-Wevelgem. 

Wiebes got the win, but ultimately she was made to work for it. Firstly Emma Norsgaard and Floortje Mackaij got up the road in a bid to shake things up and force some of the favourites teams to chase. Once they were brought back in, FDJ did similar and launched Grace Brown on the attack with just under three kilometres to the line.  

Brown is a strong time triallist, capable of going early and making a move stick. Her attack will have set alarm bells ringing amongst the SD Worx leadout train. Ultimately, it wasn’t to be, but even if it's not Brown, others will have been buoyed by Movistar and FDJ’s tactics last weekend and may try similar to stop Kopecky in both Flanders and Roubaix. 

Laurence Pithie continues to grow in confidence

Even before he pulled on the race leader’s yellow jersey at Paris-Nice , Kiwi Laurence Pithie was already being talked up as a potential Classics future star. 

At the race to the sun, the Groupama-FDJ rider backed up his abilities on the bike with his eloquence off it and similarly to the likes of Remco Evenepoel at an early age, he already seemed perfectly comfortable in the spotlight of elite level bike racing. 

Pithie backed that up last weekend at Gent-Wevelgem, getting amongst it and chucking his weight around against the likes of Van der Poel and Pedersen as they looked to contest the win. He looked right at home too and not at all fazed by the calibre of rider he was up against. 

The New Zealander faded as the race reached its conclusion but will be high on confidence after such a performance. Groupama FDJ appear to have found their ideal Classics man to sit alongside Stefan Küng as their best hope of victory in these settings on the cobbles. 

Alongside up and coming British pro Sam Watson, the French team could have quite some firepower in the races to come. 

Puck Pieterse takes aim at Monument victory

Off-road star Puck Pieterse is still relatively new to road racing, but is already showing herself to be quite the match for some of the disciplines biggest names. 

The Dutch rider finished seventh at Gent-Wevelgem, her longest road race to date, and has already started to talk herself up as a potential Flanders winner. Pieterse has already podiumed this season against Lotte Kopecky, Elisa Balsamo and Wiebes and shown that she is well at home on the WorldTour. 

Flanders is set to be her last appearance of the Classics season before she switches her focus to the Paris Olympics and she told Cyclingnews that she has her eye on the top step of the podium for her final outing this year. 

“With how it’s going now, of course, you have to dream of the highest and I think we have a really good team,” she said. 

“We worked really well together here at Gent-Wevelgem, so I think even winning is possible.”

The Ronde waits for no man: Tour of Flanders preview

Van der Poel the favourite for Sunday in the absence of Wout Van Aert

This was supposed to be Wout van Aert's year. On the cobbles this season, the Belgian champion has been several steps ahead of the rest. Solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was followed by a Jumbo-Visma exhibition at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Another, almost casual flex on the Kemmelberg at Gent-Wevelgem served only to shore up his status as the consensus favourite for the Tour of Flanders.

By contrast, his old sparring partner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) was labouring. Injury had ruined his cyclo-cross season and there were doubts as to whether the Dutchman would feature in the Tour of Flanders at all.

Even when Van der Poel surprisingly resurfaced to place third at Milan-San Remo, one still wondered if he could really hope to challenge Van Aert in the Flemish Ardennes. Victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen assuaged those doubts, and now, improbably, he sets out from Antwerp as the man most likely to win the Ronde.

At the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, one directeur sportif tried to make light of his own team's depleted roster and accordingly limited prospects at the Ronde.

The  major  contenders missing the Tour of Flanders 2022 Tour of Flanders 2022: Everything you need to know Wout van Aert 'unlikely' to ride Tour of Flanders

"Maybe Van Aert will get sick before Sunday too, eh, you never know," he said. It was an exercise in gallows humour rather than in wishful thinking, but 24 hours later, Jumbo-Visma announced that Van Aert had missed the team's Tour of Flanders recon due to illness and that his participation in the race was 'unlikely.' On Friday night the Belgian's absence was confirmed.

Through the early weeks of the season, riders and teams across the peloton have been stricken by illness, but for Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma, the beat went on regardless. The Belgian champion's dominance at Omloop and Harelbeke brooked no argument and his entire Spring had been built around hitting his peak for the Tour of Flanders. Now everything is on the shoulders of  Tiesj Benoot and Christophe Laporte.

The Ronde waits for no man, of course, and Van Aert would not be the first favourite to be removed from the running at the last. Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen crashed out early in the race in 2012 and 2013, respectively, but the sense of anti-climax at the loss of such totemic figures was quickly superseded by the drama provided by those who remained in the race.

While Van Aert's absence will change the Belgian newspapers' attribution of their five-star ratings before the race, it will leave no asterisk on the roll of honour afterwards.

Instead, Van der Poel takes on the mantle of favourite thanks to his sparkling victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, which seemed to bear out his counter-intuitive assertion that his injury-blighted build-up to the Classics had been his best yet. Even so, the 2020 Tour of Flanders winner's record at the business end of the Monuments is not quite unimpeachable. At last year's Ronde, he was surprisingly beaten by Kasper Asgreen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) in a two-up sprint, and he was also outkicked by Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) at Paris-Roubaix in October.

Van der Poel's usual onslaught of kinetic energy can often overwhelm his opponents, but he sometimes punches himself out in the hardest-fought races, leaving himself exposed to a knockout blow in the finale. His rivals will have taken note. Nothing is ever certain in advance at the Tour of Flanders, least of all in a season like this.

Tour of Flanders 2022 contenders

Even without Van Aert, Jumbo-Visma remain the strongest collective in the race, and they may still dictate the terms of engagement in the Flemish Ardennes. Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot had expected to serve as foils to Van Aert, but now they may find themselves thrust into leadership roles.

Neither man has as bankable a sprint as Van Aert, of course, meaning that Jumbo-Visma will have to be inventive if they are to take on Van der Poel.

They may find an ally of circumstance in Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who had his first taste of the cobblestones at Dwars door Vlaanderen. As ever, the Slovenian's strength was striking, but he was hamstrung by a positioning error ahead of Berg Ten Houte.

He learned that chasing the race is a Sisyphean task in this corner of the world. In Flanders, it pays to get your retaliation in first. If he digests that lesson quickly, then he will be a real threat on Sunday as he chases a third Monument victory in less than twelve months.

After illness ruined his Milan-San Remo challenge, Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) has quietly positioned himself among the leading contenders here. He looked very sharp indeed in placing third at Dwars door Vlaanderen, and he is backed by an Ineos squad that blends the youthful fearlessness of Ben Turner with the experience of Dylan van Baarle.

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl's diminished powers has been one of the key storylines of the Spring, as the combination of a recent spate of illness and a more longstanding drop-off in recruitment has depleted their Classics unit.

Even so, their line-up – and team car – holds a treasury of experience, and the defending champion Kasper Asgreen has been riding far more strongly than his results might otherwise suggest.

The Dane was pedalling very smoothly indeed at E3 Harelbeke last week, but he was hampered by his relative isolation in the finale. Few riders, however, cope with the extra hour of a Monument quite as well as Asgreen, and that trait should stand him in good stead here.

Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) has similar powers of endurance, while Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) has made a leap forward on the cobbles this season and is a danger man here. Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) will surely be an aggressive presence, while the Trek-Segafredo tandem of Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven will also expect to feature in the finale.

TotalEnergies will rely Anthony Turgis in the absence of Peter Sagan and Dries Van Gestel, but Greg Van Avermaet , Oliver Naesen (both AG2R-Citroën) and 2019 winner Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) look somewhat off the pace.

The weather forecast, meanwhile, is for frigid temperatures on Sunday, which has drawn comparisons with the famously miserable conditions of 1985, when only 25 riders reached the finish in a race won by the Belgian champion Eric Vanderaerden. Earlier in the week, the potential symmetry with Van Aert in 2022 seemed clear. Now the picture is rather less certain. The Ronde is different for it, but no less intriguing.

Tour of Flanders 2022 route

The route for the 106th edition of the Tour of Flanders follows the format that's now been entrenched since 2012, with the Oude Kwaremont taking centre stage and teaming up once again with the Paterberg. Kwaremont, tackled three times in total, is a long, aching climb at 2.2km in length, while the Paterberg is its punchier bedfellow, barely 400 metres but packing an average pitch of nearly 20 per cent.

They are used twice in combination, the second time being the race's finale, with just a 13km run-in to Oudenaarde to follow.

In between the two Kwaremont-Paterberg punches are a quartet of cobbled climbs that include the savagely-steep and savagely-surfaced Koppenberg, along with old favourites like the Taaienberg – aka Boonen-berg – Kruisberg, and Steenbekdries. This 40km section, twisting its way through the Flemish Ardennes, is the absolute heart of the race.

However, that's not to say it's where we'll see all the action. Even in a normal year, the racing on this Flanders course can be opened up from range. This year, with top-favourite Wout Van Aert likely missing and the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar in attendance, there's every ingredient for early aggression.

Berg Ten Houte – the flash point at Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen – appears with 75km to go and is quickly followed by the Kanarieberg. Even before that, the run of Molenberg, Marlboroguhstraat, Berendries and Valkenberg will surely see some 'shadow-favourites' spring into action.

In total, the route measures 272.5km and features 18 hellingen (climbs), most of them cobbled. The start is given in Antwerp's Grote Markt at 10:00 CET and the riders will reach the finish in Oudenaarde nearly seven hours later.

The opening 100km are largely a preamble as the race makes the long journey over to the Flemish Ardennes. A breakaway of lower-level riders will form, and the peloton will be shaken awake by the flat cobblestone sectors of Lippenhovestraat and Paddestraat, although there are still 33km before the climbing begins.

The first climb is the Oude Kwaremont, the first of three times the hordes of fans in the roadside VIP tents will be able to watch the race go past. There will still be 135km to the finish but there'll still be a fight for position ahead of the climb, and a big atmosphere on it.

The riders will come off the Kwaremont and descend straight to the Kortekeer, in what is a quartet of back-to-back climbs. The Achterberg is new to the route and is followed by the Holleweg cobbles and then the Wolvenberg climb.

The Kerkgate and Jagerij cobbles make things tricky ahead of the next spate of climbs: Molenberg, Marlboroguhstraat, Berendries and Valkenberg. The race will have ticked over into the final 100km, and things should really be starting to happen. There's a brief respite but then the Berg Ten Houte and Kanarieberg signal a critical duo where a strong team can rip the race apart.

The riders will then loop around and descend to the foot of the Oude Kwaremont. If it was warming up last time, it will be deafening this time as the race reaches full throttle. The Paterberg follows and then it's straight over to the Koppenberg, Steenbekdries, Taaienberg, and Kruisberg, which effectively has the Hotond baked into it.

They once again take the road down to the Kwaremont and this time it'll be berserk. The race will be in pieces by the top - if not already - and they'll emerge onto the main road with its massive dip in the middle that has become one of the iconic Flanders shots. From there, it's the familiar turn left back onto narrow country lanes that twist down to the foot of the Paterberg. A sharp right-hand bend, and the cobbles hit instantly and the gradient quickly ratchets into the double distance.

It's only short, but any weakness here will be brutally exposed. The riders haul themselves up the final incline and turn left at the top, swooping down the short descent before the 13km run-in to Oudenaarde.

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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation , published by Gill Books.

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