The Tour of Flanders will take place this Sunday, to close the series of Flemish bergs races with the one which is considered the most sought-after, and therefore will see all the top riders gather, including those who passed by all the previous flandriennes.
The race starts from Antwerp for 280 km; the first half leading to the bergs area is basically flat, until the first climb of the Old Kwaremont exactly mid-race. From there on, it goes up and down on asphalted or cobbled bergs, until the last flat section (less than 15 km) to the finish line in Oudenarde.
A Google Maps link to what I believe is the area of the huge beer marquees in Old Kwaremont
Last year's top-5 will be present : Pogatchar (🇸🇮 UAE), Pedersen (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek), Van der Poel (🇳🇱 Alpecin), Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma) and Stuyven (🇧🇪 Lidl-Trek then, Soudal-QS now). And Evenepoel (🇧🇪 Bora), who I think never rode a flandrienne of any sort, will join.
It seems that Ganna (🇮🇹 Ineos), who just won the little sister trial Across Flanders on Wednesday, is not expected to race on Sunday.
🌞 There might be a tiny bit of rain on Saturday, but the road and cobbles should be mostly dry on Sunday (until gallons of beer and piss are poured over).
Last French winner was Jacky Durand, back in 1992, and there is no obvious sign that this 33 years long depression should stop this year. After all, the previous victories dated back to the fifties with Bobet and Forestier 🙂
The women race is significantly lighter, with only 165 km and perhaps half the bergs.
L. Kopecky (🇧🇪 SD-Worx) won 3 of the last 4 editions, and she will be there, after staying hidden in the peloton on Wednesday, while Reusser (🇨🇠Movistar) and Vollering (🇳🇱 FDJ) were spending their strength at the front of Across Flanders.
The only two things I could note about this race were:
The rest, well... We cannot say that nothing happened, as there were different sequences. But absolutely everything happened as planned, there wasn't a comeback, or anything like that. At least for the win and podium, I cannot tell about what happened behind, for example how Madouas🇫🇷 ended up 16^th^ in a group for 14^th^ place or such, despite not having been in the strong men group nor the morning breakaway.
The scenario was crystal clear. One acceleration on the flat by Politt🇩🇪 – did it last 2 miles or even just 1 mile? –, followed by a push by F. Vermeesch🇧🇪 in a mini-mini-berg were enough to sort the wheat from the chaff. And then the expected top men left. And then the expected top man left. And everyone was doing a solo Time-Trial. And then it was the finish line.
What else?
A dry 'Ronde' doesn't provide many surprises. It is a contest of Watts, much like a long mountain climb finish. There are no incidents, no rain/cold bonuses and long-distance penalties, to shuffle the chances a bit.
I see that Evenepoel🇧🇪 got a 'sticky bottle' penalty (like Ganna🇮🇹 the other day). It may explain the one cobbled berg in which he didn't lose as much time as in the others 😀
One element is that there was a bad crash in the strong men group, in or at the bottom of a downhill, where several riders hit the ground and 3 of them couldn't restart.