Tour of Flanders 2024: Pedersen, Alaphilippe… can van der Poel fear his opponents?

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Tour of Flanders 2024 Pedersen Alaphilippe can van der Poel

Double winner of the event, Mathieu van der Poel advances as a huge favorite for the Tour of Flanders, in the absence of Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert.

Lovers of the Ronde and cycling still remember Pogacar’s famous ride, the way the Slovenian got off his van der Poel wheel, seated on his saddle, cutting through the delirious crowd of Old Kwaremont. A decisive attack, which left Pedersen then in the lead unanswered and deposed like a youngster, before going to conquer this Monument which should have been forbidden to him. A year after his show of force, the insatiable leader of UAE Emirates does not show up at the start and leaves the Dutchman without a third act in this northern rivalry as unexpected as it is exciting. Only favorite of a 108e edition which nevertheless did not reveal its truth.

An ascending form

Indeed, if only the race and its hazards will be sworn allegiance to the strongest, before it sets off, a head protrudes well beyond the fray. Girded in his world champion jersey, Mathieu van der Poel gives the feeling of gaining strength. Imperial all winter in cyclo-cross, he returned to the road during Milan-San Remo and although he did not win, he showed that he already had the endurance in his legs to endure a race of nearly 300 km while playing an important role.

The impression was reinforced during the E3 Saxo Classic where he scattered the competition to finish alone. A show of force which cost him Ghent-Wevelgem a few days later. Two difficult races which did him good. “That’s what I still needed.”, he assured last Sunday after his second place before giving himself a week of rest to arrive fresh in Antwerp. Beyond the ascending form, van der Poel has for him to perfectly know the subtleties of the Tour of Flanders of which he is a double winner. This Sunday, he will aim for a third coronation which would make him the equal of Cancellara, Boonen, Museeuw, Leman and Magni, the only riders to have registered their name three times on the winners list of the event.

Pedersen in ambush, van Aert’s bad luck

If the world champion starts out as a favorite, nothing assures him of achieving his goals and he will face less but formidable competition. Besides Pogacar, his tormentor of 2023, his most faithful rival Wout van Aert will not be able to try to defeat him. Indeed, the Belgian suffered a heavy fall on Across Flanders and fractured several ribs as well as his collarbone. Terrible news for the Belgian rider who had modified his program at the start of the season to focus on conquering the Ronde and Paris-Roubaix. The 29-year-old runner will therefore miss the two Monuments and will have to wait until next year to try his luck.

He has no worries and now appears to be van der Poel’s main challenger. Fourth in Milan-San Remo, Mads Pedersen affirmed his ambitions by sprinting past the Dutchman to snatch victory from Ghent-Wevelgem. A success which attests to his predispositions and makes him a credible contender, especially since the Dane has been around for years. In the lead on the last climb of Old Waremont, he was unable to resist Pogacar’s surge and had to settle for 3e place. In 2018, he failed 12 seconds behind Terpstra when he was only 22 years old. This year, he hopes that his turn will come but he will have to have recovered well from his fall on A Travers La Flandre. A racing fact which deprives him of part of the Lidl-Trek collective, since Stuyvens and Kirsch are withdrawn. An asset on which he would have liked to rely to win.

French people in retreat

On the French side, the chances of success are infinitesimal since Christophe Laporte’s package. The European champion, like his leader at Visma-Lease a bike, gave up the Flandrian campaign due to a stomach flu. Hopes will be focused on Julian Alaphilippe reviewed to his advantage at Milan-San Remo where he could have performed better without a puncture in the finale, Florian Sénéchal and Valentin Madouas. The French champion knows how to suffer and has already proven that he knows how to dance on the wet cobblestones of Belgium with his third place obtained in 2022 behind van der Poel and van Baarle. Enough to feed the appetite. “If we can win, we will win”he told Le Télégramme a few days before going to Belgium where he is “ready for war”.

A war of which Mathieu van der Poel has the keys. Already decisive in the streets of San Remo to propel his teammate Jasper Philipsen to victory, the Dutchman can strike hard in Oudenaarde and remind us that he is the boss of the Classics of the North.

The 108th edition of the Tour of Flanders will start from Antwerp around 10 a.m. The arrival in Oudenaarde is scheduled for around 4:29 p.m., according to the organizers’ most optimistic predictions.

The 108th edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, second of the Monuments of the cycling calendar, will be broadcast in full on Eurosport 1 with an on-air broadcast scheduled from 9:45 a.m. The race will also be visible unencrypted on France Télévision, from 1:35 p.m.

Double winner of the Ronde, Mathieu van der Poel is the huge favorite for the 108th edition. In the absence of outgoing winner Pogacar and van Aert, the Dutchman’s main rival will be Dane Mads Pedersen, who beat him in Ghent-Wevelgem.

The 108th edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen was traced between Antwerp and Audernarde, for a total of 270 km through the cobbled mountains of Belgian Flanders. There will be 17 of them on the program, including three passages through Old Kwaremont and two through Paterberg.

Here are the mountains of the 2024 Tour of Flanders in detail:

  1. Oude Kwaremont (1500 m, Km 136.9)
  2. Kapelleberg (1.1 km, Km 155.5)
  3. Wolvenberg (Km
  4. Molenberg (200 m, Km 171.0)
  5. Mariaborrestraat (Km 175)
  6. Berendries (Km 179)
  7. Valkenberg (Km 184)
  8. Berg Ten Houte (400 m, Km 196.5)
  9. Nieuwe Kruisberg/Hotond (Km 206.5)
  10. Oude Kwaremont (1500 m, Km 216.4)
  11. Paterberg (400 m, km 219.8)
  12. Koppenberg (600 m, km 226.2)
  13. Steenbeekdries (Km 231.5)
  14. Taaienberg (500 m, Km 234.0)
  15. Oude Kruisberg/Hotond (500 m, Km 242.5)
  16. Oude Kwaremont (1500 m, Km 254.1)
  17. Paterberg (400 m, km 257.5)

There will also be six paved sectors:

  1. Lippenhovestraat (2200 m, Km 105.2)
  2. Paddestraat (1500 m, Km 107.1)
  3. Holleweg (700 m, Km 156.8)
  4. Kerkgate (1400 m, Km 163.7)
  5. Jagerij (800 m, Km 166.1)
  6. Oude Kruisberg (Km 242.5)

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