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. The only favorite of a 108th edition which has not yet revealed its truth.
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 at the E3 Saxo Classic where he blew through the competition to finish solo. 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 taking a week off 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.
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 rider 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. Leading on the last climb of Old Kwaremont, he was unable to resist Pogacar’s surge and had to settle for 3rd place. In 2018, he fell 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.
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, seen 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 Oudernarde, 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 2024 Tour of Flanders mountains in detail:
There will also be six paved sectors:
