TOUR OF FLANDERS
SUNDAY 4 APRIL | 265KM (MEN) | 150KM (WOMEN) START: 9:30 (MEN) 11:00 (WOMEN) FINISH: 14:30 (WOMEN) 16:00 (MEN)
TThe Tour of Flanders falls once again in its rightful spring slot, kicking off what is one of the biggest weeks in cycling, with Paris-roubaix the following weekend.
“It was good that we could have a Classics season last year but now it feels like the Tour of Flanders is back in its natural place,” says Jumbo-visma DS Arthur van Dongen.
At the time of writing, race organiser Flanders Classics had not publicly released details of the route in an attempt to dissuade fans from turning up en masse. But van Dongen says teams aren’t expecting any major deviations from the ‘standard’ route – for the men that means 265km featuring two passes of the Oude Kwaremont/paterberg double, with the latter the final climb of the race and leaving 13km to ride. The women will tackle around 150km, culminating in the same Oude Kwaremont/paterberg finale.
The juniors, who traditionally race on the same weekend as the seniors, will miss out on this occasion because they are currently not allowed to compete in Belgium under Covid regulations. Unless their race is rescheduled, this will be the second year they have seen their race axed.
With the region set to host the World Championships in September, Flanders Prefiguring the Worlds
takes on a greater significance as a potential dry run, with top contenders such as Lizzie Deignan and Mathieu van der Poel saying they’re focusing on the cobbled Classics rather than the Ardennes, with one eye on the Worlds.
Van Dongen, however, insists that ‘De Ronde’ can never be overshadowed. “It’s really nice that the Worlds are in Belgium,” he says, “but it makes no difference to the team or Wout [van Aert] with the Spring Classics.
“We have some Belgian riders and it’s really important,” adds van Dongen. “Mark Wynants, the team captain, for example, he will do his last races in the Classics before retiring from cycling. For everyone, for the whole world, Flanders is one of the biggest races of the year.”