Dylan van Baarle had a largely anonymous Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, but Sep Vanmarcke is not losing any sleep over it. Speaking at the team bus after the race, the Soudal Quick-Step sports director was clear: Van Baarle will be ready when it matters, and the Tour of Flanders is a very diffe...

As the women's peloton gears up to tackle the Tour of Flanders following the men's race this Sunday, the landscape of the sport is completely unrecognizable from the one Annemiek van Vleuten entered over 15 years ago. The Dutch cycling legend recently reflected on her journey from scraping by on an...

Lidl-Trek's rising star Thibau Nys has opened up about the grueling mental and physical toll of his recent knee surgery. Speaking on the Belgian talk show Vive le Vlo, Leve de Ronde, the young talent provided an update on his recovery, confirming he will miss his entire spring campaign and also the...

Embed from Getty ImagesAll the spring classics have their charms and Sundays Ronde van Vlaanderen is notable as a national event. No other country cherishes road racing like Belgium and huge numbers will be out along the route.Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogaar meet again, this time with Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel as contenders and also home hopes for the crowds as no Belgian has been on the podium since 2021 and the last home winner was Gilbert in 2017.The Course: 279km. The start is moved from Brugge to Antwerp, swapping one swank Hanseatic market square for another, with 125km of largely tarmac roads to get to Oudenaarde where the race will finish later on.From there the race loops around like a bowl of spaghetti as the cobbles and climb come fast. After 150km its the Eikenberg chased by the Holleweg cobbled sector and then the Wolvenberg, this triple should mark the opening of the race.The Oude Kwaremont is climbed three times. A 2.2km climb which makes it so different to all the other short ramps, its steep at the start before dragging up past the tented hospitality zone. Its chased by the Paterberg which is short but overcompensates with a 20% slope and brutal stones.The Koppenberg is the infamous climb that is now reserved only for the Ronde, no other spring classic uses it. All these mark the highlights of the course but there are small small roads, tight junctions and other points. Watch out for the Hotond-Kruisberg as its the literal highpoint of the race at 158m and often causes damage with just over 20km to go, it may not see the winning move but look for signs of fatigue.The Finish: a final time up Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg combo and the gradual descent and then that long road into the outskirts of Oudenaarde for a flat finish. A determined chase behind can bring back any escapees but it relies on riders with energy left and the willingness to collaborate.The ContendersTadej Pogaar and his UAE team know how to win this. Hes won the last two editions hes started in the same manner. His team mates toil like commis with meat tenderisers, hammering the peloton with a pace that saps everyone for hours until Pogaar uses his comparative advantage on the Oude Kwaremont, the longest climb, to ride away. Easier said than done, especially as everyone is expecting the move. But this obliges others to make their moves before he does and expose themselves, notable in a spring when the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert have gone solo only to be recaptured by the peloton. Florian Vermeersch has been very strong this season but likely to deliver the final blow to the peloton like Tim Wellens did for the team in the past but overall the team have a very strong squad that will try to control everything.Embed from Getty ImagesMathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had been on the podium of every spring classic in Belgium hed started since 2021 until last Sundays Wevelgem where he and Wout van Aert were up the road and looked likely to duel for the win only to get caught. The anecdote could be telling as he was almost caught in last Sundays E3 race too, if only to suggest hes not monopolising races right now, is his form dipping? If you like other stats then hes on the eve of a fourth win in the Ronde, a feat unachieved so far and if he does it on Sunday, hell be the first to do the Omloop-Ronde double. Can get he ahead of Pogaar, or match him in the finale? He can master the course and his sprint and clarity of mind in the finish of a race are excellent.Embed from Getty ImagesA surprise starter, the reverse April Fools by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull) raises expectations. The co-ordinated media release earlier this week announcing his participation showed its all part of a plan, rather than being a late starter for the fun of it. His campaign even asked Flanders are you ready?, as opposed to him being ready. The form hasnt looked scintillating, recently conceding two minutes to Jonas Vingegaard on his way to 6th overall in Catalunya. But what if this was the plan and hes sacrificed climbing to be beefier for Sunday and his close sprint with Dorian Godon and the crosswind move with Vingegaard were the signals and not noise? His weakness is positioning in the hectic moments going into key points but has a team thats been searching for a leader. His best point is he can win from anywhere, give him ten metres and he could be away for the day and his sprinting is now very strong.Embed from Getty ImagesWout van Aert (Visma-LAB) is back to being a contender but how to win? He seems able to buy an option on the finish, and were he to arrive in the final kilometre with the names cited above already he may not be the first pick but hed have a chance; similarly across a range of other scenarios especially as some day luck has to go his way, maybe itll be rivals who touch wheels on the Koppenberg and stall leaving him space? The dry conditions wont help as they remove some randomness. The team are strong and have options with Christophe Laporte and Per Strand Hagenesbut theyre difficult cards to play, their central case rests on getting Van Aert into a podium position.Are there other contenders? It does feel like one of the four cited above is going to be on the top step of the podium. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) ought to be named among the best but his injury comeback has left him visibly short of form and the sense that he might need more time, that Roubaix suits more but hes got nothing to lose.Embed from Getty ImagesBy now were into riders and indeed whole teams hoping to anticipate events and even then how to get, say, fifth place? Bahrains best rider in the classics has been Alec Segaert but this is a much hillier course than hed like. By contrast Romain Grgoire (Groupama-FDJ) will prefer this but hes making his cobbled classics debut and a top-10 would be reasonable. Uno-X have been active this spring and Jonas Abrahamsen could try to anticipate events.Soudal-Quickstep have been more discreet this spring and this is a problem for the reset and refocus on the spring classics as if they havent won a semi-classic by now then its not going to be easier this weekend or next. Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven bring experience but these days being wise doesnt count for what it used to. It still matters, Paul Magnier says he punctured in last Sundays Wevelgem because he didnt pay attention to the course and slammed his wheel into a pothole.Ineos lack a leader at the top of the team but have options, theyll want to get ahead of matters and you can probably sort the rest of the teams by how early theyll try to move right down to Flanders-Baloise and Burgos-Burgpellet-BH wholl both want to have two riders or more in the morning move.PogaarVan der PoelVan Aert, EvenepoelLaporte, PSH, Pedersen, Abrahamsen, F VermeerschWeather: cloudy with a strong chance of light rain later on, 11C. A westerly wind of 25km/h is sufficient to become tactical and even open up the bunch. It means a tailwind to the finish line after the Paterberg.TV: live from start to finish on Sporza/Een for locals in Flanders, and Eurosport and Flobikes internationally. The start is at 10.00 CEST and the finish is forecast for 4.30pm CEST. Tune in around 3.30pm to get the penultimate Kwaremont-Paterberg combo and the only time up the Koppenberg.The post Ronde van Vlaanderen Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

The conversation around Wout van Aert after Dwars door Vlaanderen has centred on another near miss. Inside the peloton, the tone is very different. Mads Pedersen has moved to challenge the way Van Aert is being discussed, pushing back against the criticism that often follows his defeats. At times,...