tour of van 2023

ABU DHABI GRAND SLAM JIU-JITSU WORLD TOUR 2024-2025 - MOSCOW - MASTERS

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Van Aert on good shape after Tour de France, his Vuelta a España dominance, underdog role at World Cup ánd cross season

Wout van Aert seems to be reborn, or so we may conclude after two weeks of Vuelta a España . With three stage wins, numerous top placings, and the lead in the points classification, as well as the mountain classification, you can't speak of a mediocre race. And then in the final week, there will be plenty of chances, something he talked about in the podcast Sporza Daily .

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"Yes, the Vuelta a España is a super success for now," the 29-year-old racer said on the talk show (which was also back on the air). "I didn't hesitate before this Vuelta a España. Just before the Vuelta, I felt good. I had competed well at the Olympics, and in training, I felt I had bounced well from the Tour de France ."

Van Aert needed Tour de France to take steps forward

So, does the man from Herentals have an explanation for his strong comeback after his spring fell through (you know, that crash in Dwar door Vlaanderen)? Not immediately, as it turns out. "I just think I needed time. In the first place, I had underestimated my injuries a bit. I thought I would return fast, but I quickly discovered it wouldn't be so straightforward. I probably also needed the Tour to take a step forward this summer. It's just the logic I had to respect."

Comments of comparisons with the Van Aert of a few years ago are already emerging here and there. In those years, the Fleming even seemed to be among the strongest uphill riders, as he also managed to win the stage over Mont Ventoux twice in the Tour de France, for example. "I don't think I'm at my best," he remains modest. "I've been lighter, and I've ridden better uphill. But I am better than the last few months and leaning closer to my spring level before my fall. That's nice to feel and is also important for the future."

Is Van Aert already thinking a lot about the World Cup (and the cross season)?

Of course, that cycling World Cup in Zurich, where he should undoubtedly be able to compete for the title with these legs, comes around the corner again. "You have to look at the course and the competition. Against a lot of guys, a tough course would be good for me, but guys like Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel will make it hard for me. They have an edge," he is also holding back on that.

"It will be a World Championship in an underdog role," Van Aert concluded. "With a few good training periods, I can return to Zurich after the European Championship with a fresh head." The cheerful Belgian is also thinking occasionally about the upcoming cross season, which is also about to start before you know it. "But I don't have any specific planning yet. I want to stretch my season until early October, and after my rest period, I'll see how we handle the winter."

Fines and time penalties Vuelta a España 2024 | Besides time penalty for Roglic (and teammates), lots more fines

Classifications vuelta a españa 2024 | roglic is closing in, van aert loses lead, ultra-exciting top 10 and a battle for the white jersey, time penalty overshadows roglic’s vuelta performance: did actions team mas lead to 20-second penalty and final climb setback, place comments.

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In shadow of drama Van Aert, Soler finally wins his Vuelta stage, O'Connor still in red

Classifications Vuelta a España 2024 | 5 seconds for O'Connor, Groves and Vine in green and polka dot jersey after dropout Van Aert

Tears again in unprecedented year of bad luck: Wout van Aert exits Vuelta a España after another serious crash

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• 03/09 In shadow of drama Van Aert, Soler finally wins his Vuelta stage, O'Connor still in red
• 03/09 Classifications Vuelta a España 2024 | 5 seconds for O'Connor, Groves and Vine in green and polka dot jersey after dropout Van Aert
• 03/09 Tears again in unprecedented year of bad luck: Wout van Aert exits Vuelta a España after another serious crash
• 03/09 Armstrong and co see Roglic approaching O'Connor and condemn both Red Bull and Gall: "You don't do that, period"
• 03/09 Spanish selection, spot on the calendar and many cancellations: how desirable is the European cycling championship?

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‘i’ve lived almost a full lifetime in this one year’: scottie scheffler caps historic season with $25m tour championship win.

Scottie Scheffler is tired. After the year he’s had, can anyone really blame him?

The world No. 1 capped off a year in equal parts historic and haywire with triumph at the season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday, cruising to a four-shot victory in Atlanta.

Having begun the week with a two-stroke lead at the summit on 10-under par, a reward for his position atop the FedEx Cup standings, the American eased around East Lake with a closing four-under 67 to beat compatriot Collin Morikawa to the $25 million winner’s cut of a $100 million prize purse.

It marks the first time since Tiger Woods in 2007 that a player has tallied seven wins in a PGA Tour season, a haul made even more impressive when you add in the Olympic gold , a newborn son and the mid-major arrest that headlined Scheffler’s stunning campaign.

“I feel like I’ve lived almost a full lifetime in this one year,” Scheffler told reporters. “It’s been nuts.”

“I’m exhausted right now,” he added. “There’s really no other way around it. I’m just really, really tired.”

A golden year

Scheffler’s starting advantage at East Lake was his reward for a stellar campaign.

The 28-year-old looked almost unbeatable during a prolific early season run, becoming the first player to ever defend The Players Championship before victory at the RBC Heritage in April – just one week on from clinching his second Masters title at Augusta National – made it four wins in five starts.

His greatest prize followed mere weeks later, as wife Meredith gave birth to the couple’s first child, Bennett. Their son arrived just in time for the PGA Championship , where the Texan was subsequently arrested amid remarkable scenes in Louisville.

The tournament favorite had warmed up in a jail cell after he was arrested driving around a police roadblock outside Valhalla Golf Club. Though the week ended in frustration on the course, with Scheffler finishing eight shots behind victor Xander Schauffele , all charges were dismissed a fortnight later .

Scheffler rebounded to add two more wins at the Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship respectively before a stunning nine-under par final round at Le Golf National in Paris last month saw him clinch Olympic gold.

“I think when you hear people chanting ‘U-S-A’, even though it’s been over a month now since it happened … It’s pretty cool,” Scheffler said.

“I take a lot of pride in being an American, so it was pretty fun to bring home that gold medal. As far as the year goes, I really don’t know how to put it into words.

“You had the one weird spot there at Valhalla – I just don’t really know what to say about it – but everything else has been pretty special,” he added.

‘Just nothing fazes him’

It looked set to be a procession before Scheffler made a string of uncharacteristic errors towards the end of his front nine, starting with a skewed drive at the seventh that left him needing to escape from under a tree.

That led to a bogey that was replicated at the following hole when the leader shanked his effort from a greenside bunker, opening the door for a flying Morikawa to move within two strokes.

Fittingly for the season, any murmur of tension was immediately wiped out by Scheffler, who rattled off three consecutive birdies before lasering in for eagle at the par-five 15th to canter home ahead of world No. 4 Morikawa.

“Just nothing fazes him,” Morikawa, who pocketed $12.5 million, reflected to reporters about Scheffler.

“Whether I was close in gaining some ground or he was gaining ground, it didn’t change how he walked, how he played or how he went through every shot. That’s something to learn. I think his mental game is a lot stronger than a lot of people know.

“It’s amazing what he’s been able to do for this entire season and over these past three years. It’s been really cool to watch him, and hopefully, I can draw something from that.”

Attention for both Morikawa and Scheffler will now turn to the Presidents Cup, with both players automatically qualified for US captain Jim Furyk’s team that will take on Mike Weir’s international side at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada, on September 24.

Scheffler was part of a victorious US team at Quail Hollow, North Carolina , two years ago but struggled individually, losing three of his four matches.

“Emotionally right now, I’m pretty drained, so I’m looking forward to going home and getting rest for a week or so before I start prepping for the Presidents Cup because that’s a tournament that I really want us to go out there and win,” Scheffler said.

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Hello World!

Omega European Masters: Five things to know

The DP World Tour Back 9 continues as its European adventure heads to Crans-Montana in Switzerland for the Omega European Masters . Here are your five things to know.

Fitz has Seve record in his sights

Matt Fitzpatrick and Switzerland have a vivid relationship as the Englishman targets his tenth DP World Tour title, which could see him match a record jointly held by Seve Ballesteros. The World Number 27 has already won this prestigious event on two occasions and became the first player in 40 years, since the great Spaniard, to successfully defend his crown in 2018. Fitzpatrick came in a tie for third in last year's event and victory at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club this week will see him join Ballesteros, Harold Henning from South Africa and Welshman Dai Rees to have secured a hat-trick of titles in the tournament's steeped history.

Jiménez competes against the young guns again in Swiss Alps

Miguel Ángel Jiménez takes on the role of tournament ambassador and, at the same time, the role of OMEGA brand ambassador as he tees up for the 34th time in Crans-Montana. The esteemed Spaniard has competed in over 720 tournaments on the DP World Tour, winning 21 titles and holds the record as the oldest European player to win an event at this level when taking the 2014 Open de España at the tender age of 50 years and 133 days. Jiménez, who won the Omega European Masters in 2010, will face many rivals who were not even born when he first lined up in Switzerland and he hopes to extend his association with this event in years to come. He said: "This is my favourite place to play golf, and I love coming back here every year. Just look around to understand what I love about this place. I don't know how many years I have left but as long as I feel capable of making birdies, you will find me at the Omega European Masters."

Miguel Ángel Jiménez is now a worldwide ambassador for OMEGA! We’re proud that the #OmegaEuropeanMasters holds a special place in his heart. His return to Crans-Montana makes this year even more exciting! #OEM2024 #OMEGAAmbassador pic.twitter.com/NRXTWYzS7A — OmegaEuropeanMasters (@omegaEUmasters) August 23, 2024

Van Rooyen returns to European shores

Erik van Rooyen will be making his first appearance on the DP World Tour since teeing up at the Genesis Scottish Open in July after a successful campaign on the PGA TOUR. The South African, who won his sole DP World Tour title at the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation, has recorded four top tens in the United States this season, including a tie for second at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in March. He competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for his country, finishing in 17th place courtesy of four successive under-par rounds, and hopes to be in contention in Swiss Alps.

Past champions in the field

While Ludvig Åberg is not teeing it up this week, there are a host of former winners who are looking to get back in the picturesque winner's enclosure in Crans-Montana. The Swede claimed his maiden DP World Tour title 12 months ago, which earned him a Captain's Pick for Luke Donald's Ryder Cup side the following day to become the first player in history to play at a Ryder Cup before making an appearance in a Major Championship. In his absence, Ryder Cup team-mate Fitzpatrick is hoping to join that exclusive group of three-time winners, while Sweden's Sebastian Söderberg returns to the scene of his one and only victory at this level in 2019. Dane Rasmus Højgaard, who won on the Severiano Ballesteros course in 2021, is on the entry list alongside the in-form 2022 champion Thriston Lawrence and 2012 winner Richie Ramsay.

Crans-sur-Sierre's green initiative

The Omega European Masters sees a sustainability initiative take wing this year with 25 new birdboxes installed around Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. The storied Swiss event has long been a leader in the environmental field and in recent years, it is the local wildlife that has been benefitting from biodiversity work being done high in the mountains. The course has been Golf Environmental Organisation (GEO) certified since 2022, the same year a biologist was brought in to help revegetate parts of the course. It was noted that the youth of many of the trees meant that they did not have cavities in which local chickadees, white-fronted redstarts and anteater torcols breed and nest. With white-fronted redstarts and anteater torcols on the red-list of threatened breeding birds in Switzerland, the idea was born to place the birdboxes around the course and give them a place they could flourish, with the initiative likely to benefit 25 per cent of bird species living around the course. The boxes are built by local school children and the 25 installed this spring takes the total on the course to 31.

Go green to the Omega European Masters 2024!🌍 Public transport emits 11x less CO2 than cars. A Zurich trip by train = 91 golf balls' worth of CO2, by car = 958! If you drive, consider carpooling to reduce emissions.🌱🚗 More info here: https://t.co/0ZpOJYdWUr pic.twitter.com/OEOpF7Fccv — OmegaEuropeanMasters (@omegaEUmasters) August 28, 2024

Niklas Nørgaard qualifies for the DP World Tour Play-Offs 

Niklas Nørgaard has secured his place as one of the 70 players who will compete in the DP World Tour Play-Offs later this season.

DP World Tour Partners

Taylor Swift Eras Tour: The Full Setlist From Opening Night

By Ellise Shafer

Ellise Shafer

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Are you ready for it? Taylor Swift ‘s Eras Tour is finally here.

The 52-date trek kicks off Friday night in Glendale, Ariz., at State Farm Stadium with openers Gayle and Paramore. This marks Swift’s first tour since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, as her 2020 Lover Fest was canceled before it even began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Swift has released three studio albums — “Folklore” and “Evermore” in 2020 and “Midnights” in October 2022 — in addition to re-recording “Fearless” and “Red” (which both came with bonus tracks) in 2021.

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Scottie Scheffler caps off record season with Tour Championship win and $25 million bonus

ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler capped off the biggest year in golf in nearly two decades by winning the sport’s biggest prize.

Challenged briefly Sunday in the Tour Championship, Scheffler responded with three straight birdies to make winning look as inevitable as it has seemed all year. He closed with a 4-under 67 for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa to capture the FedEx Cup and its $25 million prize, the richest in golf.

That pushed his season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million.

It was the greatest year since Tiger Woods won eight times in 2006, including six in a row and two majors, all while dealing with the death of his father. Scheffler’s eight wins included the Masters , The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship that enabled him to finally claim the FedEx Cup.

His seven PGA Tour titles are the most since Woods in 2007.

“We’ll look back on 2024 and it’s obviously one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time,” Rory McIlroy said.

Scheffler took the drama out of the final hour — four of his wins this year were by three shots or more — and  finally let out a “WOOO!!”  as he stepped inside to sign his card. He hoisted two big trophies, the silver FedEx Cup  and his 4-month-old son, Bennett .

The birth of his first child, his bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky , before the second round of the PGA Championship, another Masters green jacket, Olympic gold. This was one season not soon to be forgotten by Scheffler or any other golf fan.

“This is a challenging week,” Scheffler said at the trophy ceremony. “I’m exhausted right now.”

This was the third straight year Scheffler came to East Lake as the top seed, meaning he started the tournament at 10-under par with a two-shot lead. Two years ago, he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy.

Scheffler led by at least five shots after each round. But there was a harrowing moment as storm clouds began to threaten. He made two straight bogeys, the second one on a pure shank from a bunker on the reachable par-4 eighth hole. Morikawa made birdie, and the seven-shot deficit he faced after two holes was down to a mere two shots with 10 holes to play.

And then it was over.

Scheffler hit 4-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 ninth for birdie. He hit wedge to 3 feet on No. 10 for birdie, and then swirled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th.

“He’s not going to just starting making bogeys after that,” Morikawa said of the Scheffler shank. “He’s going to do the opposite and he’s going to start hitting golf shots. It almost brought his focus back in for a half second, and that’s something you can’t teach.”

Just like that, his lead was back to five shots. And when he holed a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, it was a matter of getting to the finish line.

Scheffler referred to the FedEx Cup as a season-long race being “silly” because everything came down to the final week at East Lake. There was no doubting the FedEx Cup got a most appropriate champion.

Scheffler only finished out of the top 10 three times in his 19 starts. He had a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with seven PGA Tour titles.

“He’s the guy to beat every single week,” Justin Thomas said. “I don’t think people understand how hard that is to do, when you’re expected to win, when you’re the favorite to win, when every single thing you’re doing is being looked at — good and bad — on the golf course, and how hard it is to get in your own little zone and own little world and truly just quiet the noise.”

Morikawa, the No. 7 seed who started the tournament six shots behind, closed with a 66 and had the lowest score of the Tour Championship at 22-under 262. He won $12.5 million for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.

“Six shots behind was hard against the best player in the world,” Morikawa said. “I tried.”

Sahith Theegala,  who called a two-shot penalty on himself  Saturday for possibly brushing a small amount of sand on a bunker shot, closed with a 64 and finished third. He finished two shots behind Morikawa and earned a $7.5 million bonus for third place.

Adam Scott, who tied for fourth, turned pro during the peak of Woods in 2000 and did not shy away from the comparisons Scheffler has created because of his consistent level of contending.

“I think it is on par with those great years of Tiger’s,” Scott said. “I think it’s very hard today for anyone to separate themselves as much as Scottie has. I don’t think we’ve seen that in a long time. I think it’s harder to do it today.”

And to think it was just over five months ago when Scheffler was questioned about his putting, and he was coming up on a full year since his last PGA Tour title (he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas).

His season earnings of $29,228,356 represented about 9.2% of the total purse from tournaments he played. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize money in tournaments he played during 2000, still regarded as one of the great seasons ever.

The $25 million FedEx Cup prize is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the “Comcast Business Top 10” for leading the regular season.

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Scottie Scheffler's historic 2024: FedExCup win follows fatherhood, arrest, Olympic gold and PGA Tour dominance

Scottie Scheffler became the first player to win The Players, The Masters and the FedExCup in the same season; world No 1 claimed a four-shot victory at the Tour Championship and earned over $62m - including bonuses - during his 2024 PGA Tour campaign

By Ali Stafford

Monday 2 September 2024 13:35, UK

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Scottie Scheffler said he had "lived almost a full lifetime this one year" after securing FedExCup victory, capping off a 'nuts' season - both on and off the golf course – for the world No 1.

Scheffler closed out a four-stroke victory at the season-ending Tour Championship, where he never relinquished top spot at any point during the four days and became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2007 to register seven or more victories in a year on the PGA Tour.

It completes a remarkable few months for Scheffler, who became a father for the first time shortly after winning The Masters for a second time in three years, was arrested ahead of his second round at the PGA Championship in May and also won Olympic gold in Paris.

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"If you can describe it in words, more power to you, because I don't think I can," Scheffler told reporters as he reflected on his 2024 efforts, following his Tour Championship win. "It has been a long year.

"I think emotionally right now I'm pretty drained. It has been a very eventful year but it's been really fun. You had the one weird spot there at Valhalla (the PGA Championship arrest), but everything else has been pretty special."

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Scheffler had topped the FedExCup standings since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, then added further victories the The Players, The Masters, RBC Heritage, Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship during the regular season.

The 28-year-old American earned an $8m bonus for leading the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 heading into the FedExCup Playoffs, where he claimed $25m for his Tour Championship victory to take his season earnings - including bonuses - to a staggering $62,228,357 (£47.4m).

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"I felt like I was kind of gradually building towards something," Scheffler said. "I had some decent starts to the year. I had a couple top 10s to start and I was close to winning in Phoenix. Then overall I was playing really solid, so I knew I was close.

"I made some putts this year when I really needed to, and that's why I'm sitting here with a lot of wins instead of a few. Last year I was playing good golf and I wasn't able to make the key putts at the right time, and this year I was. That's really just the difference.

"I'm proud of the results. It's something I try not to focus too much on, but at the end of the day, being able to win tournaments is a great feeling, and it's what we work towards, and to be able to have as many wins as I have this year is really special."

Scheffler added: "I feel like I've lived almost a full lifetime in this one year. It has been nuts. I think it just always comes back to my faith. I think that's the thing that just keeps me grounded, keeps me in the right frame of mind."

How Scheffler keeps his focus

Scheffler took a two-shot lead into the Tour Championship and was seven ahead during the early stages of the final round, before recovering from seeing his advantage cut to two strokes by playing his next six holes in five under to reclaim control of the tournament.

"Just nothing fazes him," said Collin Morikawa, who played alongside Scheffler for the final three rounds at East Lake. "Whether I was close in gaining some ground or he was gaining ground, it didn't change how he walked or how he played or how he went through every shot.

"I think his mental game is a lot stronger than a lot of people know. It's amazing what he's been able to do for this entire season and honestly this past three years now. It's been really cool to watch him."

Scheffler had previously squandered a six-shot advantage to McIlroy on the final day of the 2022 Tour Championship, although his latest win is the third event in a row and eighth time in 14 attempts on the PGA Tour that he has converted a 54-hole lead into a victory.

"Just think how well he plays when he's the guy to beat every single week," former FedExCup champion Justin Thomas said. "I don't think people understand how hard that is to do.

"When you're expected to win, when you're the favourite to win, when every single thing you're doing is being looked at, good and bad, on the golf course, and how hard it is to get in your own little zone and own little world and truly just quiet the noise.

"It's something that is just as much of a skill as being able to hit a driver in the fairway or an iron on-line. He's clearly figured that out very well. All Scottie wants to do is just play the best he can and win as many tournaments as possible, and he's doing a pretty good job of that."

Consistency key for Scheffler?

Scheffler has been the best player in the world from tee-to-green, with his 2023 total the best seen since Woods in 2006 and his 2.456 strokes gained in that metric last season nearly a stroke better than any other player on the PGA Tour.

Only inconsistency on the greens prevented him from being a more prolific winner during the second half of 2023 and the early part of this year, before a switch to a mallet-style putter in March helped add another element to Scheffler's game.

Scottie feeling grateful 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ekvNNA2Lse — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 2, 2024

"It just seems like he's basically doing what he did last year, just putting probably a little bit more consistently," former FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland said. "When you hit it as good as he does every single week and you start making some putts, you're going to be very difficult to beat."

The switch of putter was initially suggested by Rory McIlroy earlier in the season, with the four-time major winner impressed by Scheffler's low scoring and ability to limit mistakes.

"The one thing I've always admired about Scottie is the amount of bogey-free rounds he shoots," McIlroy said. "You just go back over the last two, three years and you look at how many rounds that he'll shoot like four under par, no bogeys.

"It doesn't look spectacular at all, but it's just so solid. He doesn't really put himself out of position. When you don't make a ton of bogeys, the field has got to do something really special to keep up."

A Tiger-esque season from Scheffler?

Scheffler has been quick to play down comparisons with Woods at multiple points this season, but his sustained brilliance has produced numbers and consistency not seen since the 15-time major champion in his prime.

On whether Scheffler's 2024 performance is the best seen since Woods, former world No 1 Adam Scott said: "I think that's fair. I think all the stats back that up. I think that the results back it up. It has been pretty incredible.

"I think it is on par with those great years of Tiger's. It's very hard today for anyone to separate themselves as much as Scottie has. I don't think we've seen that in a long time."

Scheffler's FedExCup success came after entering the Tour Championship top of the standings for the third consecutive year, with his 13 PGA Tour wins to date coming in just over a two-and-a-half-year period.

"I think by the definition of dominance, I think that's literally where he's sitting," said Xander Schauffele, who started the Tour Championship as his closest challenger for FedExCup victory after two major victories in 2024.

"Since I've been out [on the PGA Tour], I think Dustin [Johnson] had a run, Brooks [Koepka] had a run, Jon [Rahm] had a run, Rory [McIlroy] had a run. But they were kind of punching back and forth between one, two and three.

"Scottie has been at the tip-top of the mountain for two full years now it seems."

Woods' dominance lasted a generation. Scheffler still has some way to go if he's going to match those efforts, but he's on the right trajectory to continue his dominance for many seasons to come.

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Raid at Shimano sees "irreplaceable" bikes of Sagan, Van der Poel and Alaphilippe stolen

Bikes ridden to some of professional cycling's greatest victories in the modern era, made "irreplaceable" by extraordinary performances by names such as Peter Sagan, Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal, have been stolen during an overnight burglary at the Shimano Experience Center in Valkenburg, in the Netherlands.

Shimano revealed that six bikes "beyond any monetary value" were taken during a raid on Friday night, staff arriving at the site in the morning discovering that locks had been forced open and bikes stolen.

Van der Poel's Canyon Aeroad CFR—World Champion Edition, Bernal's Pinarello Dogma, a Scott Foil ridden by Fabio Jakobsen, Alaphilippe's Specialized S-Works, Matej Mohorič's Merida REACTO Team Pearl Design, and Sagan's Specialized S-Works Venge were taken.

Components giant Shimano, whose Dutch 'Experience Center' in Valkenburg, located close to the roads that decide Amstel Gold Race each spring, opened in April 2019 and has "extensive exhibits, virtual displays, and simulators and provides visitors with opportunities to see and use Shimano products and the latest technologies".

The bikes were on display at the centre, a targeted raid taking place overnight when no staff were on site, Shimano saying it is "relieved" nobody was harmed during the break-in.

"The stolen bikes are beyond any monetary value, having played their part in cycling history, at the Tour de France, at the World Championships, at the Olympics, and at countless other vital events in the cycling world," the brand said. "If you have any information regarding the theft or if anyone should offer to sell you one of the above bikes, please contact your local authorities."

High-value bikes are an attractive target for organised criminals due to their sell-on value, Pinarello too suffering a break in at its Treviso showroom last November. Masked raiders took bikes worth €250,000 , even returning twice in the same day to take 19 items after cutting through a fence and gaining access via a workshop's emergency exit.

It was believed the burglary was highly organised and well-planned due to the men targeting high-value models and knowing exactly where in the showroom to access them.

In 2021, Romanian police recovered 21 of the 22 Italian track cycling team's bicycles  that were  stolen from a hotel car park  during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships of that year.

Filippo Ganna's gold Pinarello was among the haul, worth an estimated £500,000, which also included the fellow newly-crowned team pursuit world champions Liam Bertazzo, Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni's bikes, each worth £25,000 and featuring a titanium 3D-printed handlebar alone worth £8,500.

In December 2021, two teenagers were  sentenced to 18 months in prison for their role in the crime.

A few months later, in February 2022, organised criminals allegedly used sleeping gas to incapacitate the driver of an HGV transporting a large number of Shimano components across Germany, the heist seeing components for 10,000 bicycles stolen.

> Great Chain Robbery: Shimano components for 10,000 bikes stolen from HGV by criminals using sleeping gas

Following the incident the largest Czech-based bicycle producer BIKE FUN International (BFI) warned the bike industry that components could be a new target for organised crime.

Professional cycling teams have also been targeted, leading Women's WorldTour outfit SD Worx the victims of a "brutal burglary"  at the end of the 2022 season which saw Specialized Tarmac, Roubaix and Shiv models stolen.

At this year's Tour of Britain, British squad Lifeplus Wahoo was  hit by a bike theft  and lost all 14 bikes stolen from mechanic's van. The team has since announced it will not be continuing due to financial troubles, citing the theft as a contributing factor and an "absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team on a stretched budget" .

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Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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As ever, heartbreaking that these scum keep getting away with it 🤷. Team vans in hotel car parks during races etc, these days you can easily set up cameras and very loud alarms on the vehicles which work over mobile networks, alerting team staff etc. As for exhibitions and museums, again, cameras and loud alarms, with perhaps a direct link to local police station. Did Shimano have all this in place? It's all very well saying you're glad no one got hurt in a 2am raid, but you want to deter and catch these bastards.

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Yeah, Don't understand at all that "staff arriving in the morning" would be the method of becoming aware of the burglary. Surely, there must have been at least some sort of alarm system connected to a security company in place.

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Breaking news, scottie scheffler caps monster year with tour championship win to claim $25 million fedex cup.

ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler capped off the biggest year in golf in nearly two decades by winning the sport’s biggest prize.

Challenged briefly Sunday in the Tour Championship, Scheffler responded with three straight birdies to make winning look as inevitable as it has seemed all year. He closed with a 4-under 67 for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa to capture the FedEx Cup and its $25 million prize, the richest in golf.

That pushed his season earnings, including bonuses, to just under $62.3 million.

It was the greatest year since Tiger Woods won eight times in 2006, including six in a row and two majors, all while dealing with the death of his father. Scheffler’s eight wins included the Masters, The Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and the Tour Championship that enabled him to finally claim the FedEx Cup.

His seven PGA Tour titles are the most since Woods in 2007.

“We’ll look back on 2024 and it’s obviously one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time,” Rory McIlroy said.

Scheffler took the drama out of the final hour — four of his wins this year were by three shots or more — and finally let out a “WOOO!!” as he stepped inside to sign his card. He hoisted two big trophies, the silver FedEx Cup and his 4-month-old son, Bennett.

The birth of his first child, his bizarre arrest in Louisville, Kentucky, before the second round of the PGA Championship, another Masters green jacket, Olympic gold. This was one season not soon to be forgotten by Scheffler or any other golf fan.

“This is a challenging week,” Scheffler said at the trophy ceremony. “I’m exhausted right now.”

This was the third straight year Scheffler came to East Lake as the top seed, meaning he started the tournament at 10-under par with a two-shot lead. Two years ago, he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy.

Scheffler led by at least five shots after each round. But there was a harrowing moment as storm clouds began to threaten. He made two straight bogeys, the second one on a pure shank from a bunker on the reachable par-4 eighth hole. Morikawa made birdie, and the seven-shot deficit he faced after two holes was down to a mere two shots with 10 holes to play.

And then it was over.

Scheffler hit 4-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 ninth for birdie. He hit wedge to 3 feet on No. 10 for birdie, and then swirled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th.

“He’s not going to just starting making bogeys after that,” Morikawa said of the Scheffler shank. “He’s going to do the opposite and he’s going to start hitting golf shots. It almost brought his focus back in for a half second, and that’s something you can’t teach.”

Just like that, his lead was back to five shots. And when he holed a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, it was a matter of getting to the finish line.

Scheffler referred to the FedEx Cup as a season-long race being “silly” because everything came down to the final week at East Lake. There was no doubting the FedEx Cup got a most appropriate champion.

Scheffler only finished out of the top 10 three times in his 19 starts. He had a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with seven PGA Tour titles.

“He’s the guy to beat every single week,” Justin Thomas said. “I don’t think people understand how hard that is to do, when you’re expected to win, when you’re the favorite to win, when every single thing you’re doing is being looked at — good and bad — on the golf course, and how hard it is to get in your own little zone and own little world and truly just quiet the noise.”

Morikawa, the No. 7 seed who started the tournament six shots behind, closed with a 66 and had the lowest score of the Tour Championship at 22-under 262. He won $12.5 million for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.

“Six shots behind was hard against the best player in the world,” Morikawa said. “I tried.”

Sahith Theegala, who called a two-shot penalty on himself Saturday for possibly brushing a small amount of sand on a bunker shot, closed with a 64 and finished third. He finished two shots behind Morikawa and earned a $7.5 million bonus for third place.

Adam Scott, who tied for fourth, turned pro during the peak of Woods in 2000 and did not shy away from the comparisons Scheffler has created because of his consistent level of contending.

“I think it is on par with those great years of Tiger’s,” Scott said. “I think it’s very hard today for anyone to separate themselves as much as Scottie has. I don’t think we’ve seen that in a long time. I think it’s harder to do it today.”

And to think it was just over five months ago when Scheffler was questioned about his putting, and he was coming up on a full year since his last PGA Tour title (he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas).

His season earnings of $29,228,356 represented about 9.2% of the total purse from tournaments he played. Woods won about 11.6% of the total prize money in tournaments he played during 2000, still regarded as one of the great seasons ever.

The $25 million FedEx Cup prize is unofficial, as is the $8 million he received from the “Comcast Business Top 10” for leading the regular season.

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Wielertransfers WorldTour 2025 | Van MVDP naar MP: Soren Kragh Andersen verruilt Alpecin-Deceuninck voor Lidl-Trek

Per 1 augustus 2024 is het weer zover, dan mogen alle teams uit de WorldTour officieel renners contracteren voor de komende jaren. Dat wordt logischerwijs fanatiek gedaan. In de Leiderstrui houdt deze weken alle deals uit de hoogste divisie van het mannenwielrennen voor je bij.

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Renewi Tour - Le 19e Renewi Tour... avec Van der Poel ! Parcours et favoris

Vidéo - Van der Poel favori logique... mais dans quelle forme ?

Mathieu van der poel favori selon sa forme, tim wellens pour le quadruplé .

Mais ce sont les coureurs de classiques qui auront le dernier mot pour le classement général le dimanche avec la traditionnelle étape reine passant par les monts des  Ardennes flamandes, avant un circuit final difficile autour de Geraardsbergen avec les célèbres  Mur de Grammont  et  Bosberg à gravir plusieurs fois. De quoi promettre un beau bouquet final pour déterminer le successeur de Tim Wellens ( UAE Team Emirates) au palmarès, le Belge étant devenu l'an passé seul détenteur du record de victoires sur l'épreuve avec trois succès.  Et il y aura du beau monde sur la ligne de départ pour l'empêcher d'en briguer un quatrième. 

A commencer par le champion du monde Mathieu van der Poel , même si le leader de l'équipe  Alpecin-Deceuninck  arrive dans une forme incertaine pour sa reprise plus de trois semaines après les JO. Parmi les autres favoris potentiels, on peut citer des coureurs comme  Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Tiesj Benoot ,  Christophe Laporte ( Visma | Lease a Bike) , Alberto Bettiol (pour sa 1ère course sous ses nouvelles couleurs d' Astana Qazaqstan Team ) ,  Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Yves Lampaert ( Soudal Quick-Step) , Florian Vermeersch ( Lotto Dstny) , Matteo Trentin ( Tudor Pro Cycling Team) ,  Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers),   Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ),  Oliver Naesen ,  Benoît Cosnefroy ( Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale),  Axel Zingle (Cofidis)...  Entre autres !

Get ready for an epic ride! Here’s the full stage lineup for the Renewi Tour 2024! Each stage is set to challenge the best riders and thrill the fans. Mark your calendars from August 28th to September 1st! Five days of top-tier cycling action! pic.twitter.com/tCgkAwo98F — Renewi Tour (@RenewiTour) August 26, 2024

Le championnat du monde des sprinteurs... presque tout le gratin est là !

On aura également un plateau 5 étoiles au rayon des sprinteurs, peut-être l'un des plus relevés de la saison au départ d'une course avec un affrontement alléchant à venir entre Jasper Philipsen  ( Alpecin-Deceuninck) ,  Olav Kooij  ( Visma | Lease a Bike ),  Jonathan Milan  (Lidl-Trek)  Tim Merlier  (Soudal Quick-Step),  Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty),  Dylan Groenewegen  (Team Jayco AlUla),  Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) ,  Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny),  Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale),   Arnaud Démare  ( Arkéa - B&B Hotels ), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ),  Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious),   Elia Viviani  (INEOS Grenadiers),  Fernando Gaviria (Movistar),  Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL)...  Un véritable championnat du monde des coureurs rapides !

Le parcours du Renewi Tour 2024

Mercredi 28 août - étape 1 : Riemst - Bilzen / 163,6 km (départ réel à 11h46, arrivée vers 15h30)

Jeudi 29 août  - étape 2 : Tessenderlo - Tessenderlo / 15,4 km CLM individuel (départ réel à 12h24, arrivée vers 15h30)

Vendredi 30 août  - étape 3 : Blankenberge - Ardooie / 185,5 km (départ réel à 11h30, arrivée vers 15h30)

Samedi 31 août  - étape 4 : Oostburg - Aalter / 178,5 km (départ réel à 11h37, arrivée vers 15h30)

Dimanche 1er septembre  - étape 5 : Menen - Geraardsbergen / 202,5 km (départ réel à 10h22, arrivée vers 15h)

La liste de départ

UAE Team Emirates

1 WELLENS Tim 2 POLITT Nils 3 BAX Sjoerd 4 COVI Alessandro 5 MOLANO Juan Sebastián 6 BJERG Mikkel 7 OLIVEIRA Rui

Alpecin - Deceuninck

11 VAN DER POEL Mathieu 12 PHILIPSEN Jasper 13 RICKAERT Jonas 14 KRAGH ANDERSEN Soren 15 LEYSEN Senne 16 KIELICH Timo 17 DILLIER Silvan

Soudal Quick-Step

21 MERLIER Tim 22 LAMPAERT Yves 23 CERNY Josef 24 BASTIAENS Ayco 25 VAN LERBERGHE Bert 26 VAN WILDER Ilan 27 VANGHELUWE Warre

Intermarché - Wanty

31 GIRMAY Biniam 32 TEUNISSEN Mike 33 VAN HOECKE Gijs 34 PETIT Adrien 35 REX Laurenz 36 SMITH Dion 37 THIJSSEN Gerben

Team Visma | Lease a Bike

41 KOOIJ Olav 42 LAPORTE Christophe 43 BENOOT Tiesj 44 HAGENES Per Strand 45 VAN DER SANDE Tosh 46 VAN DIJKE Mick 47 VERMOTE Julien

Lidl - Trek

51 STUYVEN Jasper 52 THEUNS Edward 53 CONSONNI Simone 54 HOOLE Daan 55 MILAN Jonathan 56 MOSCA Jacopo 57 SIMMONS Quinn

Lotto Dstny

61 DE LIE Arnaud 62 VERMEERSCH Florian 63 DE BUYST Jasper 64 SEGAERT Alec 65 SLOCK Liam 66 VAN MOER Brent 67 BEULLENS Cedric

Bahrain Victorious

71 MOHORIC Matej 72 ARNDT Nikias 73 BAUHAUS Phil 74 PASQUALON Andrea 75 RAJOVIC Dusan 76 WISNIOWSKI Lukasz 77 WRIGHT Fred

INEOS Grenadiers

81 GANNA Filippo 82 VIVIANI Elia 83 FOSS Tobias 84 PUCCIO Salvatore 85 SHEFFIELD Magnus 86 TURNER Ben 87 THOMAS Geraint

Red Bull - BORA-hansgrohe

91 WELSFORD Sam 92 HALLER Marco 93 MACIEJUK Filip 94 MULLEN Ryan 95 SCHACHMANN Maximilian 96 SOBRERO Matteo 97 HERZOG Emil

Arkéa - B&B Hotels

101 DÉMARE Arnaud 102 SÉNÉCHAL Florian 103 LOUVEL Matis 104 MCLAY Daniel 105 RIOU Alan 106 SCOTSON Miles 107 DEKKER David

111 ZINGLE Axel 112 DE GENDT Aimé 113 FRETIN Milan 114 KNIGHT Oliver 115 OLDANI Stefano 116 RENARD Alexis 117 ROBEET Ludovic

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team

121 BENNETT Sam 122 NAESEN Oliver 123 COSNEFROY Benoît 124 DE BONDT Dries 125 DEWULF Stan 126 GAUTHERAT Pierre 127 PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien

EF Education - EasyPost

131 RUTSCH Jonas 132 HONORÉ Mikkel 133 BISSEGGER Stefan 134 DE BOD Stefan 135 ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack 136 TODOME Yuhi 137 VALGREN Michael

Groupama - FDJ

141 DAVY Clément 142 MADOUAS Valentin 143 LE GAC Olivier 144 LIENHARD Fabian 145 PITHIE Laurence 146 LE HUITOUZE Eddy 147 PENHOËT Paul

Movistar Team

151 GARCÍA CORTINA Iván 152 GAVIRIA Fernando 153 CAVAGNA Rémi 154 JACOBS Johan 155 MORO Manlio 156 ROMEO Iván 157 CIMOLAI Davide

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL

161 JAKOBSEN Fabio 162 DEGENKOLB John 163 EEKHOFF Nils 164 EDMONDSON Alex 165 ROOSEN Timo 166 VAN DEN BROEK Frank 167 WELTEN Bram

Team Jayco AlUla

171 GROENEWEGEN Dylan 172 HEPBURN Michael 173 O'BRIEN Kelland 174 MAAS Jan 175 WALSCHEID Max 176 REINDERS Elmar 177 STEWART Campbell

Astana Qazaqstan Team

181 MORKOV Michael 183 GIDICH Yevgeniy 184 GRUZDEV Dmitriy 185 KANTER Max 186 SELIG Rüdiger 187 SYRITSA Gleb 188 BETTIOL Alberto

191 VLIEGEN Loïc 192 DE MEESTER Luca 193 PERSICO Davide 194 DESAL Ceriel 195 VANDEPITTE Nathan 196 VAN BOVEN Luca 197 BLOUWE Louis

Team Flanders - Baloise

201 COLMAN Alex 202 CRAPS Lars 203 HESTERS Jules 204 MARIS Elias 205 VANDENSTORME Dylan 206 VAN POUCKE Aaron 207 VANHOOF Ward

TDT - Unibet

211 BOMBOI Davide 212 DE VRIES Hartthijs 213 STOKBRO Andreas 214 HUENS Axel 215 PEDERSEN Nicklas Amdi 216 KOPECKY Tomas 217 BOUTS Jordy

Tudor Pro Cycling Team

221 TRENTIN Matteo 222 BOHLI Tom 223 ERIKSSON Jacob 224 KELEMEN Petr 225 HEMING Mika 226 PELLAUD Simon 227 PLUIMERS Rick

A LIRE AUSSI

Valentin madouas : "c'est positif avant les courses canadiennes", tim wellens : "c'était parfait d'être avec arnaud de lie", arnaud de lie : "l'un des meilleurs sur ce genre de parcours", l'info en continu.

Nos Partenaires

• Vuelta a España stage 16 Live - GC battle on the steep slopes of Lagos de Covadonga

Tour of Flanders 2024

Latest news from the race.

Remco Evenepoel set to ride Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Liège and Tour de France in 2025

Remco Evenepoel in line for Tour of Flanders debut in 2025

'I start to feel a little bit like myself again' says recovering Wout van Aert

Tour of Flanders: Mathieu van der Poel smashes Monument with massive solo victory

As it happened: Mathieu van der Poel makes history with record-equalling Flanders win

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took an astounding solo victory at the Tour of Flanders 2024 when he rode away from the field with 45km remaining to stretch out to a winning margin of 1:02.

Behind him, a two-man breakaway of Alberto Bettiol (EF Education–EasyPost) and Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) was caught on the finish line by a chase group from which Luca Mozzato (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) sprinted to second place and Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) took third.

Matthews was later relegated for dangerous sprinting, allegedly deviating from his line to not allow Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) to pass him, meaning that fourth-place finisher Pollit moved onto the podium.

Van der Poel was in a league of his own when he attacked on the Koppenberg ascent, with only Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) able to keep any semblance of pace with the World Champion. However, with 40km remaining, Van der Pel moved to a margin of over 30 seconds and was squeezing seconds out of Jorgenson every kilometre.

By the ascent of the Kwaremont, Van der Poel had extended his margin over Jorgenson, Pedersen, and the growing chase group, leaving the remaining 37km an informal victory procession.

Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Spring Classics- including reporting, breaking news and analysis from Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and more.  Find out more .

Tour of Flanders route

In 2024, the 108th Tour of Flanders returns to Antwerp which hosts the Tour alternately with Bruges. This year, the 279.8km course underwent several changes for safety reasons , but the finale, featuring Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont, remains unchanged. The pairing is among 17 climbs on the route, which also includes seven cobbled stretches.

Data powered by FirstCycling

Tour of Flanders teams

• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Arkea-B&B Hotels
• Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Bahrain Victorious
• Bora - hansgrohe
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• EF Education - EasyPost
• Groupama-FDJ
• INEOS Grenadiers
• Intermarché - Wanty
• Movistar Team
• Soudal Quick-Step
• Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL
• Team Jayco AlUla
• Team Visma - Lease a Bike
• UAE Team Emirates
• Israel - Premier Tech
• Lotto Dstny
• Uno-X Mobility
• Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
• Team Flanders - Baloise
• Tudor Pro Cycling Team

• Tour of Flanders 2024 route
• Tour of Flanders winners 1913-2023
• Tour of Flanders 2024 – Analysing the contenders

Latest Content on the Race

By Alasdair Fotheringham published 30 July 24

News Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere reveals Classics-heavy 2025 spring for Belgian star

By Barry Ryan published 22 April 24

News Lefevere ponders sending Belgian to Milan-San Remo and the Ronde in reboot of Soudal-QuickStep's Classics squad

By Simone Giuliani published 7 April 24

News 'I never received more messages, presents, mails… This made me smile more and suffer less' says rider after Dwars door Vlaanderen crash

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By Laura Weislo published 1 April 24

Premium Rain creates chaos on the Koppenberg as World Champion and Italian Champion fly to victory

Cancellara's Classics column: Mathieu van der Poel will break the Tour of Flanders record, it's just a matter of time

By Fabian Cancellara published 1 April 24

Analysis Alpecin-Deceuninck come up big for the world champion on the big occasion

Now for Paris-Roubaix: Flanders winner Mathieu van der Poel trains in Spain for Hell of the North

By Alasdair Fotheringham published 1 April 24

News World Champion could complete Classics campaign at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Rebuilding a destroyed rider - Longo Borghini dedicates Tour of Flanders win to trainer

By James Moultrie published 1 April 24

News ‘He was the one that had faith in me, always believing that I could come back and come back strong’ says Italian champion

‘Hopefully I can fight for the win one day’ – Magnus Sheffield shows resolve at Tour of Flanders

By Barry Ryan published 1 April 24

News American takes sixth after a day chasing the ‘alien’ Mathieu van der Poel

'Immortalise this moment' – Mozzato's Tour of Flanders second gives Arkea B&B its first Monument podium

By Simone Giuliani published 31 March 24

News 'If someone had said to me this morning you’re going to be in the top 20 I’d have been happy' says race runner up

'A nightmare' – Koppenberg brings havoc to Tour of Flanders

By Barry Ryan published 31 March 24

News Ronde winner Van der Poel dismisses idea climb should be removed from race

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Top News on the Race

'The lights went out' - Matteo Jorgenson fades behind Van der Poel at Tour of Flanders

'I knew the Koppenberg would be chaos' – Mathieu van der Poel conquers Tour of Flanders on toughest climb

Michael Matthews relegated from third place at Tour of Flanders for dangerous sprinting

‘We need to get in front of Van der Poel’ - Riders prepare to attack early at Tour of Flanders

‘I don’t care’ – Julian Alaphilippe downplays impact of Patrick Lefevere criticism

Related features.

Cancellara’s Classics column: Attack might be Mathieu van der Poel’s best form of defence in chaotic Tour of Flanders

Mathieu van der Poel in a world of his own ahead of Tour of Flanders

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Tour of Van

•   »  

Sprint (46.6 km)

Points at finish, kom sprint | kuskunkıran tüneli (70.1 km), youth day classification, team day classification, race information.

• Date: 07 September 2023
• Start time: 09:00 (08:00 CET)
• Avg. speed winner: 43.174 km/h
• Classification: 2.2
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 132.7 km
• Points scale: 2.2.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.2.Stage
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 31
• Vertical meters: 1093
• Departure: Van
• Arrival: Tatvan
• Race ranking: 309
• Startlist quality score: 9
• Won how: ? - let us know!
• Avg. temperature: 25 °C

Race profile

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Wout van Aert’s 2023 Tour of Britain prize money still in limbo

T he prize money for last year’s Tour of Britain has still not been settled nearly a year after the race was won by Wout van Aert , Cycling Weekly understands. 

Van Aert and his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, dominated last year’s race - winning five stages and the overall title - but are still without the prize money for their efforts almost 12 months later. Visma sprinter Olav Kooij won four of the team’s five-stage haul alone. 

Sources confirmed this to Cycling Weekly this week, but the prize money situation is not believed to be the sole reason for the team’s absence from the race this year. 

Ineos Grenadiers and Soudal Quick-Step were two of four WorldTour teams recently confirmed for the race , but the Dutch giants were notably absent, after riding four of the last five editions.

Prize money for the race was one of a long list of financial debts owed by the former race promoter, SweetSpot , at the time of the firm’s liquidation in January . The company had endured months of financial turbulence which resulted in British Cycling removing the Tour of Britain race licence from the former promoter over an unpaid licence fee totalling £700,000 . 

British Cycling saved both of SweetSpot’s races , the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour, in February, later rebranding both as the Lloyds Bank Tours of Britain after the bank were later announced as the national governing body’s new title sponsor . 

Speaking in February, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton committed to dealing with the prize money debt, describing it as one of many issues that the governing body had inherited from the former Tour of Britain promoter. 

"We're aware of it," Dutton said. "We were recently made aware of it and it forms part of a number of legacy issues that we've inherited."

When contacted by Cycling Weekly this week to request an update on the outstanding prize money, a spokesperson for British Cycling confirmed that dialogue was ongoing regarding the situation with an aim of reaching a resolution with the UCI, the CPA rider’s union and other companies like the Dutch-based Cycling Service who handle prize money for a variety of teams, including Visma-Lease a Bike. 

The spokesperson said: "We have been in regular communication with both the UCI and the CPA, who administer the payment of prize monies, over the prize money owed from the 2023 race. 

"Whilst we accept no liability for the debts accrued by the Sweetspot Group, in good faith we have confirmed that we will honour all of the prize money payments from the 2023 race and have shared a payment plan with both the UCI and the CPA."

Full details of the payment plan remain unclear, but sources told Cycling Weekly that the length of the offered plan is between three and five years. It is understood that negotiations are set to continue ahead of this year’s race with the aim of reaching a resolution soon. 

This year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men is set to run between 3 and 8 September, with the start taking place in the Scottish borders. 

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Tour of Flanders 2023 men’s race – Tadej Pogacar makes history after getting the better of Mathieu van der Poel

• Related videos

Updated 02/04/2023 at 15:14 GMT

• - HISTORIC VICTORY FOR TADEJ POGACAR OVER MATHIEU VAN DER POEL
• - POGACAR DROPS VAN DER POEL AND REELS IN PEDERSEN ON OUDE KWAREMONT
• - VAN AERT DISTANCED ON KRUISBERG AFTER VAN DER POEL ATTACK
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• - BINIAM GIRMAY DOWN AND OUT IN THE LATEST HIGH-SPEED CRASH

Pogacar topples Van der Poel in Flanders thriller

02/04/2023 at 16:46

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PEZ Preview FLANDERS’23: The Big Three Battle Again!

Who will win de ronde van vlaanderen.

Race Preview: This Sunday is the Tour of Flanders, De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Vlaanderens Mooiste (Flanders’ Most Beautiful), one of the five Monuments and, if you are Belgian or more precise, Flemish, it is the biggest race of the season. We have a look at the history, course and the possible winner.

Watch the SPRING CLASSICS on GCN+ You can watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free coverage of the Spring Classics on GCN+. Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream original and exclusive cycling documentaries. Watch it all with GCN+ on any device .

This is the holy Flemish cycling week (really two weeks) and the 107th edition of the Tour of Flanders is on Sunday, following the Three Days of De Panne (now the Classic Brugge – De Panne), E3 Saxo Classic, Gent–Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen. The ‘Flemish World Championships’ are always hard fought for, whoever crosses that finish line first in Oudenaarde will be a star for the rest of his life.

The History of De Ronde The first Tour of Flanders was on May 23, 1913. There were only 37 riders in that first event, which was run over 324 kilometres. After twelve hours, Paul Deman was the first to cross the line in Mariakerke. Karel Van Wijnendaele was the man behind the race, he was a journalist and was looking for something new to publicise his newspaper De Sportwereld, so organising the Tour of Flanders was perfect. The early editions were all on the exceptionally bad Flemish cobbles, which the organisers have tried to keep in the race as much as possible. In those early years, De Ronde was occasionally held on the same day as Milano-Sanremo.

Later the organisers wanted to make changes and moved towards the Flemish Ardennes for the climbs of the Kluisberg, Kwaremont and the Kruisberg. In 1950, after the dominance of Achiel Buysse, Briek Schotte and Fiorenzo Magni, the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen added to the course. In the 1970s, the Oude Kwaremont and the Koppenberg were also added. These two climbs are still important. During that time Buysse and Magni both won the race three times and are joint record holders.

Obviously, Belgians have won the Tour of Flanders the most times, sixty-nine. Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen, just like Buysse and Magni, have won three times. Fabian Cancellara joined the record holders list in 2014 after his wins in 2010 and 2013. The first Dutch victory came in 1953, when Wim van Est was the winner. He was joined by other men from the Netherlands: Jo de Roo, Evert Dolman, Cees Bal, Jan Raas (twice), Hennie Kuiper, Johan Lammerts, Adrie van der Poel, Niki Terpstra and Mathieu van der Poel (twice). The winners over the last ten years have all been top names: Mathieu van der Poel, Kasper Asgreen, Alberto Bettiol, Niki Terpstra, Philippe Gilbert, Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff and Fabian Cancellara.

In last year’s Tour of Flanders the race exploded on the Berendries. A counter-attack including Alberto Bettiol, Mads Pedersen and Ben Turner shook the race up. Then Tadej Pogačar came into action on the Berg Ten Houte, but it was on the Oude Kwaremont that Pogačar attacked for the first time. Kasper Asgreen was on his wheel, while Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock had to chase from further back. After the Oude Kwaremont, Dylan van Baarle escaped with Fred Wright, they were joined on the Koppenberg by Pogačar, Van der Poel and the Frenchman, Valentin Madouas. On the next climb of the Oude Kwaremont, Pogačar gave it another go. Van Baarle and Wright couldn’t hold on, Madouas followed not much later. On the Paterberg, Van der Poel had to grit his teeth to hold the Slovenian. The two raced on together to the finish in Oudenaarde, but Van der Poel and Pogačar started to play games in the last kilometre and Van Baarle and Madouas returned to the front from nowhere. Madouas and Van Baarle passed Pogačar in the sprint, behind second-time winner Van der Poel.

2022 Tour of Flanders Result: 1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 2. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers 3. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ) 4. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates.

Parcours The start of the 2023 Tour of Flanders is in Brugge, not in Antwerp this year, for 273.4 kilometres, the longest Ronde for 25 years, from Brugge to Oudenaarde. The official start, after the neutralised zone is in Beernem. The peloton then goes via Aalter, Tielt and Meulebeke in the direction of Izegem. The race then goes to Harelbeke, Waregem, Deinze and Kruisem, where they will hit the first cobbles of the day, the Huisepontweg, after almost 110 kilometres of racing. Next up is the Korte Ast.

The peloton then starts the usual final of De Ronde. After 136 kilometres of racing comes the Oude Kwaremont for the first time. The race should be ‘full on’ from there, as the climbs follow each other one after the other. The Kortekeer, the Achterberg, the cobbles of the Holleweg, Wolvenberg, Karel Martelstraat and the Jagerij. Plus the climbs of the Molenberg, Marlboroughstraat, the Berendries and finally the Valkenberg all within 35 kilometres.

The top of the Valkenberg is less than 90 kilometres from the finish line. At that point, the riders will have covered almost 200 kilometres. After the Valkenberg it is a good time to attack, but it is also possible on the Berg Ten Houte or the Kanarieberg. After the Kanarieberg it is the second time for the Oude Kwaremont and then the Paterberg.

The first passage of the Paterberg should see more action as the Koppenberg is on the horizon. The Koppenberg is where the favourites will make their move. After Koppenberg, the Mariaborrestraat, Steenbeekdries and Taaienberg come next. Then the Kruisberg, followed 10 kilometres later by the last passage of the Oude Kwaremont.

The Oude Kwaremont for the final time is 16.7 kilometres from the line. The top men should have made the race by this point and will be trying to crack each other. The Paterberg comes as the final obstacle at 13.3 kilometres from the finish. That climb is less than 400 meters long and is perfect for an explosive rider. After the Paterberg the road is flat to Oudenaarde. The wind could make the last thirteen kilometres to the finish on the Minderbroedersstraat very hard for a solo rider.

Climbs: 1. Korte Ast (500m at 4,3%) 2. Oude Kwaremont (2,200 meter at 4%) 3. Kortekeer (1,000m at 6,2%) 4. Achterberg (1,500m at 4,4%) 5. Wolvenberg (645m at 7,9%) 6. Molenberg (463m at 7%) 7. Marlboroughstraat (2,000m at 3%) 8. Berendries (940m at 7%) 9. Valkenberg (540m at 8,1%) 10. Berg Ten Houte (1,100m at 6%) 11. Kanarieberg (1,000m at 7,7%) 12. Oude Kwaremont (2,200m at 4%) 13. Paterberg (360m at 12,9%) 14. Koppenberg (600m at 11,6%) 15. Steenbeekdries (700m at 5,3%) 16. Taaienberg (530m at 6,6%) 17. Kruisberg/Hotond (2,500m at 5%) 18. Oude Kwaremont (2,200m at 4%) 19. Paterberg (360m at 12,9%).

Cobbles: 1. Huisepontweg (600m) 2. Holleweg (1,500m) 3. Kerkgate (2,500m) 4. Jagerij (800m) 6. Mariaborrestraat (2,400m) 7. Stationsberg (600m).

Who Will Win? The three big favourites for the 2023 Tour of Flanders are without a doubt Mathieu van der Poel , Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar . Those three have already come to blows this season in Milano-Sanremo and E3 Saxo Classic. Van der Poel and Van Aert took the wins, but Pogačar animated both races. The battle should come from them, but surprises can happen. By any chance there is only two of them together in the final, they might watch each other and someone else could upset the predictions, but with three…. attacks will come.

Mathieu van der Poel could join the three-time Flanders winner’s club on Sunday, he has one of the best records: Fourth in 2019, first in 2020, second in 2021 and first in 2022. The race is made for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider. He could attack and win solo, or sprint to victory from a small group. Van der Poel is now in top form after a shaky start, but then he won Milano-Sanremo with aplomb and then in the E3 Saxo Classic, he was strong on the climbs. Van der Poel has a good team, Søren Kragh Andersen should be his right-hand man. The Dane finished in the top 10 in both Sanremo and E3. Alpecin-Deceuninck also has Dries De Bondt , he set things up for his leader in the E3 Classic.

Van der Poel’s life long nemesis is Wout van Aert . The Belgian won the E3 Saxo Classic, beating Van der Poel and Pogačar, then he was second to Christophe Laporte after dragging his teammate away for the victory. Van Aert did struggle a little on the Oude Kwaremont in the E3 Saxo Classic, although he did fight back and win. He did say after the race that he didn’t have the punch to follow Pogačar’s attack, but hopes to have that extra bit in the Tour of Flanders. The Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg are climbed several times and are closer to the finish. If Van Aert is with Van der Poel and Pogačar at the finish, then he has to be a favourite as long as he sprints like he did in the E3 and not in the Cyclocross World Championships. Jumbo-Visma also has Dylan van Baarle , last year’s second place and the winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Gent-Wevelgem winner, Christophe Laporte , Tiesj Benoot and Nathan Van Hooydonck will be in a very strong team to back Van Aert.

Last year Tadej Pogačar was one of the strongest, if not ‘the’ strongest rider in Flanders. He had Van der Poel in trouble on the cobbled climbs, but in the end, he and Van der Poel let a group come back and he finished fourth. Pogačar fell into a trap set by Van der Poel for the sprint, he shouldn’t let that happen again. Pogačar will need to attack on the Oude Kwaremont. The climb suits him best, it’s longer so he can use his Grand Tour rider climbing talent. A solo from there to the finish wouldn’t be out of the question. Tim Wellens will be there for Pogačar, he has been a good lead-out for Pogačar this year in the Ruta del Sol and on the Poggio in Milano-Sanremo. Also Matteo Trentin can be useful in the last part of the race.

Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pogačar are the top three favourites for Sunday. But in the Tour of Flanders there could be a surprise. Matej Mohorič has not finish outside the top 8 in the last four spring races. In the E3 Saxo Classic he managed to hold the ‘big three’ the longest. Together with Fred Wright , who finished 7th last year, they could put up a fight.

Groupama-FDJ has been more noticeable in the Classics. Stefan Küng and Valentin Madouas are made for the spring races. Küng was 6th in the E3 Saxo Classic and 5th in last year’s Tour of Flanders. Madouas finished 3rd last year and has made Flanders his aim for 2023. It will be hard to follow the big three on the climbs, but if Küng and Madouas can handle the pace, they are very dangerous.

Tom Pidcock is a possible, but he had a bad crash in Tirreno-Adriatico and concussion stopped him racing last week, so his form is unsure. He was impressive in the Strade Bianche and if there’s anyone who can follow Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pogacar, it’s Pidcock. The INEOS Grenadiers also have Magnus Sheffield , Jhonatan Narváez and Ben Turner . Turner started the season well, but a crash took him out. He has returned to racing, but is probably not in top form. Sheffield and Narváez have shown occasional flashes, but Flanders is probably a bit tough.

The Soudal Quick-Step team riders received the wrath of Patrick Lefevere’s tongue after the E3 Saxo Classic. They were a bit more visible in Gent-Wevelgem, but no top 10 finish. There will have to be some improvement in Flanders. Julian Alaphilippe was with Van der Poel and Van Aert in 2020, but he hit a parked moto and hasn’t really been the same since. Alaphilippe has had a win in 2023 and in Milan-Sanremo he finished 11th. Last week he had a mild fever and stomach pain, but the two-time World Champion could surprise. Kasper Asgreen , Yves Lampaert and Florian Sénéchal will also be there for Soudal Quick-Step, but they are not of the same quality. Asgreen showed some good form last weekend. On some of the climbs he was with the strongest riders, but after that he disappeared.

Trek-Segafredo will be looking to Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven . Stuyven crashed in the E3 Saxo Classic, but has been at the front in the other Classics. Pedersen has been very active; 6th in Milano-Sanremo and 5th in Gent-Wevelgem, he also had a victory in Paris-Nice. In 2018, Pedersen finished 2nd in the Tour of Flanders, behind Niki Terpstra. If Pedersen is in a finishing group, his sprint could be a winner.

Matteo Jorgenson is an unknown in Flanders. The young rider won the Tour of Oman and in Paris-Nice he was able to climb with the top men. In the E3 Saxo Classic he was the best behind Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogacar. But the American is still very inexperienced in the Classics, especially in Flanders. This will be his first Tour of Flanders and its 270 kilometres of climbs and cobbles maybe too much.

Dylan Teuns and Sep Vanmarcke are also possible outsiders. The Belgian riders of Israel-Premier Tech have the experience in the Classics and have had good results in the Tour of Flanders. Teuns was 6th last year and Vanmarcke has been 3rd twice. Vanmarcke was on the podium at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. Alexander Kristoff will be there for the Norwegian Uno-X team, he won the race in 2015.

Biniam Girmay hasn’t had the same form as last year. He has been riding well, including a stage win in Valencia, but he has not yet achieved any results in the Classics yet this year. The Eritrean’s best was 18th in Milano-Sanremo. In the Ronde he will have Mike Teunissen with him in the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team. Benoît Cosnefroy is also an outsider. The Frenchman has never ridden the Ronde, but will have Greg Van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen at his side with AG2R Citroën.

BORA-hansgrohe has no real leader. Nils Politt rode well in the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, but no top 10. Bob Jungels could ride well in Flanders, but hasn’t had his best form this year. BORA also has Jordi Meeus , but he also isn’t expected to do much.

Michael Matthews is the leader of the Jayco AlUla team. In 2019 he was 6th and last year he finished 11th, but the Australian has never really been close to the win. He will be joined by Zdeněk Štybar which could be a help. Florian Vermeersch is Lotto Dstny’s man, but will we see him at the front?

Who does PEZ predict? It’s hard to see anyone except one of the ‘big three’ winning: Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert or Tadej Pogačar, but if we have to pick, then it’s MvdP.

Outside bets would be on: Matej Mohorič, Valentin Madouas, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock, Christophe Laporte, Soren Kragh Andersen and Stefan Küng.

# At the time of publishing, the final start list of the Tour of Flanders is not yet available, so there will be changes to the above list of possible winner. ·

*** Stay PEZ for the ‘Race Report’ on Sunday and all the news in EUROTRASH Monday. ***

Alastair Hamilton has been a pro team mechanic on the road, track and mountain bike and worked for the Great Britain team at the World championships in all disciplines. Since moving to Spain and finding out how to use a computer, he has gone from contributor of Daily Distractions at the 2002 Vuelta a España to editor at PezCyclingNews.

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How to Watch the Tour of Flanders

The fields for Sunday are absolutely stacked for one of the most exciting races on the spring calendar.

This season’s second Monument just might be the best.

The warm-up races with names we can barely pronounce wrapped-up with Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, which means it’s time for the biggest race in Belgium and one of the hardest races on the men’s and women’s calendars: the Tour of Flanders (known locally as the Ronde van Vlaanderen , or more simply as the Ronde ). Here’s everything you need to know about the season’s second Monument.

For the first time since 2016, the 273K men’s race begins in Bruges. The course then zig-zags its way southeast toward the hills of the Flemish Ardennes, a region packed with short, steep (often cobbled) climbs which the locals call bergs . Once the race passes through Oudenaarde (home to the Tour of Flanders Museum), the action centers around two big loops, each featuring two climbs—the Oude Kwaremont (long, steady, and cobbled) and the Paterberg (short, steep, and cobbled)—that often determine the outcome of the race.

Filled with narrow farm roads (more like bike paths) that seem to wind endlessly around the Flemish countryside, it often takes years for riders to master the nuances of the course. And it’s early April, which means weather can be a factor as well (there’s nothing more slippery than cobblestones covered in wet manure). No wonder Belgians have won the race 69 times.

Of the 19 climbs in this year’s men’s race, the Koppenberg (44K from the finish line) is probably the most famous. Super-steep, cobbled, and narrow, this is where the race’s final phase begins. Riders who don’t hit the climb at the front of the peloton are often forced to get off their bikes and walk as the sudden deceleration caused by the abrupt change in terrain ripples backwards through the pack. The race is essentially over for anyone who doesn’t make it over the top in the top-25.

After the Koppenberg, five climbs remain, and recent editions of the Ronde have seen race-winning attacks launched on just about all of them. Lately it’s all come down to the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg combo, with special attention often given to the rolling road in between as riders try and surprise their rivals while they recover from the Kwaremont and prepare for the Paterberg.

Leaving out the portion from Bruges, the 156K women’s race begins and ends in Oudenaarde, with 13 of the bergs featured in the men’s event including–for the first time last year–the Koppenberg. In fact, the women’s and men’s finales are identical, with the Kruisberg, the Oude Kwaremont, and the Paterberg coming in quick succession providing the final launchpad for riders hoping to escape.

From the top of the final ascent of the Paterberg it’s only 13K to the finish line in Oudenaarde, a distance that several riders have covered alone in recent years. Sprints are rare in the Ronde–the race is too hard to see large groups make it to the finish line still in contention for the win–so if they happen they only happen in groups of 3 or 4.

How to Watch

A subscription to FloBikes ($150/year or $12.50/month) is the only legal way to stream the race in the USA and Canada, with both the men’s and women’s events available live and on-demand via FloBikes.com, the FloSports IOS app, and the FloSports app for Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Apple TV.

We’ll be up early on Sunday, April 2 to watch the men as they hit the Oude Kwaremont for the first time (about 7:30 a.m. EDT). If that’s too early for you, set an alarm for about 9:30 a.m. EDT, the second passage over the cobbled ascent on the first of the Ronde’s two final circuits.

The men’s race should finish around 10:45 a.m. EDT, at which point the women (depending on their average speed) should be nearing or just over the Koppenberg. Their race should finish around 11:45 a.m. EDT, which means you’re in for at least 2+ hours of fantastic racing.

What Happened Last Year

With Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) out after testing positive for COVID-19, the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) entered the day as the top favorite. But van der Poel had a new foe: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was making his Flanders debut 1) to get a taste of the cobblestones in preparation for July’s Tour de France, and 2) because he’s Tadej Pogačar and he can pretty much be a contender in any race he enters.

And that proved to be the case as the two-time Tour de France champion attacked on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, then again on the Koppenberg, and finally on the last ascent of the Oude Kwaremont–with van der Poel the only rider able to follow him. The duo worked well together until the final kilometer, when van der Poel slowed, almost daring Pogačar to start the sprint. His deceleration allowed a small group of chasers to rejoin the duo, at which point the Dutchman accelerated, winning the race for the second time in three years. His compatriot Dylan van Baarle (INEOS Grenadiers) finished second, and France’s Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) took third. After botching the sprint, Pogačar was forced to settle for a disappointing fourth-place finish.

About an hour later, Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) saved the day for the home fans, winning the women’s Tour of Flanders in the black-yellow-red jersey of the Belgian national champion.

An elite group of six came together after the final ascent of the Paterberg, including Kopecky, her teammates Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (who won the Ronde in 2021) and Marlen Reusser, and Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten (the defending champion).

With strength in numbers, SD Worx played its cards well. Reusser was the first to attack, a move quickly countered by van Vleuten. Then van den Broek-Blaak went, initially catching van Vleuten off-guard. The two-time Ronde winner recovered though, chasing down van den Broek-Blaak–but bringing Kopecky along for the ride. Once caught, van den Broek-Blaak rode for her teammate, leading out the sprint for the Belgian champion. She’s only the second Belgian to win the women’s Ronde.

Riders to Watch

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Winner of two of the last three editions–and Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago–van der Poel is the top favorite heading into Sunday’s men’s event. Yes, he lost last Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic (a mini-Tour of Flanders) to van Aert, but he was clearly the strongest rider in the race and would have won had van Aert not (wisely) opted for a long-distance sprint (the Dutchman prefers shorter, more sudden accelerations). A win Sunday would put van der Poel alongside some of the sport’s greatest Classics riders atop the Ronde’s record books with an incredible three wins in five starts.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

Van Aert missed last year’s race after testing positive for COVID-19 a few days before the event, a big shame since the Belgian was in the form of his life and looked ready to avenge his narrow loss to van der Poel in 2020. Belgian seems to have timed his form just right again: he won Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic and finished second after giving the win to his teammate, France’s Christophe Laporte , in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem.

Van Aert seems to have finally learned to play a bit more poker, saving his energy for well-timed attacks and forcing other riders to share the responsibility of chasing other moves and driving key breakaways. If all goes as planned, on Sunday he’ll win his first cobbled Monument, becoming the first Belgian to win the Ronde since 2017.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Pogačar raced in two of last year’s cobbled Classics–Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders–seemingly just as preparation for the cobbled stage of July’s Tour de France. But Pog doesn’t start races for training: he finished 10th in Dwars door Vlaanderen and 4th in Flanders. Well, after messing up last year, he’s back and committed to winning it. Forming the third piece of a star-studded breakaway in Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic, the Slovenian joined van der Poel and van Aert in the winning move. But winning Flanders is a tall order for the Slovenian: the climbs in Flanders aren’t long enough for him to drop the other two–and he can’t outsprint them. Watching Pogačar try and figure out a way to win could be this year’s most exciting storyline.

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ)

We won’t be surprised if this plays out in a way similar to the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, with van der Poel, van Aert, and Pogačar breaking away to hog all the glory for themselves. But if there is an “upset,” we won’t be shocked if Mohorič or Küng is the rider to pull it off. Over the past two seasons they’ve put themselves firmly on a tier right below the “Big Three” in the cobbled Classics. Their teams are deep and experienced, and they both could profit should there be a stalemate among the top three contenders. Mohorič is an opportunist and will likely try and escape earlier than the others might expect; Küng is a time trialist and could prove hard to catch if he gets a gap late in the race.

Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx)

Team SD Worx is far and away the strongest in the race, and as they showed last year, they have several cards to play. Their captain will likely be Kopecky , the defending champion. Able to win alone or in a small group sprint, she should be the focal point of the team’s plans.

Marlen Reusser (Team SD Worx)

Kopecky’s toughest competition might come from within her own team, most likely in the form of a rider who played a big role in helping her win last year: Reusser. The Swiss time trialist scored an amazing solo victory in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem . A strong time trialist, if she gets away late in the race and other teams refuse to chase her (for fear of giving Kopecky a free ride to the finish line) they may never see her again.

Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx)

A stark contrast to Laporte and van Aert’s 1-2 finish in Ghent-Wevelgem (in which van Aert openly gifted the win to his teammate), Vollering outsprinted Kopecky to win Strade Bianche in March, a result that certainly made for some awkward post-race comments. Well, we could be in for a repeat: Vollering won Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen , and we’re wondering how she and Kopecky will coexist on Sunday. Will Vollering ride for her Belgian teammate? Will Kopecky chase her if she doesn’t? The race within this team will go a long way toward determining the Ronde’s final outcome.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)

Racing her final season as a professional, van Vleuten has had a relatively quiet spring thus far: she hasn’t competed since Strade Bianche (in early March) and shockingly hasn’t won a race yet this year. That said, we’ve learned to never discount the current world champion, who had a quiet spring in 2021 but then won both Dwars door Vlaanderen and Flanders in the same week. Overlooking her could prove fatal for the opposition.

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Vos has only raced twice so far this season, but the Dutch rider finished third in Dwars door Vlaanderen, a result that shows she’s right where she needs to be to add another Tour of Flanders to her resume (she won the race way back in 2013). She could be using Flanders to put the finishing touches on her form for next weekend’s Paris-Roubaix (one of the only major races missing from her palmares), but if a large group hits the finish line in Oudenaarde, she’s a good bet to win the field sprint.

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