tour of flanders route 2023

Profile & Route Tour of Flanders 2023

Profile. The Tour of Flanders - or Ronde van Vlaanderen - is the second monument of the season and the queen of the Flanders classics. Taking place in the Flemish region of Belgium, the race incorporates many of the most famous cobbled sectors and climbs in pro cycling .

272 kilometers on the menu this year. The distance will make for a brutal race, the Tour of Flanders has always been a race for the riders who are capable of performing on a bike at top level for a large number of hours and this year that capacity will be put to the limit. The start at Antwerpen will then see just a bit over 130 kilometers that are mostly set to be calm, approximately half of the race. However in the second half everything changes, as the Oude Kwaremont will open things up.

Estimated start and finish times for Tour of Flanders: 11:00 - 17:30CET.

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PREVIEW | Tour of Flanders 2023 - Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar the big favourites

From 137 to 88 kilometers to go there will be a long succession of bergs and cobbled sectors that will thin down the peloton. Big attacks will no happen here, as the main favourites need to save their bullets wisely, however set-up attacks, split attempts and a lot of fatigue buildup may happen here.

The crucial section of the race starts with the second passage over the Oude Kwaremont. Kwaremont, Paterberg and the Koppenberg come in quick succession and this trio of ascents will not only destroy the peloton, it will also provide opportunities to launch potentially decisive attacks. They come with 54.5, 51 and 44.5 kilometers to go. Not many riders will survive the peloton afterwards, and with a thinned down group decisive attacks can also come after as the chasing power will not be so meaningful.

Prize Money Tour of Flanders men's and women's - €20.000 for winners

Steenbeekdries (39Km to go), Taaienberg (36.5Km to go) and Oude Kruisberg (28Km to go) follow afterwards and provide further launching pads for dangerous attacks. After a small descent the race will enter it’s final sectors.

For the third and last time, the Oude Kwaremont. A grueling berg with inconsistent gradients, it summits with 16.5Km to go.

Final startlist Tour of Flanders with Pogacar, van Aert, van der Poel, Alaphilippe, Pidcock, Ewan, Sagan, Girmay and Mohoric

And after a short section, the final berg of the race is always one that may see the differences, the Paterberg. Short but sharp, essentially a one-minute all-out effort after around 6:30h of hard racing where slipstreaming is not a thing. A climb most will know like the back of their hand, it will summit with 13 kilometers to go.

TV Guide - Where and When to watch Tour of Flanders 2023

As every year, the run-up to Oudenaarde then is quite excruciating. Pan-flat after the small descent from the Paterberg, it is a place where attacks can still happen, but whatever happens depends on what will happen over the ascents.

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The 107th Tour of Flanders , also known as Ronde van Vlaanderen, begins on Sunday, April 2 as some of the top cyclists in the world head to Bruges for the 270 kilometer race from Bruges to Oudenaarde. 

The race will stream live on  FloBikes and the FloSports app in the United States, Canada and Australia along with all the events in the Flanders Classics. 

The 2023 Tour of Flanders returns to Bruges after six years in Antwerp. This year’s route includes several notable accents. Here’s a look at the map. 

2023 Tour Of Flanders Route  

When Is The Men's Tour Of Flanders?

The men's Tour of Flanders begins at 3:55 a.m. on April 2. 

2023 Men's Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen)

When is the women's tour of flanders.

The women's Tour of Flanders race begins at 9 a.m. on April 2 

2023 Women's Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen)

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2023 Tour of Flanders: Preview, schedule, how to watch both men's and women's classic races live

Mathieu van der Poel is favourite to defend his title at the iconic one-day men's classic race on the Belgian cobbles, while Annemiek van Vleuten chases a third women's crown in her final season.

The second road cycling one-day classic monument of the 2023 season is here.

On Sunday (2 April), the  Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen; Tour des Flandres) will celebrate its 107th men's and 20th women's editions as the first of two back-to-back cobbled monuments (Paris–Roubaix follows next week).

Men have raced 'De Ronde' annually uninterrupted since 1919. This year, for the first time since 2016, the race begins in Bruges/Brugge – the first year of an agreement that will see Bruges/Brugge and Antwerp alternate start-line duties. The race will end in Oudenaarde, as it has done every year since 2012, after 273.4km (169.9mi).

The women, meanwhile, face a 156.6km (97.3mi) course set around Oudenaarde but also encompassing swathes of the men's route.

Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands and Belgium's own  Lotte Kopecky are the respective defending champions. Van der Poel is looking for his third title in four races, having also triumphed in 2020.

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2023 tour of flanders course routes.

Welcome back to Bruges/Brugge. That's the main headline from this year's men's Ronde van Vlaanderen course , as the race returns to the same UNESCO World Heritage Site start town it had from 1998 through 2016.

The Grote Markt in Bruges/Brugge is where the peloton will start from; the change in start city from Antwerp means the route south to Oudenaard is also changing.

While the daunting Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg finale will still take pride of place, the course for the first 136km (84.5 miles) to the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont looks a little less heavy on the legs compared to last year, with only a single cobbled sector (down from two) at Huisepontweg and a generally flatter parcours, albeit with an additional côte.

However, the traditional loop around Oudenaard will again test the riders, with 18 climbs from the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont to the finish. Once more, the Paterberg is the last climb of the day with 13 km to go before a fast, flat finish. Across the day's 19 classified hills, the riders will climb 3,227m (10,587ft).

The women will ride a course very similar to the ones they are used to – a loop around Oudenaard, beginning at the Markt and ending on Minderbroedersstraat as the men do.

As with the men's race, Huisepontweg at 49.6km is the first cobbled sector; unlike the men, the women's peloton will already have had to climb their first test – the Tiegemberg.

Twelve further climbs await the women, who will face the same final 45km as the men, starting with the notoriously difficult cobbled climb up the Kopperberg (113.4km) and concluding with the Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg one-two to finish. A total elevation gain of 2,682m (8,799ft) awaits the peloton.

2023 Tour of Flanders riders to watch

Men's race - 2023 riders to watch.

• Mathieu van der Poel – the defending champion from the Netherlands. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider also triumphed in 2020 and was beaten into second place in 2021. He will aim for a fourth straight podium finish on the back of winning Milano-Sanremo two weeks ago.
• Tadej Pogacar – the all-round phenomenon from Slovenia is looking for his fourth career monument win (2 at Il Lombardia, 1 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège). This is just his second appearance in De Ronde, having finished agonisingly off the podium in fourth last year.
• Kasper Asgreen – the Dane was the surprise winner in 2021, knocking van der Poel into second place. His Soudal–Quick Step team can also count on…
• Julian Alaphilippe – the two-time road race world champion, who looked set to challenge for the 2020 race before crashing into a motorcycle while in the winning breakaway.
• Wout van Aert – Jumbo-Visma's leader in Flanders, who was forced to miss last year's race after catching Covid. Widely considered the biggest rival to Van der Poel, Van Aert will be hoping to upgrade his 2020 second place to the top step of the podium. Enters off the back of a second place at Gent-Wevelgem.
• Greg van Avermaet – even aged 37, don't rule out the Belgian on his home roads. The 2016 Olympic road race champion is a specialist in the one-day classics, and has finished on the podium in Oudenaarde four times without ever winning the race.
• Tom Pidcock – the Briton is, like Van der Poel and Van Aert, used to riding on different terrain as a cyclo-cross, mountain bike, and road rider. Pidcock claimed his first major one-day win earlier this year at Strade Bianche and has experience of winning on cobbles, triumphing in the 2021 Brabantse Pijl and 2019 Paris–Roubaix Espoirs junior race.

Women's race - 2023 riders to watch

• Annemiek van Vleuten – the Dutch women's cycling legend has announced that 2023 will be her final season. A two-time winner of the women's Tour of Flanders (2011, 2021), Van Vleuten is no stranger to success in all forms of road cycling, from long stage races to one-day classics, and will hope to sign off from Oudenaarde with a third victory.
• Lotte Kopecky – defending champion from 2022, Kopecky will have the home support behind her. A two-time national road race champion, she already has a pair of one-day classic race wins under her belt this season and will be one of the favourites for a third.
• Marianne Vos – the London 2012 Olympic road race champion hasn't won in a one-day race since Gent-Wevelgem in 2021, but count Vos out at your peril. The vastly experienced Dutchwoman is still a force to be reckoned with on her day.
• Elisa Longo Borghini – the Trek-Segafredo team leader, who won bronze in the last two Olympic road races, is a previous winner of the event (2015) and will be supported by fellow Italian and 2021 world champion Elisa Balsamo.

2023 Tour of Flanders: Race schedules

(All times local CEST, approximate after race start. Assumes an average race speed of 44km/h for men and 40km/h for women)

• 10:00 – Men's race unofficial start in Bruges/Brugge (-8.3km)
• 10:16 – Men's race official start in Beernem (0.0km)
• 12:45 – Men's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (109.0km)
• 13:22 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 2, 136.8km)
• 13:30 – Women's race unofficial start in Oudenaarde (-2.7km)
• 13:35 – Women's race official start in Oudenaarde (0.0km)
• 13:50 – Women's race reaches first climb at Tiegemberg (climb 1, 10.0km)
• 14:49 – Women's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (49.5km)
• 15:14 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 218.8km)
• 15:19 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Paterberg (climb 13, 222.3km)
• 15:28 – Men's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 14, 228.8km)
• 16:06 – Men's race reaches third ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 18, 256.7km)
• 16:11 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Paterberg (climb 19, 260.1km)
• 16:23 – Women's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 8, 112.0km)
• 16:29 – Men's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (273.4km)
• 17:05 – Women's race reaches Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 139.9km)
• 17:10 – Women's race reaches Paterberg (climb 13, 143.3km)
• 17:30 – Women's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (156.6km)

Tour of Flanders: Last five winners

• 2022: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2021: Kasper Asgreen (DEN/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
• 2020: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2019: Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF Educational First)
• 2018: Niki Terpstra (NED/Quick-Step Floors)
• 2022: Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx)
• 2021: Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/Movistar Team)
• 2020: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (NED/Boels-Dolmans)
• 2019: Marta Bastianelli (ITA/Team Virtu Cycling)
• 2018: Anna van der Breggen (NED/Boels-Dolmans)

How to watch 2023 Tour of Flanders - Ronde van Vlaanderen

List of regional broadcasters (TV / online):

• Belgium – RTBF
• Czechia – Czech TV
• Denmark – TV2
• France – France TV
• Italy – RAI
• Netherlands – NOS
• Norway – TV2
• Slovenia – JOJ
• Spain – Enjoy
• Switzerland – SRG SSR
• Pan-Europe – Eurosport, GCN
• Canada – Flobikes
• United States – Flobikes
• Australia – Flobikes, SBS
• New Zealand – SKY Sport
• Central and South America and the Caribbean – ESPN
• Sub-Saharan Africa – Supersport

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Advantage Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky at the Tour of Flanders

All the information you need ahead of the biggest Belgian Classic of the year

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• Riders to watch
• Men's start list
• Women's start list

Fans of the Tour of Flanders will be denied another showdown between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) this year, after the Belgian sustained multiple fractures in a heavy crash during Dwars door Vlaanderen.

It leaves Van der Poel as the clear favourite, with on-song Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) stepping into the breach as the rider most likely to challenge the imperious Dutchman.

With reigning champion Tadej Pogačar from this year's startlist, the two men will feel more confident. But a Classics win is always reliant on a certain amount of luck, and Van der Poel and Pedersen certainly won't have it all their own way.

Meanwhile the women's race is also something of a clash of the titans, with two-time winner and defending champion Lotte Kopecky and her SD Worx-Protime team-mate forming a potent pairing who will nevertheless have to contend with the likes of Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike) and British hopeful Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm-firmenich PostNL) among others.

This year sees Antwerp take over from Bruges as the alternating host city of the race. The route remains broadly similar to previous years, with greater use of wider roads early on to help prevent crashes being the only change.

For the men, the first berg of 17 will be the Oude Kwaremont, tackled after 137km of racing, while the Wolvenberg at the 72km point is the first of 12 such tests in the women’s race. The Wolvenberg is where both men's and women's races converge, after which the climbs come thick and fast.

It's the final one-two punch of Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg that often proves the most decisive. Controversial when first devised in 2012, particularly as it meant the omission of the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen, this finale has since won fans over with its own unique character, which is also influenced by the double punch of the long, gradual Kwaremont and the short yet ultra-steep Paterberg.

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Tour of Flanders 2024 Key Info

Date: March 31 2024 Location: Antwerp 2023 winners: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates, men); Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx, women) TV: Discovery+ / Eurosport Distance: 270km (men); 163km (women)

Tour of Flanders 2024 route

This year's men's race continues the annual trading game between Bruges and Antwerp, with the latter hosting the start on Sunday. Riders will find bigger roads than before waiting for them as they begin the long haul south-west towards berg country.

The fun begins with the first of three passes of the Oude Kwaremont, and the climbs come thick and fast after that as the race follows a spaghetti-like parcours around the hills of Flanders just south-east of the finish town of Oudenaarde. On the way they take in famous climbs including the Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Berendries and the Koppenberg on the way to a total 17 climbs, finishing with the one-two of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg with 13 flat kilometres to the line.

The women begin in Oudenaarde, where both races finish. They first head north-east away from the city to complete a circuit of the flatter terrain around Zottegem, looping back towards Oudenaarde to begin the day's climbing at 72km with the Wolvenberg. A similarly serpentine route to that of the men sees them tackle a total 12 classified climbs, including the Molenberg, Berendries and the Koppenberg, along with that final Kwaremont/Paterberg one-two at the end.

Tour of Flanders 2024: Riders to watch

Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin-Deceuninck ***** The Dutch rider looks imperious this season – always at or near the head of affairs in every race he has ridden and with a win at the E3 Saxo Classic and second at Gent-Wevelgem under his belt already. He's had a mercurial last couple of seasons, but covered himself in glory in the Classics last year and seems to be set to repeat the feat this time around. The fact that Wout van Aert has now been ruled out – albeit in very unfortunate circumstances that VDP would not have wished for – won't exactly hurt his chances either.

Tiesj Benoot Visma-Lease A Bike *** With Benoot's team-mate and compatriot Wout van Aert recovering from a nasty crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen and other team-mates like Dylan Van Baarle having been ill, this could be Benoot's opportunity to step up from nearly man to winner at Flanders. He has been fifth here before – back in 2015 – and won Strade Bianche in 2018 . With a following wind and a bit of luck a podium, or even a win, here is not beyond him.

Mads Pedersen Lidl-Trek **** The Dane was third here last year and eighth the year before that. Considering that he seems to be in the form of his life – and the absence of one of his main Classics rivals, Wout van Aert – what's to say that Pedersen cannot finally achieve victory in what is one of the most revered one-day races of the season. Pedersen proves himself to be ever-more versatile, with overall wins in the Etoile de Bessèges and Tour de la Provence stage races, plus the more recent Gent-Wevelgem already this season.

Lotte Kopecky SD Worx-Protime ***** Of all the cards the Belgian team could play, right now Kopecky looks like the most likely to bring them success. She has been a playmaker in pretty much every race she has entered this season and already has four wins under her belt, including Strade Bianche . Riding alongside her, and even for her, will be at least four other potential victors – Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Lorena Wiebes – ready to take over if Kopecky falters.

Elisa Longo Borghini Lidl-Trek **** The Italian has amassed a huge palmarès across Classics and stage races alike, despite spending most of her career riding in the company (under the shadow?) of greats like Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen. She has Lotte Kopecky to deal with these days, but that hasn't stopped the 32-year-old from putting in a solid shift so far this season already, with podiums at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, and a win at Trofeo Oro in Euro.

Kasia Niewiadoma Canyon-SRAM **** The reigning gravel world champion was left heartbroken after missing out on a podium spot at Strade Bianche earlier this month. That was her most recent result, and one she may be eager to atone for at the Tour of Flanders this weekend. She was fifth here last year – the latest in a litany of top-10s stretching back 10 years. The Polish rider looks to be on form, with five top-seven finishes out of six race days this season, though there is of course the small matter of the SD Worx team standing between her and a win at Flanders.

Tour of Flanders 2024 men's start list

Alpecin-Deceuninck VAN DER POEL Mathieu PHILIPSEN Jasper BALLERSTEDT Maurice GROVES Kaden KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren DILLIER Silvan VERMEERSCH Gianni

Intermarché-Wanty GIRMAY Biniam DE POOTER Dries PAGE Hugo PETIT Adrien REX Laurenz TEUNISSEN Mike ZIMMERMANN Georg

Soudal Quick-Step ALAPHILIPPE Julian ASGREEN Kasper LAMPAERT Yves MOSCON Gianni PEDERSEN Casper VANGHELUWE Warre WARLOP Jordi

Team Visma-Lease a Bike AFFINI Edoardo BENOOT Tiesj JORGENSON Matteo VAN DIJKE Mick VAN DIJKE Tim TRATNIK Jan VAN BAARLE Dylan

Arkéa-B&B Hotels SÉNÉCHAL Florian GRONDIN Donavan ALBANESE Vincenzo MCLAY Daniel MOZZATO Luca SCOTSON Miles

Astana Qazaqstan Team BOL Cees BRUSSENSKIY Gleb FEDOROV Yevgeniy GAZZOLI Michele GIDICH Yevgeniy GRUZDEV Dmitriy SYRITSA Gleb

Bahrain-Victorious MOHORIČ Matej GOVEKAR Matevž GRADEK Kamil MIHOLJEVIĆ Fran PASQUALON Andrea WRIGHT Fred BURATTI Nicolò

BORA-Hansgrohe KOCH Jonas MEEUS Jordi HALLER Marco HERZOG Emil LÜHRS Luis-Joe DENZ Nico MULLEN Ryan VAN POPPEL Danny

Cofidis ALLEGAERT Piet DE GENDT Aimé DEBEAUMARCHÉ Nicolas MAHOUDO Nolann NOPPE Christophe RENARD Alexis ZINGLE Axel

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale GAUTHERAT Pierre BOASSON HAGEN Edvald NAESEN Oliver DE BONDT Dries DE PESTEL Sander POLLEFLIET Gianluca TOUZÉ Damien TRONCHON Bastien

EF Education-EasyPost BETTIOL Alberto BISSEGGER Stefan DOULL Owain HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich POWLESS Neilson RUTSCH Jonas VALGREN Michael

Groupama-FDJ KÜNG Stefan ASKEY Lewis BYSTRØM Sven Erik LE GAC Olivier MADOUAS Valentin RUSSO Clément WATSON Samuel

INEOS Grenadiers TARLING Joshua NARVÁEZ Jhonatan ROWE Luke SHEFFIELD Magnus SWIFT Ben SWIFT Connor TURNER Ben

Lidl-Trek HOOLE Daan PEDERSEN Mads DECLERCQ Tim KIRSCH Alex MILAN Jonathan SKUJIŅŠ Toms STUYVEN Jasper THEUNS Edward

Movistar LAZKANO Oier CANAL Carlos CAVAGNA Rémi GARCÍA CORTINA Iván JACOBS Johan MILESI Lorenzo ROMEO Iván

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL DEGENKOLB John BEVIN Patrick BITTNER Pavel EDDY Patrick EEKHOFF Nils FLYNN Sean MÄRKL Niklas

Team Jayco AlUla MATTHEWS Michael DURBRIDGE Luke JANSEN Amund Grøndahl MEZGEC Luka O'BRIEN Kelland REINDERS Elmar WALSCHEID Max

UAE Team Emirates WELLENS Tim OLIVEIRA Ivo BJERG Mikkel COVI Alessandro HIRSCHI Marc MORGADO António POLITT Nils

Israel-Premier Tech FUGLSANG Jakob BOIVIN Guillaume HOULE Hugo NEILANDS Krists STEWART Jake TEUNS Dylan VAN ASBROECK Tom

Lotto-Dstny BEULLENS Cedric CAMPENAERTS Victor DE BUYST Jasper EENKHOORN Pascal GRIGNARD Sébastien VAN MOER Brent BERCKMOES Jenno

Uno-X Mobility KRISTOFF Alexander ABRAHAMSEN Jonas HOELGAARD Markus BLUME LEVY William RESELL Erik Nordsæter TILLER Rasmus WÆRENSKJOLD Søren

Bingoal-WB DE MEESTER Luca DE TIER Floris DESAL Ceriel VAN BOVEN Luca VAN ROOY Kenneth VAN DER BEKEN Aaron VERMOOTE Jelle

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team CHRISTEN Fabio DEVRIENDT Tom LUDVIGSSON Tobias STEIMLE Jannik ZUKOWSKY Nickolas

Team Flanders-Baloise CLAEYS Arno COLMAN Alex DE VYLDER Lindsay DE WILDE Gilles DEWEIRDT Siebe VAN HEMELEN Vincent VANHOOF Ward VANDENSTORME Dylan

Tudor Pro Cycling Team TRENTIN Matteo BOHLI Tom ERIKSSON Jacob KELEMEN Petr KRIEGER Alexander MAYRHOFER Marius PLUIMERS Rick

Tour of Flanders 2024 women's start list

Team SD Worx-Protime VOLLERING Demi KOPECKY Lotte BREDEWOLD Mischa REUSSER Marlen MAJERUS Christine WIEBES Lorena

AG Insurance-Soudal Team BOOGAARD Maaike BORGSTRÖM Julia GOOSSENS Marthe (LE COURT) PIENAAR Kimberley PLUIMERS Ilse RIJNBEEK Maud

Canyon//SRAM Racing NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna CROMWELL Tiffany CHABBEY Elise DYGERT Chloe PALADIN Soraya TOWERS Alice

CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team ARZUFFI Alice Maria BERTON Nina FIDANZA Arianna JASKULSKA Marta KERBAOL Cédrine LACH Marta

FDJ-SUEZ GUAZZINI Vittoria ADEGEEST Loes CURINIER Léa KRAAK Amber VERHULST-WILD Gladys WIEL Jade

Fenix-Deceuninck PIETERSE Puck CANT Sanne COUZENS Millie DE WILDE Julie KASTELIJN Yara KUIJPERS Evy SCHWEINBERGER Christina

Human Powered Health CORDON-RAGOT Audrey EDWARDS Ruth GROSSETÊTE Maëlle KASPER Romy WILLIAMS Lily RAGUSA Katia

Lidl-Trek LONGO BORGHINI Elisa BALSAMO Elisa BRAND Lucinda DEIGNAN Elizabeth HANSON Lauretta VAN ANROOIJ Shirin

Liv AlUla Jayco HOWE Georgie KOREVAAR Jeanne MANLY Alexandra PATE Amber PATERNOSTER Letizia SMULDERS Silke

Movistar SIERRA Arlenis BIANNIC Aude NORSGAARD Emma GUTIÉRREZ Sheyla MACKAIJ Floortje RUIZ PÉREZ Lucía

Roland CHRISTOFOROU Antri COLES-LYSTER Maggie COLLINELLI Sofia DRONOVA-BALABOLINA Tamara NGUYỄN Thị Thật PIRRONE Elena

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL GEORGI Pfeiffer BARALE Francesca KOCH Franziska NELSON Josie SMITH Abi CIABOCCO Eleonora

Team Visma-Lease a Bike VOS Marianne ACHTEREEKTE Carlijn NOOIJEN Lieke RIEDMANN Linda VAN EMPEL Fem VIGIE Margaux

Uno-X Mobility CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia ANDERSEN Susanne BARKER Elinor BERG EDSETH Marte BOILARD Simone KOSTER Anouska 

Cofidis ALZINI Martina BERTEAU Victoire FORTIN Valentine KERN Špela ROY Sarah VAN HAAFTEN Kirstie

Arkéa-B&B Hotels CLAES Lotte COLJÉ Maaike DRUMMOND Michaela FAHLIN Emilia MORICHON Anais SQUIBAN Maëva

Chevalmeire BEX Nathalie ERIKSEN Malin DOBBELAERE Jana KIEKENS Cleo NILSSON Hanna WATTS Emily

EF Education-Cannondale KESSLER Nina BORGHESI Letizia JACKSON Alison LABECKI Coryn RÜEGG Noemi FAULKNER Kristen

Lifeplus-Wahoo BURLOVÁ Kristýna FRANZ Heidi GONZÁLEZ Alicia HARRIS Ella RICHARDSON Kate RYSZ Kaja

Lotto Dstny Ladies DE JONG Thalita AINTILA Wilma DE KEERSMAEKER Audrey BASTIAENSSEN Fauve DOCX Mieke VAN DE GUCHTE Quinty

Proximus-Cyclis CT AERNOUTS Amber BOSKAMP Lente DE GROOT Marieke LÓPEZ Marga MEERTENS Lone VEERMAN Deborah

Team Coop-Repsol RÅNES BYE Camilla GRANGIER India GREENWOOD Monica HAUGSET Sigrid Ytterhus JØRGENSEN Tiril TACEY April

VolkerWessels DEMEY Valerie DIJKSTRA Anneke JANSEN Eline MEERT Marieke SOUREN Scarlett VANPACHTENBEKE Margot

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After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields. 

Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.

A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.

State Bicycle Co. announced today a Bob Marley collaboration that features Marley-themed bikes, frame bags, top caps and apparel.

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Tour of Flanders Men Route, Stages and Results 2023

We Ride Flanders

Hills.cobbles.suffer..

Saturday 30rd March 2024 will be another great day for cycling! A day before the pros you can ride your own Tour of Flanders. Suffering on the steep climbs and cobbled sections, enjoying the picturesque, meandering roads through the Flemish countryside and being propelled by that typical, unparalleled atmosphere of “We Ride Flanders”.

The longest distance (237 km) will start from Antwerp and finish in Oudenaarde. All other distances start and finish in Oudenaarde.

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The Monuments - Longo Borghini, Kopecky in contention to claim all three at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes  celebrates its eighth edition and marks the youngest of the Ardennes Classics women's events. ASO launched the event for the first time in 2017, forming the triple alongside the already established Amstel Gold Race, which held its first edition in 2001 (though it was on hiatus for 13 years between 2004 and 2016) and Flèche Wallonne since 1998. 

This was a historic moment for women's racing, which became even more significant when Anna van der Breggen became the first woman to win the triple crown that year, having won all three races.

Capturing victory at all the Ardennes Classics—Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège—in one season is a rare feat accomplished by only four riders in history: Davide Rebellin in 2004, Philippe Gilbert in 2011, Van der Breggen in 2017, and Demi Vollering in 2023. 

No one is in the running for that accomplishment this year since Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a bike) won the Amstel Gold Race and Kasia Niewiadoma won Flèche Wallonne , but there are still a few talking points worth mentioning ahead of the event that closes out the Ardennes Classics.

Longo Borghini, Kopecky could join Deignan in Monuments record

At the moment, only three of the five races that are considered the Monuments of cycling are part of the women's international racing calendar. 

RCS Sports' Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia do not offer women's races, but the peloton competes at the prestigious Women's WorldTour events Flanders' Classics Tour of Flanders and ASO's Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Only one rider has won all three, with  Lizzie Deignan  winning the Tour of Flanders in 2016, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2020 and Paris-Roubaix in 2021. 

This could change on Sunday if her teammate  Elisa Longo Borghini  or SD Worx-Protime's  Lotte Kopecky  triumphs in Liége.

Longo Borghini won the Tour of Flanders twice, taking her first victory in 2015 and this year. She also won Paris-Roubaix in 2022, the year following Deignan's historical inaugural win. At Liège, she has finished on the podium twice in 2021 and 2023.

The Italian Champion has made some sacrifices this season, including skipping Paris-Roubaix to focus on the Ardennes Classics, with a special goal of winning in Liege.

Kopecky might not have started her season with this goal, and perhaps it is not on her mind, but if she succeeds on Sunday, she too could end up joining Deignan as a rider who has won all three races. This will mark her first attempt at racing Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and she will have a wildcard role on the team.

Kopecky has also won the Tour of Flanders twice, in 2022 and 2023, and she triumphed at Paris-Roubaix while wearing her World Champion's jersey just a few weeks ago, making her another contender for joining Deignan as the winner of all three Monuments.

For more information about the contenders for the 2024 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes .

Toughest edition yet

While Flèche Wallonne was a less challenging route this year, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is one of the toughest editions ever.  

"We want to make the women’s race harder every year, bringing it up to the level of the men’s,” said race director Yannick Talabardon.

The inaugural edition, at 135.5km, included four ascents, but in its eighth edition this year, ASO has included 10 gruelling climbs across the 153km course that starts in Bastogne and finishes in Liège. 

The addition of the Côte de Saint-Roch is the first ascent of the day.

The organisers also said that they were able to add to the race this year because of the decision to adjust the schedule so that the women's race starts and finishes after the men's race, which means that it will be five hours later than the last year.

For more information about the route for the 2024 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes .

Last chance

Liège-Bastogne-Liège marks the last chance for any rider who was targeting the Ardennes Classic to secure a top result, and SD Worx-Protime might be feeling this pressure.

Demi Vollering's remarkable dominance of the Ardennes Classics last year saw her win all three events and become the second woman, after Anna van der Breggen in 2017, to win the triple crown.

She will line up as the defending champion at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and is one of the contenders for the win again, especially after finishing second at Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. Racing in support of Vollering, Lotte Kopecky finished 15th. 

SD Worx-Protime also finished second at the Amstel Gold Race, where Lorena Wiebes celebrated victory too soon in the sprint against eventual winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Vollering finished 22nd.

Two second places in the opening rounds of the Ardennes Classics would normally be considered strong results. However, for a team that has historically been as dominant as SD Worx-Protime, they are probably not satisfied with their performances this week.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège offers the team one last chance to turn their Ardennes Classics season around. The question is will the team support Vollering or Kopecky?

“I want to win. Last year I was equally eager to win Liège, because I had a special chance to win all three Ardennes classics," said Vollering. "I think the pressure was higher last year. We have a really strong team. Together with Lotte, we can do a really nice finale.”

Wide-open racing, stronger teams

The wide-open racing during the cobbled Classics fed straight into the Ardennes Classics, which captivated cycling fans with new winners atop the podiums in each race.

Much of the early discussion was around whether SD Worx-Protime would dominate this block of the season, given their stronghold last year, but watching Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) claim their victories in the first two races showed how much depth there is across the peloton in the finals of the biggest races.

There are any number of riders who have the strength, experience, and potential to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège; and with team tactics playing a crucial role, the race is wide open.

Defending champion Vollering, Longo Borghni, Vos, and Niewiadoma are on that list, but look out for new faces in the mix. Riders like Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), to name a few who just might surprise in Liège.

“We want to put at least one rider on the final podium. The team has come close to a nice result several times in the last few weeks," Muzic said.

"We have many cards to play and we want to play a numbers game in the final. We will race for the win."

Pogacar wins Liege with epic solo break, launching bid for Giro d’Italia and Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege bike race on Sunday thanks to a solo break 30km from home launched on a steep climb and sustained to the finish line.

Issued on: 21/04/2024 - 17:07

Ahead of Pogacar 's Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double bid the 25-year-old Slovenian blew the opposition away with a maverick acceleration that none could answer on the 254km race in the Ardennes forests that marks the end of the spring classics.

Billed as a duel between Pogacar and winner of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders Mathieu van der Poel, the Dutchman came in a commendable third but was far from going shoulder-to-shoulder for the title.

Frenchman Romain Bardet was second, also solo 1min 39sec off the pace with Van der Poel leading a bunch home at 2min 02sec.

Another pre-race favourite was Briton Tom Pidcock, who was 10th on the day after a mechanical problem at a key moment hindered his day.

The win puts to bed Pogacar's fall here last season that broke his wrist and blighted his Tour de France bid.

"It was an emotional day of riding for me," a drained-looking Pogacar said.

"Not just because of my hand but also because two years ago just before the race Urska's mother died, so I was riding for her today," Pogacar said referring to his professional cyclist partner Urska Zigart.

Pogacar also won here in 2021 and this was his sixth one-day Monument win with three wins at the Tour of Lombardy and his 2023 Tour of Flanders triumph.

Champion Remco Evenepoel, former winner Primoz Roglic and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard would all have been suited to this course but are injured after a mass fall at the Tour of the Basque Country.

Pogacar came into the race fresh from altitude training and at the start line said he had "no regrets about not racing la Fleche", referring to the frozen and drenched midweek race in the same region.

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Emotional Pogacar claims Liege triumph ahead of Giro-Tour double bid

LIEGE – Tadej Pogacar won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race on April 21, thanks to a solo break, 30km from home, before dedicating victory to the mother of his girlfriend who died on the eve of the 2022 event.

Ahead of Pogacar’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double bid, the 25-year-old Slovenian blew the opposition away with an acceleration that none could answer on the 254km route in the Ardennes forests that marks the end of the spring classics.

Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders winner Mathieu van der Poel, bidding to become the first man since the legendary Eddy Merckx in 1975 to win three of the major one-day races in the same season, was a commendable third.

Frenchman Romain Bardet was second, also solo, 1min 39sec off the pace with van der Poel leading a bunch home at 2:02.

Pogacar fell in the race last season and suffered a broken wrist which blighted his Tour de France bid.

“It was an emotional day of riding for me,” a drained-looking Pogacar said after raising his arms and pointing to the sky, dedicating victory to the mother of his girlfriend Urska Zigart, also a pro rider, after winning in 6hr 13min 48sec.

“Not just because of my hand but also because two years ago just before the race Urska’s mother died, so I was riding for her today.”

He also won the Liege-Bastogne in 2021. April 21 was his sixth one-day Monument victory with three wins at the Tour of Lombardy and a 2023 Tour of Flanders triumph.

“Coming in alone was great, it’s really special to come in alone on such a long race. It’s a beautiful race and I’m happy to win it again,” said the UAE Team Emirates rider.

He came into the race fresh from altitude training and at the start line said he had “no regrets about not racing la Fleche”, referring to the frozen and drenched midweek race in the same region.

This was a seventh win in just 10 days of competitive racing for Pogacar, who starts the Giro d’Italia on May 4 in a bid to become the first man to win the Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998.

The Giro bid will be his debut, but he won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, and was runner-up to Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023.

Defending champion Remco Evenepoel, former winner Primoz Roglic, and Vingegaard would all have been suited to the April 21 course.

However, all were out injured after a mass fall at the Tour of the Basque Country. AFP

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tadej Pogačar (@tadejpogacar)

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Tour of Flanders 2023: Riders

World Tour Teams

AG2R Citroën Greg Van Avermaet, Oliver Naesen, Benoît Cosnefroy, Lawrence Naesen, Stan Dewulf, Damien Touzé, Pierre Gautherat

Alpecin – Deceuninck Mathieu van der Poel, Søren Kragh Andersen, Silvan Dillier, Michael Gogl, Maurice Ballerstedt, Xandro Meurisse, Gianni Vermeersch

Arkéa Samsic David Dekker, Hugo Hofstetter, Jenthe Biermans, Matis Louvel, Daniel McLay, Clément Russo, Mathis Le Berre

Astana Qazaqstan Team Yevgeniy Fedorov, Dmitriy Gruzdev, Gleb Syritsa, Igor Chzkhan, Yevgeniy Gidich, Martin Laas, Nurbergen Nurlykhassym, Gleb Syritsa

Bahrain Victorious Matej Mohoric, Fred Wright, Andrea Pasqualon, Nikias Arndt, Kamil Gradek, Filip Maciejuk, Dusan Rajovic

BORA – hansgrohe Marco Haller, Danny van Poppel, Nils Politt, Patrick Gamper, Jonas Koch, Shane Archbold, Jordi Meeus

Cofidis Christophe Noppe, Piet Allegaert, Wesley Kreder, Max Walscheid, Axel Zingle, Andre Carvalho, Alexis Renard

EF Education – EasyPost Neilson Powless, Jens Keukeleire, Mikkel Honoré, Owain Doull, Jonas Rutsch, Tom Scully, Julius van den Berg

Groupama – FDJ Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Lewis Askey, Kevin Geniets, Olivier Le Gac, Fabian Lienhard, Samuel Watson

INEOS Grenadiers Tom Pidcock, Luke Rowe, Ben Turner, Magnus Sheffield, Kim Heiduk, Jhonatan Narváez, Connor Swift

Intermarché – Circus – Wanty Biniam Girmay, Taco van der Hoorn, Aimé De Gendt, Baptiste Plankaert, Sven Erik Bystrøm, Dries De Pooter, Laurenz Rex

Jumbo – Visma Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Tosh Van der Sande, Nathan van Hooydonck, Edoardo Affini, Tim van Dijke

Movistar Iván García, Matteo Jorgenson, Johan Jacobs, Oier Lazkano, Iván Romeo, Mathias Norsgaard, Juri Hollmann

Soudal – QuickStep Kasper Asgreen, Julian Alaphilippe, Yves Lampaert, Tim Merlier, Florian Sénéchal, Tim Declercq, Davide Ballerini

Team Jayco AlUla Michael Matthews, Luke Durbridge, Zdenek Stybar, Elmar Reinders, Blake Quick, Luka Mezgec, Kelland O’Brien

Team DSM Nils Eekhoff, John Degenkolb, Leon Heinschke, Alex Edmondson, Tim Naberman, Kevin Vermaerke, Pavel Bittner

Trek – Segafredo Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, Alex Kirsch, Daan Hoole, Edward Theuns, Mathias Vacek, Emils Liepins

UAE Emirates Tadej Pogacar, Tim Wellens, Matteo Trentin, Sjoerd Bax, Rui Oliveira, Mikkel Bjerg, Vegard Stake Laengen

ProTeams Bingoal WB Floris De Tier, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Dimitri Peyskens, Ludovic Robeet, Alexis Guerin, Julian Mertens, Luca Van Boven

Israel – Premier Tech Dylan Teuns, Sep Vanmarcke, Guillaume Boivin, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands, Tom Van Asbroeck, Jens Reynders

Lotto – Dstny Brent Van Moer, Florian Vermeersch, Caleb Ewan, Jasper De Buyst, Frederik Frison, Sébastien Grignard, Arjen Livyns

Q36.5 Jack Bauer, Alessandro Fedeli, Kamil Malecki, Antonio Puppio, Nickolas Zukowsky, Filippo Colombo, Nicolò Parisini

Team Flanders Baloise Vito Braet, Lindsay De Vylder, Alex Colman, Sander De Pestel, Gilles De Wilde, Ward Vanhoof, Jenno Berckmoes

TotalEnergies Peter Sagan, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Paul Ourselin, Anthony Turgis, Dries Van Gestel, Thomas Bonnet, Sandy Dujardin

Uno-X Alexander Kristoff, Rasmus Tiller, Martin Urianstad, Kristoffer Halvorsen, William Blume Levy, Erik Nordsæter Resell, Louis Bendixen

6 Reasons to Be Psyched About the 2024 Giro d’Italia

With an aggressive opening weekend, the return of Mortirolo, and chances for sprint battles, this year’s Giro will keep fans on the edge of their seats.

The route of the 2024 Giro was revealed last October, but it was quickly overshadowed by the announcement of the route for the 2024 Tour de France . That’s a typical issue for the Italian grand tour, a race that always seems to be fighting to emerge from its French cousin’s shadow.

But it shouldn’t be: the Giro is a fantastic event in its own right, a race that offers stunning scenery and aggressive racing, and often gives us a chance to see other riders steal the limelight. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be getting you ready for the Giro’s 107th edition, starting with six reasons why we’re excited about this year’s race.

1. An Aggressive Opening Weekend

Once upon a time, the opening weekend of a grand tour was more about fanfare than competition, often with a short individual time trial (usually called a “Prologue”) followed by a flat stage ending in a field sprint. In other words: stages that had little bearing on the race overall.

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Don’t get us wrong: it can be fun to watch time trial specialists square off against GC contenders in a short ITT to determine the first rider to pull on a grand tour leader’s jersey. And who doesn’t love a good field sprint? But we want to see racing , with stages that don’t allow the overall contenders to hide in the bunch, stages like the two Basque stages at the beginning of last year’s Tour de France.

Well, this year’s Giro seems to have taken a page out of last year’s Tour de France racebook, with a 143-kilometer opening stage from Venaria Reale to Turin that brings the riders over three categorized climbs, including the Category 2 Colle de Maddalena less than 25 km from the finish line—which the riders will hit just a few kilometers after cresting a punchy, uncategorized ascent just outside the city. Expect an exciting race to win the Giro’s first maglia rosa (the “pink jersey” awarded each day to the Giro’s overall leader), but time gaps that won’t kill anyone’s GC hopes on the first day of the race.

The next day could be a different story though, when a 161-kilometer stage from San Francesco al Campo to the Santuario di Oropa ends with the Giro’s first summit finish, an 11.8-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 6.2 percent. The ascent to Oropa is this year’s “Cima Pantani,” an ascent designated to honor Marco Pantani , the deceased Italian superstar who famously won a stage here in 1999.

This isn’t the hardest climb in the Giro by any means, but given that it’s only Stage 2, it will start shuffling the general classification. And given one of the riders expected to be competing this year (more on that later), this could prove to be an especially impactful opening weekend.

2. Reasonable Stage Lengths

In recent years, riders have become increasingly critical of the Giro’s organizers for including too many long stages—and even longer transfers from the finish of one stage to the start of another (which means riders are on buses for sometimes two to three hours before getting to their hotels at the end of the day). That might not seem like a big deal for fans watching the race from the comfort of their couches, but how do you like it when your boss extends your workday without considering you first? What if the length of your commute was suddenly doubled or tripled?

Well, the organizers listened, and this is the shortest Giro in years, with an average stage length that’s 12.5 km shorter than it was five years ago. Even better, there are fewer super-long stages. For example, in 2019, there were eleven stages over 190 km, and eight of them went over 200 km. This year’s race has just four stages over 190 km and only one of them comes during the Giro’s final week, which is traditionally the hardest of the race.

That’s great for the riders, but it’s also a boon for fans, who have annually been “treated” to at least one or two Giro stages in which a large breakaway gets a huge lead on an otherwise disinterested peloton—or worse, stages in which the entire peloton decides to ride piano until the final hour, at which point they wind things up for an eventual field sprint. Stages like these are the cycling equivalent of watching paint dry.

Shorter stages produce more aggressive racing, and shorter transfers mean happier, better-recovered riders—which also means better racing. With shorter stages and more reasonable transfers, we’re expecting this to be one of the most exciting Giros–from start to finish–in years.

3. A Surprising Feast for Sprinters

A race known more for its mountains, the Giro rarely attracts large numbers of sprinters—at least not as many as the Tour de France usually does. But with eight stages expected to end in field sprints this year—and a particularly mountainous route at the Tour de France—the 2024 Giro d’Italia is shaping up to be one of the more sprint- and sprinter-heavy grand tours in the past few years.

Here’s an early look at the list of sprinters expected to take the start in Torino: Italy’s Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek); Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal–Quick Step) and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty); Dutch sprinters Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Australia’s Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). That’s a deep line-up, and it should produce some of the most exciting field sprints of the season.

The Giro d’Italia has always embraced gravel roads. In 2005, the organizers took the race up and over the Colle delle Finistre, a climb in the Italian Alps that’s famous for an eight-kilometer section of gravel approaching the summit of the pass. The Giro has included the climb four three since 2005, most famously during Stage 19 in 2018 when Great Britain’s Chris Froome went on an 86K solo raid, overcoming a 3:22 deficit to take the maglia rosa . He won his first and only Giro in Rome two days later.

In 2010, the Giro was one of the first grand tours in the modern era to introduce gravel roads on a non-mountain stage when the organizers took a page out of the Strade Bianche road race and included several sections of white gravel roads near the end of Stage 7, a 220-kilometer ride from Carrara to Montalcino. Australia’s Cadel Evans won the stage; the former mountain biker seemed at home on the white gravel roads, which had turned brown due to heavy rain.

This year’s race won’t go over the Finistere (yeah, we’re bummed too), but it will bring the riders over about 12 km of punchy, gravel roads during the second half of Stage 6. The 177-kilometer stage from Viareggio to Rapolano Terme comes just before the Giro’s first time trial, and should present a perfect opportunity for an ambush, possibly by a rider who doesn’t fancy his chances in the next day’s race against the clock.

5. Lots of Mountains

It’s the mountains that keep everyone coming back to the Giro d’Italia (or, in the case of a few of the riders, staying away). This year’s race is no different, with 42,900 meters of elevation gain over the course of the Giro’s 21 stages and seven uphill finishes (including the climb at the end of Stage 7’s ITT). That’s a lot of climbing, and the organizers, as always, have included some of the most famous ascents in Giro’s history.

We’ve already mentioned the Oropa—this year’s Cima Pantani—at the end of the Stage 2, but that’s not the only summit finish of the first week. After Stage 7’s uphill ITT finish there’s another summit finish on Stage 8, on the Category 1 climb to Prati di Tivo, a 14-kilometer ascent with an average gradient of 7 percent. Expect these two stages to determine which rider will wear the maglia rosa heading into the Giro’s first rest day.

The second week begins with a new summit finish on Stage 10, the Category 1 Bocca della Selva, a 20.9K climb with an average gradient of just 4.6 percent. But that’s misleading: for some reason, the “official” climb begins with over 3 km of downhill roads, which lowers the average gradient overall.

The second week ends with Stage 15, which might be the hardest in this year’s Giro. Originally slated to bring the race into Switzerland for a hot sec, the route of this 220-kilometer stage has been altered to keep the race in Italy. That’s bad news for the riders, as they now will face the Mortirolo—one of the hardest and most famous climbs in Giro history—two-thirds of the way through the stage. The day ends with back-to-back Category 1 ascents: the Passo di Foscagno and—after a very short descent—the final climb to the Mottolino ski resort above Livigno, a steep, 8-kilometer climb with pitches that hit 18 percent. Thank goodness the next day is a rest day!

But after the second Rest Day, the riders won’t have a chance to ease themselves back into action, as Stage 16—another stage over 200 km—begins with an ascent of the Stelvio (20.2 km at 7.2 percent). Topping out at 2,758 meters, this is the highest climb in the entire Giro, and the first rider over the summit will win the Cima Coppi prize for being the first to the top. There’s a long ride from the top of the pass down into the valley, but two hard climbs at the end of the stage will settle things once and for all.

Stage 18 takes the race into the Dolomites on a 159-kilometer route containing five categorized climbs, including ascents of both sides of the Passo Brocon, with a summit finish on the steeper side of the mountain. And just for good measure, Stage 20 heads back into the Dolomites, where the riders will climb the Monte Grappa (18.1 km at 8.1 percent) twice. This one doesn’t end with a summit finish, but after 20 days of racing and at the end of another ferocious final week, this stage should blow the peloton apart. At the end of the day, we’ll know the eventual winner of the 2024 Giro d’Italia.

6. Pog Goes for Pink

But by far, the biggest marquee rider on this year’s start list has to be Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Perhaps the most exciting rider in the entire men’s peloton, Pog can win it all: grand tours, cobbled classics, and week-long stage races. He’s the most complete and multi-faceted male rider we’ve seen in decades, and this year—for the first time in his career—he’s heading to Giro.

Yup, that’s right. The 25-year-old has made it a career goal to win every major race on the calendar. For example, the two-time Tour de France champion took a dominant victory in last year’s Tour of Flanders , a cobbled Monument that grand tour riders usually avoid. And in March, he stated his desire to win all seven of the sport’s major week-long stage races (he’s already won three of them).

This is a far cry from just a decade or two ago when riders rode super-specific programs, often only targeting one or two major events each season. This was especially the case with riders targeting the Tour de France. These riders cared less about winning as many races as possible and more about building fitness for the Tour de France—without crashing or getting sick (which, as recent events have shown us, is a delicate balance).

But we’re talking about Tadej Pogačar, a rider who cares more about winning as many races as he can than winning one or two races as many times as he can. And at 25, he can race a diverse program right now and still decide to specialize a few years from now.

Given the way he’s riding—having raced nine times this season and only finishing off the podium twice, and doing so with no real challengers—he could blow the doors of the Giro by the end of the first week. And that might be a good thing: in addition to winning the Giro, Pog also wants to become the first rider since Pantani to win the Giro and the Tour in the same season.

Jumping out to an early, insurmountable lead would allow Pogačar to sit back and ride defensively, possibly saving him important matches in what has suddenly become (after the recent crash at the Itzulia Basque Country ) a rather winnable Tour de France for someone having already raced the Giro. Now, that would be historic!

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Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024 - Analysing the contenders

Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini battle in final event of this spring's Ardennes Classics

Liège-Bastogne-Liège will close out the Ardennes Classics on Sunday, April 21, with the peloton vying for one last opportunity to win one of the prized one-day classics this spring.

It is the oldest of the Classics on the men's calendar, celebrating its 110th edition, and the fourth of five Monuments on offer after Alpecin-Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen won Milan-San Remo and his teammate Mathieu van der Poel won both Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix .

Known as La Doyenne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège closes out the Ardennes Classics with a last-man-standing war of attrition over 250km or more and 11 classified climbs in the rolling hills of eastern Belgium.

On the women's side, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes is the youngest of the Ardennes Classics. Its inaugural edition in 2017 formed the triple alongside Amstel Gold Race, which held its first edition in 2001 (though it was on hiatus for 13 years between 2004 to 2016) and Flèche Wallonne since 1998. 

With no women's races offered at Milan-San Remo or Il Lombardia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège marks the third and final Monument of the season. Only one rider has won all three, with Lizzie Deignan winning the Tour of Flanders in 2016, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2020 and Paris-Roubaix in 2021. 

This could change on Sunday if her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini or SD Worx-Protime's Lotte Kopecky triumphs in Liége.

Cyclingnews highlights the riders to watch in the men's and women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Tadej Pogačar crashed out of the 2023 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, fracturing three bones in his scaphoid and disrupting his hopes and ambitions for the Tour de France. This year, the UAE Team Emirates leader is targeting a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double and is arguably in his best-ever form, even by his high standards.

While Mathieu van der Poel has dominated the cobbled Classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is far better suited to Pogačar, and it is difficult to see who can match his superb climbing skills and racing aggression.

Pogačar won the Doyenne of the Classics in 2021, and a second victory would give him a sixth Monument victory, equaling van der Poel's and confirming his readiness for the Giro d’Italia, which starts in just two weeks.  

Pogačar limited his racing before his busy summer of Grand Tours but has won often. He dominated Strade Bianche with an 80km solo attack on his season debut. He was ‘only’ third at Milan-San Remo behind Jasper Philipsen and Michael Matthews in the Via Roma sprint but then won four stages and the overall classification at the Volta a Catalunya.    

Pogačar has spent three weeks training at altitude at Sierra Nevada in the south of Spain. He avoided the cold and fatigue of the rain-soaked La Fleche Wallonne and so will arguably be the freshest rider on the start line in Liege on Sunday and perhaps the strongest at the finish after the hilly 254km race.      

Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime)

Demi Vollering's remarkable dominance of the Ardennes Classics last year saw her win all three events – making her the returning Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion – and become the second woman, after Anna van der Breggen in 2017, to win the triple crown. 

The team appears to have changed tactics for this year's Ardennes Classics in support of multiple riders during the week and play out their strategy on the road at each race. It was not a surprise then to see Lorena Wiebes sprinting for the win at Amstel Gold Race. Although she ended up with second place, after celebrating victory too soon in the sprint against Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Vollering finished 22nd.

Vollering was somewhat of a wildcard for SD Worx-Protime at the Ardennes Classics because at this point in the season last year, she had already secured two victories, and so far, she has yet to win a race, although she came close with 2nd at both Brabantse Pijl and a cold and wet La Flèche Wallonne.

Her slower start to the season could be the strategy, however, as she looks to the bigger goals at the Tour de France Femmes, possibly also the Olympic Games and the World Championships.

Sharing the leadership role among her teammates at the Ardennes Classics will certainly have taken the pressure off Vollering, but she still remains a favourite for Liège-Bastogne-Liège and will undoubtedly not want to leave the Ardennes Classics without a win.

The team also has World Champion Lotte Kopecky as a contender, especially knowing that she is in good form after her win at the recent Paris-Roubaix. She also played a key role at Flèche Wallonne, where she ended up finishing 15th on the Mur de Huy in her first attempt. Watch for both Vollering and Kopecky to play their cards for the win in Liège on Sunday.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Mathieu van der Poel suddenly seemed human at the Amstel Gold Race after weeks of incredible Classics performances. After his historic double at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, it will be fascinating to see what he can do against Pogačar and the rest in a Monument where the cobbles are swapped for the cotes. 

It will also be a moment of sports science as we see if Van der Poel’s talents and power can handle the 11 classified climbs and 4,100 metres of vertical climbing of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.  

Van der Poel has tempered his chances of success, highlighting how he is now racing at a disadvantage compared to Pogačar and others, but he also has nothing to lose in his final race of the spring.

Van der Poel has spent the week in Spain, avoiding the spotlight and training in the sun. The cooler spring temperatures of Liège might be a bit of a shock on his return to Belgium, but he has a pedigree in the race and cannot be ignored. In 2020, when the Classics were held in September and October, van der Poel finished sixth, just 14 seconds down on winner Primož Roglič and Pogačar.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek)

Elisa Longo Bargain had high expectations coming into these Ardennes Classics, even opting to skip Paris-Roubaix so that she could focus on all three races. Her wins at the Tour of Flanders and Brabantse Pijl show that she is in top form this spring and has bounced back from a horrific 2023 season in which she suffered COVID-19, a skin infection and sepsis.

The Italian Champion has always been a contender for all three Ardennes Classics, and so far this year, she has finished fifth at the Amstel Gold Race and third at La Flèche Wallonne. She has one more chance of victory this Sunday in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

She has finished twice on the podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with a third in 2021 and a second last year, so she has the experience to be in the final for the win.

Lidl-Trek have shown dominance in tactics on the road, especially with her teammate Shirin van Anrooij. The two riders will be the two most-watched in the peloton, and if the race plays into their hands the way it did in Flanders, they could both end up on the podium again.

Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech)

The Welshman showed his talents by winning the Tour Down Under in January but earned his place in this Liège-Bastogne-Liège analysis thanks to his impressive victory at La Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday.

Williams looked resilient in the cold and rain of the Ardennes and then bravely attacked with three hundred metres to go to the finish. Many other riders have faded on the steep slopes of the Mur de Huy, but Williams had the strength and power to stay away. 

Those talents could be vital on the 11 categories climbs and numerous others that make Liège-Bastogne-Liège so hard.

Williams and his Israel-Premier Tech teammates can race without any pressure or expectation, putting the onus on UAE Team Emirates, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Ineos Grenadiers. Michael Woods is absent due to a recent virus but Dylan Tuens is back to his best and will share leadership and ambitions with Willilams. They are a dangerous, underdog combination.  

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM)

Kasia Niewiadoma, the reigning gravel World Champion, is always a contender for the Ardennes Classics. 

Five years after she secured the win at Amstel Gold Race in 2019, she launched up the Mur de Huy with a powerful attack to win Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. It was an inspiring performance, especially since she had stood on the podium in two previous editions but had never won before.

She came into these Ardennes Classics with new-found confidence after finishing second at the Tour of Flanders from a three-rider breakaway, and her victory in Huy will have added to her motivation ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The last time she stood on the podium in Liège was in 2017, the first edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but she has been in the top 10 in four other editions.

Her winning performance on the Mur de Huy shows her strength on short and steep climbs, but it was her late-race breakaway performance at the Tour of Flanders that really made her a contender for the title in Liège.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)

Richard Carapaz has again endured a difficult spring, crashing hard at Tirreno-Adriatico and missing a month of racing. The Ecuadorian is a man of few words but a fighter who has overcome difficulty throughout his life and in his recent racing career to come back and win.  

Carapaz has only raced the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne but quickly impressed on the Mur de Huy and out in the terrible weather conditions. While other riders suffered and climbed off, Carapaz raced on and was upfront on the climb to the finish line. 

He suffered in the final metres, and other riders passed him before the finish, but it was a clear message that Carapaz was back and a dangerous contender for Sunday who should not be ignored.  

EF Education-Easypost have shown their strength as a team in virtually every classic but have obtained less than they deserved. Carapaz can count on a strong team that also includes co-leader Ben Healy, Mikkel Frølich Honoré and possibly a returning Neilson Powless after a knee injury wrecked his spring.  

Marianne Vos (VIsma-Lease a Bike)

Marianne Vos was a late addition to the Visma-Lease a Bike roster lining up to compete at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but certainly, one to watch after a successful spring campaign.

She secured her 251st career road racing when she won the Amstel Gold Race last weekend, and combined with early-season victories at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen; she is having one of her best Spring Classics in recent years.

Vos opted not to race La Flèche Wallonne, even though she has won on the Mud de Huy five times in her career, perhaps saving her energy for Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The challenging route will suit her very well, especially after her performances this year, where she frequently features in the finals and breakaways and has the strength and experience to triumph across the finish line.

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)

Tom Pidcock has endured a contrasting week of Ardennes racing, winning the Amstel Gold Race with a superb performance and sprint finish but then suffering in the cold and rain of La Fleche Wallonne . 

Yet he remains a favourite for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the forecasts of a mainly dry Sunday easing his suffering and disappointment and poking his natural pride.  

Pidcock’s multiple talents mean he can race cyclocross, mountain bikes, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, the Ardennes Classics and the Tour de France.

While van der Poel is handicapped by his solid physique on the many cotes of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Pidcock is more of a climber and so will revel in the hills on Sunday.

He will not ride defensively and will surely join Pogačar if the Slovenian attacks early to create an open race and hurt van der Poel or anyone else. Pidcock and Pogačar could then go head to head and sprint for victory in Liege. That would be a thrilling end to one of the best Classics seasons for years. 

Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL)

Juliette Labous is a dark horse contender, opting to skip the cobbled Classics in favour of the Ardennes Classics. 

She steadily improved across the first two events, finishing 19th at the Amstel Gold Race, where her teammate Pfeiffer Georgi finished fourth, and then she was seventh on the Mur de Huy at Flèche Wallonne.

The French talent typically focuses on the Ardennes Classics, where she can show her strengths on the challenging and hilly terrain, before turning her attention to the shorter summer stage races ahead of her bigger goal at the Tour de France Femmes.

Her best place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège was eighth place in 2020, but it's a race where only the strongest survive the 10 ascents followed by a fast run-in to Liège, and we can anticipate Labous to be present in the final.

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal)

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has been relatively quiet this spring campaign, finishing 17th at Strade Bianche and, more recently, 21st at Brabantse Pijl, but she has turned that around at the Ardennes Classics, finishing seventh at Amstel Gold Race and fifth at Flèche Wallonne.

For the first time in her career, she opted for a lengthy break and high-altitude training camp instead of competing at the cobbled Classics and perhaps will arrive fresher than her rivals as she contests the Ardennes Classics.

Her results so far seem to show an upward trajectory, and her form indicates that she is just starting to peak ahead of the late-spring stage races. 

Although she has never stood on the podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, she has finished four times in the top 10, including fourth place in 2018 and 2022. This means that she knows what it takes to make it to the final stages of the race in the lead group.

Honourable mentions

• Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
• Mattia Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)
• Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates)
• Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan)
• Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels)
• Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)  
• Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
• Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ)
• Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
• Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek)
• Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ)
• Veronica Ewers (EF Education-Cannondale)
• Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck)

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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

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