In 2023, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar performed a high-wire act on the Tour of Flanders. After an attack 55 km from the finish which had thinned out the peloton of favorites, the Slovenian made a sharp attack 18 km from the finish to authoritatively brush aside his last rivals. A tour de force that stunned the cycling world. His ambitions are elsewhere in 2024. The leader of the UAE Team Emirates leaves to others the pleasure of the sequence and the diabolical tangle of the mountains (the Old Kwaremont, the Molenberg, the Berg Ten Houte, the Paterberg , the Koppenberg or the Taaienberg) ready to make your head spin. To compose one of the key days of the cycling calendar. At the start of the “Ronde”, the roles are well defined. Mathieu Van der Poel emerges as the huge favorite. Among the outsiders, the Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), the Slovenian Matej Mohoric, the Italian Alberto Bettiol, the Swiss Stefan Küng, the American Matteo Jorgenson, the Eritrean Biniam Girmay, the Belgian Tim Wellens, the German Nils Politt, the Italian Matteo Trentin, the Australian Michael Matthews and the French Julian Alaphilippe and Valentin Madouas will try to jostle for a place in the legend.
The Dutchman (winner in 2020 and 2022) is chasing a third success in the Tour of Flanders (“Ronde van Vlaanderen”, in Dutch) which would allow him to sit next to the record holders (the Belgians Achiel Buysse, Éric Leman, Johan Museeuw , Tom Boonen, the Italian Florenzo Magni and the Swiss Fabian Cancellara). He played luxury teammates on Milan-San Remo, before flying over the E3 Grand Prix and losing against Mads Pedersen during Ghent-Wevelgem. The grandson of Raymond Poulidor has made the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix (April 7) the main objectives of his spring. Beaten in the sprint at the finish of Ghent-Wevelgem Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) warned that he would be “ready”. His consistency and solidity in the race, he has never left the Top 5 (4th in 2019, 2nd in 2021 and 2023, 1st in 2020 and 2022) in 5 participations attest to his mastery of the event. From its context, the essential resistance and the force to be deployed. On Wednesday, the Dutch scarecrow saw part of the competition suddenly disappear during the A Travers la Flanders rehearsal. So, he will not have to battle with Wout Van Aert, his best enemy.
The Dutch team, accustomed to collecting bouquets throughout the year, was an essential part of the Flandriennes but everything collapsed. After the withdrawals of the Dutchman Dylan van Baarle and the Frenchman Christophe Laporte, Wout Van Aert was stopped in his tracks. At the gates of the dream. The Belgian (29 years old), off-road runner, an indispensable asset for Jonas Vingegaard during the victorious Tours de France in 2022 and 2023, suffers, on the classics, from the comparison with his rival Mathieu Van der Poel. The Dutchman has three Monuments to his name (Milan-San Remo 2023, Tour of Flanders 2020 and 2022, Paris-Roubaix 2023), Van Aert only one (Milan-San Remo 2020). And a collection of places of honor (including three in Round 2 in 2020, 4th in 20923, 6th in 2021). Enough to knit a stubborn curse. After falling during the E3 GP, the Belgian fell violently on Wednesday during A Travers la Flandre, this Wednesday, four days before the “Ronde”. Before sitting for long minutes on the road. Shaken by screams. The shirt torn off, the back streaked. His face crossed by tears of pain and frustration. Recovered with a broken collarbone and several ribs, at the heart of a key moment of his season. The Flandriennes seemed made for him. Strength, driving, experience, endurance, the Belgian had to shine. A long time. The years pass and we forget it. He could reorganize his program which was to take him to the Giro, to fall back on the Tour, committed to serving, once again, the designs of Jonas Vingegaard. In his absence, the Dutch team is not completely devoid of strength or ambition in the Tour of Flanders. Marked, tested by bad luck, she will be able to count on the American Matteo Jorgenson, winner of Paris-Nice and winner, this Wednesday, of the A Travers la Flanders race which took a dramatic turn for Jumbo Visma Lease a bike. He took 9th place in the Round last year, confined to a teammate role. The team will also be able to rely on the Belgian Tiesj Benoot, 4th in A Travers la Flanders, Wednesday (5th in 2015, 8th in 2018, 9th in 2019 in the Ronde).
Caught in the violent fall which put Wout Van Aert out of the race this Wednesday, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) came close to the worst. He suffered abrasions and bruises but should be able to line up this Sunday. Haunted by the physical and psychological weight of a fall which always leaves deep marks. The Dane, 2019 world champion, advanced on the sequence with the determination of those who are not frightened by anything. 4th in Milan-San Remo, winner in strength and style of Ghent-Wevelgem, the rider from the Lidl-Trek team has already distinguished himself in the Tour of Flanders (2nd in 2018, 3rd in 2023). He knows the pitfalls of this bewitching obstacle course and has a solid team. But he must carry the weight of a week fraught with consequences.
The Slovenian will participate for the first time in the Giro (May 4-26), before returning to the Tour de France (June 29-July 21), hoping to become the first since Marco Pantani in 1998 to achieve the Giro-Tour double. Untouchable on the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and on the Tour of Catalonia (also 3rd in %Milan-San Remo), the Slovenian should participate in Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 21) before landing on the starting line of Venaria Reale, 11 km from Turin, starting point for a crazy quest.
Valentin Madouas, 3rd in 2022, will be one of the cards of the Groupama-FDJ team. Julian Alaphilippe who, since the start of the season has been running (like his team Soudal-Quick Step) after the results and its past splendor, aligns himself without certainty with a race which has never succeeded for him (forced to abandon in 2020 , 42nd in 2021, 51st in 2023). Before turning the page on the classics, Julian Alaphilippe summed up on Eurosport: “My form is not as I would like but that’s okay. My fall on the Strade (March 2) prevented me from doing what I wanted but I tried to adapt. After the Tour of Flanders, I will take a little break before preparing for the Giro. »
