The second Monument of the Classics season will take place on Sunday (1). The Tour of Flanders, or Ronde van Vlaanderen, is one of the key races of the Classics season, and all eighteen WorldTour teams will be represented.
A relentless 255km course from Bruges to a new finish at Oudenaarde will include eight sections of cobbles and sixteen short, sharp, and extremely challenging climbs – ‘muurs’ – including the Koppenburg and three ascents of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
The most talked about feature of this year’s route is one that will be missing: the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen. The race organisers’ decision to exclude the climb has caused outrage among certain sections of Belgium’s cycling public. The consensus among the riders, however, seems to be that the new finish is harder.
The race has been won by some of the greatest riders in the history of the sport, and this year both Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Stijn Devolder (Vaconsoleil-DCM) will be attempting to equal the race record of three victories, unmatched since Johan Museeuw, The Lion of Flanders, recorded his Ronde hat-trick in 1988.
Boonen will start as favourite for the race following back-to-back victories at E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem. He hasn’t won the Ronde since 2006, his second consecutive victory in the race, but this season has recaptured his very best form and in the current Omega Pharma-QuickStep squad is surrounded by teammates who know how to win one-day races. In recent weeks, Francesco Chicchi won Nokere-Koerse and Niki Terpstra won Dwars door Vlaanderen. Both Sylvain Chavenel and Gert Steegmans have ridden strongly in almost every outing.
Fabian Cancellara will spearhead the efforts of Radioshack-Nissan-Trek. Winner in 2010 and third last year, Spartacus revealed both his awesome strength and Achilles heel at Milan-San Remo. Strong enough to ride off the front of the peloton, and a supremely gifted descender, the absence of an explosive sprint from his arsenal was cruelly exposed by Simon Gerrans (GreenEDGE) who sat on his wheel during the closing kilometres in which Cancellara did almost all the work, before sprinting past him for the win.
BMC Racing have yet to deliver in one-day races this season, and suffered a disappointing Milan-San Remo. A top 10 finish last year almost counted as an unspectacular performance from Philippe Gilbert whose 2011 season was little short of extraordinary. 2012 has proved more challenging for the Belgian who would love to rediscover his previous form this weekend. Thor Hushovd has yet to win a Belgian Classic, victory in the 2009 Omloop Het Niewsblad semi-Classic the nearest he has come. Teammate Alessandro Ballan however, won the Ronde in 2010 and his ridden strongly so far this season, as has Greg Van Avermaet, another member of BMC’s Ronde line-up. Veteran George Hincapie has finished in the top 10 at the Ronde on seven occasions, gracing the podium in 2006 and finishing sixth last year.
Team Sky have a strong line-up for the race that includes Juan Antonio Flecha, outsprinted to second by last year’s winner Nick Nuyens (Team SaxoBank). Flecha’s form is good: he finished on the podium for the fifth time in six years in February’s Omloop Het Niewsblad but only returns to race action this weekend after fracturing his hand. Edvald Boasson Hagen, who finished fifth at Gent-Wevelgem, must also be considered a potential candidate for victory. Bernard Eisel, Matthew Hayman, and Ian Stannard will provide the diesel power to drive the Sky train, while Chris Sutton could be in with a shout if the race comes down to a sprint.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), second at Gent Wevelgem, fourth at Milan San-Remo and a stage winner at Tirenno-Adriatico, is clearly in the best form of his young career and cannot be ruled out. At the opposite end of the experience scale, Spanish veteran Oscar Friere (Katusha) is also enjoying good form, finishing second to Boonen at E3 Harelbeke and fourth behind the Belgian at Gent-Wevelgem.
