An oft-used saying tells us, ‘fail to prepare and you prepare to fail’ – wide words indeed in the cycling world.

So it was little surprise to see the WorldTour’s elite testing their legs on the Flandrian cobbles today with one of the season’s biggest one-day races on the horizon.

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) is among the pre-race favourites and the Slovakian was one of many riders out on the Koppenberg, where he was joined by amateur riders preparing for the accompanying sportive.

Official UCI WorldTour photographer Stefano Sirotti was on hand to capture all of the riders in action.

Check out his photos in the full-screen gallery below.