This year marks the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders, with a fittingly stellar list of contenders and a typically challenging course for the season’s second Monument on Sunday (April 3).
The Ronde is undoubtedly one of the biggest one-day races of the season, and the first in a fearsome double-header with Paris-Roubaix on April 10. This year’s race will also have the extra significance of being the final edition which will involve both Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) and Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) together, with Cancellara set to retire at the end of the season and a question mark over when Boonen will call time on his career.
Cancellara and Boonen are among the former winners set for the 2016 Ronde, having won six Tour of Flanders titles between them. Meanwhile, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who prevailed in a two-up battle with Boonen’s team-mate Niki Terpstra in 2015, will roll out as defending champion.
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The history of the Tour of Flanders is long and storied, with the steep cobbled bergs playing host to no shortage of scintillating action from the biggest Classics stars in cycling history.
And this year is likely to be no different, on a course which includes the climbs of Oude Kwaremont, the Koppenberg and Paterberg.
– Tour of Flanders 2016: TV schedule –
Who will be celebrating in Flanders on Sunday? We’ve taken a look at how the main contenders have been shaping up this spring.