Preview: The route and the favorites for the 2022 men’s Tour of Flanders
Preview: The route and the favorites for the 2022 men's Tour of Flanders
After building the drama with plenty of racing action in some great run-up races, the Flemish Classics will reach a crescendo on Sunday at the Tour of Flanders.
De Ronde van Vlaanderen will host its 106th edition this weekend and, as ever, it should be a stirring show with some of the sport’s biggest names set to clash on the event’s iconic cobbled climbs.
Keep an eye out for Abby Mickey’s preview of the women’s race. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about the men’s race at the 2022 Tour of Flanders.
The route
The men will cover 272 km of racing at the Tour of Flanders, starting in Antwerp and finishing in Oudenaarde. Along the way, they will take on 18 climbs and seven stretches of cobblestones, with some overlap there on those climbs that are cobbled.
The first 130 km or so, as the riders head southeast out of Antwerp, will be relatively gentle, featuring only two cobbled sectors and no official climbs. As the pack approaches Oudenaarde, however, things will immediately pick up in the first of what will ultimately be three trips up the Oude Kwaremont. The cobbled climb will herald the start of some serious challenges, with little respite for the riders from that point on.
Roads that loop back over themselves in the fields around Oudenaarde will take riders up and over nine more climbs and three cobbled sectors – including the cobbled Molenberg climb – before the next visit to the Oude Kwaremont. This time, the Kwaremont will be followed by its steep, cobbled neighbor, the Paterberg. With less than 60 km left by this point, we should start to see which riders are feeling strong and which riders are struggling on the tough terrain.
A final loop through the countryside near Oudenaarde should decide the race. First up is the brutally steep and cobbled Koppenberg, which is quickly followed by the Mariaborrestraat cobbles, the Steenbeekdries climb, the Stationsberg cobbles, and the punchy pavé of the Taaienberg. That flurry of challenges will almost certainly blow whatever is left of the pack to pieces. The Kruisberg, with 27 km to go, will provide a potential launching pad for a long-range move, and then the would-be aggressors will have their one final golden opportunity to get clear on the Kwaremont and the Paterberg.
Coming so soon after so many previous challenges, this last visit to the Kwaremont-Paterberg double will be a serious challenge for whomever is still in the mix.
From the top of the Paterberg, 14 km remain. The mostly flat finale into Oudenaarde will add a bit of final intrigue as any attackers try to hold off any chasers who are able to get organized as the road evens out.
As of Wednesday, there is at least a small chance that the weather will complicate matters at the Tour of Flanders, with a slight possibility of rain. The expected westerly wind will do the early break no favors as the race heads from Antwerp to Oudenaarde, but the way the route constantly changes direction and loops back onto itself in the second half of the race, it’s hard to make any definitive pronouncements on how a bit of wind would affect the finale.
The favorites
With four days still to go, the Flanders start list remains very much unsettled. That said, a few names already stand out as top favorites for De Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Wout van Aert, who won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, is an obvious one. He has the versatility to win this race in practically any scenario. On the whole, his Jumbo-Visma team has looked fantastic this Classics season, with Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot as other strong cards to play.
Defending champion Kasper Asgreen is probably the top name to watch on Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. The Belgian squad has been uncharacteristically quiet thus far this Classics campaign with little to show for their efforts thus far, but Asgreen and the likes of Yves Lampaert and Zdenek Štybar are too good to ignore.
Mathieu van der Poel‘s late start to the 2022 season does not seem to have hindered him too dramatically as he has already shown brilliant form in limited appearances this year. He took a big statement victory on Wednesday at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Van der Poel also already counts a Tour of Flanders win on his career palmares. He should be in the mix for the win, if his Alpecin-Fenix team can prove up to the task of taking on Jumbo and Quick-Step.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is a bit of a wildcard on the start list. He’s obviously one of the sport’s most talented riders and seems capable of whatever he puts his mind to. That said, the Flemish cobblestones are not the terrain on which he tends to thrive, and he was solid but unspectacular at Dwars on Wednesday. Count him out at your peril, but also don’t be surprised if the more specialized Classics stars outshine the Tour de France champ on Sunday.
The Trek-Segafredo duo of Jasper Stuyven and Mads Pedersen, Matej Mohorič at Bahrain Victorious, and Tom Pidcock of the Ineos Grenadiers are just a few of the many other names on the list of potential contenders.
Check back soon for a more thorough rundown of the Tour of Flanders start list and our star ratings of the top contenders for De Ronde.
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