The French Julian Alaphilippe will be the leader of the mighty Soudal Quick Step that will participate this Sunday in the 107th edition of the Tour of Flanderssecond monument of the period taking place between Bruges and Oudenaarde, a route of 273.4 km.
Alaphilippe is looking to win against rivals like Van der Poel, Van Aert or Pogacar, in principle the big favorites. The Frenchman will have the best possible formation, completed by Kasper Asgreen, winner of the event in 2021, Davide Ballerini, Tim Declercq, Yves Lampaert, the Belgian champion Tim Merlier, who will make his “De Ronde” debut, and the French champion Florian Sénéchal.
The Tour of Flanders returns to Bruges for its start after seven years, with the peloton ready to embark on a 273.5km journey through the Flemish Ardennes, which will see the peloton tackle a total of 6 cobbled stages and 19 hills.
The key to the test lies in the chained Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg, which will be played twicebut Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg and Kruisberg/Hotond can also open the race before the final two climbs, the latter of which reaches the summit with just 13km to go.
“The Tour of Flanders is one of the most important races of the season and, as always, we will try to give it our all.. Julián continues to improve, so we’ll see how he is on Sunday. Kasper, Davide, Yves and Florian are other strong riders who can try something at some point. Tim Declercq is in a position to help them, and the same can be said for Tim Merlier. This will be his first Flanders, he is in good shape and will try to support the youngsters,” said sporting director Tom Steels.
Source: La Verdad
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