LIVE Tour of Flanders 2024 | Pedersen shows resilience, Van der Poel has everything under control

It’s time again for the Flemish Cycling High Mass: the Tour of Flanders! The moment every cycling fan has been waiting for. This year unfortunately without Wout van Aert and Jasper Stuyven who is in top form, but with world champion Mathieu van der Poel. Read a small preview of Flanders Most Beautiful below and don’t miss any of the action in our live blog!

We will start this edition at 10 a.m. in Antwerp, the city that has been exchanging this honor with Bruges for a while. About 260 kilometers later we arrive in Oudenaarde, which is also just as easy. In principle, the drivers from Antwerp have enough time to arrive, because there are no serious climbs in the first 130 kilometers. Ideal for a few men to take a seat in the early flight of the day, with the secret hope of also gaining a place in the (pre)final of this Monument.

After 136 kilometers we encounter the first obstacle, which is immediately a serious one: the Oude Kwaremont, the slope that the drivers have to conquer three times in total. From the Kwaremont you travel almost twenty kilometers to the Kortekeer and Wolvenberg, from where the slopes follow each other at a very rapid pace. The Molenberg, Marlbouroughstaart, Berendries and Valkenberg are also not far away.

Around the two hundred kilometer mark, the legs of many drivers start to fill up, but then a new set of climbs starts with Berg ten Houte and the Hotond. The second passage of the Oude Kwaremont and the first time Paterberg are also on the agenda, followed by the Koppenberg, which is feared by everyone. One foot on the ground and your course can be over on that steep cobblestone hill.

Breathing space after the Koppenberg? Barely. The Steenbeekdries and Traaiberg follow within ten kilometers, after which you go via the Kruisberg to the last two slopes of the race. The Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg push the drivers to the limit once again, after which there are still thirteen kilometers to go until the finish in Oudenaarde.

As for the weather: it promises to be excellent weather conditions for the Tour of Flanders. The temperatures are between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius, precipitation is only to be feared in full and the wind does not rise too strongly. Can Mads Pedersen, Matteo Jorgenson or some dark horses like Stefan Kung or Matej Mohoric Van der Poel surprise? Follow it here!