As usual, the day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad comes the moment of the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the Belgian Classic where sprinters and Classics riders will compete for victory.

The correct name, based on start and finish, should be Kortrijk-Brussels-Kuurne, but after being born in 1945 as Omloop der Beide Vlaanderen, the name has become and remained Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The Classics riders are favorites on paper, considering the course has been made more difficult, but based on what happened yesterday at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with a sprint finish, it's possible that victory will be decided in a sprint. Van Aert is the rider with the most chances of winning, even though he didn't shine as he should have yesterday. However, we must consider that at the start will be the three best sprinters in the world: Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan, and Tim Merlier. Not forgetting the presence of Olav Kooij, Alexander Kristoff, Jordi Meeus, Milan Fretin, Sam Bennett, Arnaud Démare, and Max Walscheid. The big absentees are Biniam Girmay, who just became a father for the second time, and Dylan Groenevegen, who withdrew due to illness.

In 2020, the course was modified and is now harder, and riders needed some time to get used to the new route with the climbs of Pays des Collines. In the last two years, we've seen that Visma-Lease a Bike used that hilly area to make the race difficult for their opponents, allowing Tiesj Benoot and Wout van Aert to win by breaking away in a small group. However, the organizers have prepared for a potential sprint finish and have two photo-finish systems, one as a backup, because they anticipate the possibility of a millimeter-tight sprint. Last year, the victory went to Wout van Aert ahead of Tim Wellens, and there wasn't a group sprint because the Visma men managed the race, taking it where they wanted, with a three-man finale.

Van Aert, thanks to his team, has the great advantage of being able to control the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in different ways: racing aggressively and finishing the race alone, or as last year, he can decide to wait and see. In recent weeks, the Flemish rider has sent mixed signals, so it remains to be seen if he will be strong enough to win the race for the second consecutive time.

In Visma, there are also other men capable of winning the race, such as Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot, and Victor Campenaerts, as well as Olav Kooij. The Dutchman will make his debut in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and his task will be to stay as low-profile as possible to be fresh in case of a sprint finish in Kuurne.

Besides Kooij, there are many other fast men like Tim Merlier, the European champion of Soudal Quick-Step, who at the UAE Tour demonstrated he is probably the fastest rider in the group. His big problem, however, will be surviving a race that promises to be very tough. In the same position are riders like Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). Meeus and Milan, who performed excellently at the UAE Tour, are perhaps the sprinters with more substance who can handle a difficult race. The sprinter who best knows how to do well in a race like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is undoubtedly Jasper Philipsen. The Flemish rider impressively won Milan-Sanremo last year and has also demonstrated in previous editions of Paris-Roubaix that he can do much more than a simple sprint.

Jonathan Milan also has all the credentials to win, and if this were to happen, he would be the first Italian to write his name in the race's golden book. Other riders who can make it are Jhonatan Narváez, Tim Wellens, and Florian Vermeersch. At Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, there are also several contenders. Last year, when he was still wearing the Movistar jersey, Oier Lazkano finished third in this race, and now, the Spaniard racing for BORA, might want to take a further step forward.

Among the outsiders are Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Kasper Asgreen, Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), John Degenkolb (Picnic PostNL), Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step), Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), Jasper Stuyven, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Milan Fretin, Dylan Teuns (Cofidis), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Giacomo Nizzolo (Q36.5), and Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).