Today marks the 79th edition of Through Flanders, the Belgian classic that once again will serve as an appetizer for the Tour of Flanders, the second Monument Classic of the season, which will be held next Sunday.

to follow the live coverage of the entire race starting at 12:25 CLICK HERE

The start will be from Stationsplein in Roeselare and after 184.5 kilometers the group will arrive at Verbindingsweg in Waregem. After the crash of Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, and Biniam Girmay last year, the organizers have decided to eliminate the Kanarieberg from the route, defining the downhill section as too nervous. They have also removed the Varent cobblestone section, placed after about 50 kilometers, because according to the organizers, that sector did not bring any particular characteristics to the race.

Among other route novelties, there is the insertion of Berg Ten Houte, which will be tackled twice. Also, the Ladeuze disappears and is replaced by the Eikenberg, located 39 kilometers from the finish. The first climb of the day will be relatively calm: the group will have to deal with the Volkegemberg after 68 kilometers from the start and immediately after will arrive at the cobblestones of Holleweg. However, the race will heat up when riders reach Maarkedal, with double passages on Berg Ten Houte, Knokteberg-Trieu, Hotond, and Mariaborrestraat.

Heading towards Waregem, cyclists will have to face the Nokereberg twice and the cobblestones of Herlegemstraat. So after pedaling for 184.2 kilometers and a total of 10 climbs and seven cobblestone sections, they will arrive at the Verbindingsweg finish line to know the name of Matteo Jorgenson's successor.

Climbs
1. Volkegemberg - 1100 m - 4.8% average - max. gradient 10%
2. Berg Ten Houte - 1100 m - 6% average - max. gradient 21%
3. Knokteberg-Trieu - 1100 m - 7% average - max. gradient 11.8%
4. Hotond - 1200m - 3.1% average - max. gradient 5%
5. Eikenberg - 1200 m - 5.2% average - max. gradient 10%
6. Nokereberg - 500m+750m - 5.7% average - max. gradient 6.7%

Cobblestone Sections
1. Holleweg - 600m
2. Mariaborrestraat - 2400m
3. Doorn - 900m
4. Huisepontweg - 1600m
5. Herlegemstraat - 800m

Regarding the favorites, there will be riders who consider Dwars door Vlaanderen as preparation for the Tour of Flanders, but this does not do justice to this beautiful race that winds through the Flemish Ardennes.

The two super favorites for the Tour of Flanders, Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel, will not be present, while Wout van Aert will return. The Visma | Lease a Bike champion still has a score to settle with this race, where twelve months ago, due to a crash on the descent towards the Kanarieberg, he saw all his dreams for a great spring vanish.

The Flemish rider today will have to defeat his demons and despite the psychological trauma, he has decided to participate, thus seeking his revenge. With Van Aert, Kooij would have been there, but after Sunday's injury (collarbone fracture) he was forced to withdraw. Fortunately for the yellow jerseys, there will be the defending champion Matteo Jorgenson, Dylan van Baarle (winner in 2021) and Tiesj Benoot (second in 2022).

Lidl-Trek also presents a very strong lineup and all eyes will be on Mads Pedersen. The former world champion extraordinarily won Gent-Wevelgem last Sunday and therefore today, he will be among the super favorites for success. With the Dane will be Jasper Stuyven and Toms Skujiņš, who will do the hard work as soon as the climbs begin.

If there is a sprint finish, then the American team will bet everything on Johnatan Milan, considered one of the best sprinters in the world. Alpecin-Deceuninck will also focus on sprinters with Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves. Philipsen went through a difficult period after the accident at Nokere Koerse, but is now in good form. For Soudal-Quick Step, the key rider is Paul Magnier, who after some physical issues, returned to racing at Gent-Wevelgem. With him will be Tim Merlier, ready to fight in a potential sprint. Intermarché-Wanty has placed its hopes on Biniam Girmay. Everyone expected the Eritrean to obtain a good result at Gent-Wevelgem, but that was not the case, so for him too, Through Flanders could be the race of redemption.

Regarding other sprinters who can do well, we have Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Emirates XRG), Alexander Kristoff, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Madis Mihkels, Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

Other riders who could do well are Magnus Sheffield, Jenno Berckmoes, Alec Segaert, Arjen Livyns, Brent Van Moer, Joshua Tarling, Stefan Küng, Lewis Askey, Alberto Bettiol, Mike Teunissen, Neilson Powless, Iván García Cortina, Fabio Christen and Dries De Bondt.

START LIST

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
1. JORGENSON Matteo
2. VAN AERT Wout
3. BENOOT Tiesj
4. HAGENES Per Strand
5. AFFINI Edoardo
6. VAN BAARLE Dylan
7. VAN DER SANDE Tosh

Intermarché - Wanty
11. GIRMAY Biniam
12. MARIT Arne
13. BRAET Vito
14. VAN SINTMAARTENSDIJK Roel
15. PAGE Hugo
16. REX Laurenz
17. VAN DER HOORN Taco

Lidl - Trek
21. PEDERSEN Mads
22. MILAN Jonathan
23. STUYVEN Jasper
24. THEUNS Edward
25. SKUJIŅŠ Toms
26. KIRSCH Alex
27. DECLERCQ Tim

Lotto
31. SEGAERT Alec
32. BERCKMOES Jenno
33. GRIGNARD Sébastien
34. GIDDINGS Joshua
35. DE SCHUYTENEER Steffen
36. LIVYNS Arjen
37. VAN MOER Brent

Groupama - FDJ
41. KÜNG Stefan
42. ASKEY Lewis
43. LE HUITOUZE Eddy
44. JACOBS Johan
45. LE GAC Olivier
46. MADOUAS Valentin
47. RUSSO Clément

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
51. WELLENS Tim
52. BARONCINI Filippo
53. MOLANO Juan Sebastián
54. NARVÁEZ Jhonatan
55. POLITT Nils
56. OLIVEIRA Rui
57. BJERG Mikkel

Alpecin - Deceuninck
61. PHILIPSEN Jasper
62. DEL GROSSO Tibor
63. VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio
64. BAYER Tobias
65. PLANCKAERT Edward
66. MEURISSE Xandro
67. RICKAERT Jonas

XDS Astana Team
71. BETTIOL Alberto
72. BOL Cees
73. ROMELE Alessandro
74. BALLERINI Davide
75. KANTER Max
76. TEUNISSEN Mike
77. TONEATTI Davide

Uno-X Mobility
81. KRISTOFF Alexander
82. ABRAHAMSEN Jonas
83. HOELGAARD Markus
84. BLUME LEVY William
85. SKAARSETH Anders
86. TILLER Rasmus
87. WÆRENSKJOLD Søren

EF Education - EasyPost
91. POWLESS Neilson
92. SWEENY Harry
93. VAN DEN BERG Marijn
94. DOULL Owain
95. HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich
96. MIHKELS Madis
97. WALKER Max

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
101. MEEUS Jordi
102. MULLEN Ryan
103. MACIEJUK Filip
104. VAN POPPEL Danny
105. PITHIE Laurence
106. VAN DIJKE Mick
107. WELSFORD Sam

INEOS Grenadiers
111. SHEFFIELD Magnus
112. FOSS Tobias
113. TARLING Joshua
114. JUNGELS Bob
115. SWIFT Ben
116. WATSON Samuel
117. SWIFT Connor

Arkéa - B&B Hotels
121. MOZZATO Luca
122. DÉMARE Arnaud
123. CAPIOT Amaury
124. EPIS Giosuè
125. LOZOUET Léandre
126. SCOTSON Miles
127. THIERRY Pierre

Cofidis
131. ALLEGAERT Piet
132. COQUARD Bryan
133. DE GENDT Aimé
134. MAISONOBE Sam
135. RENARD Alexis
136. ROBEET Ludovic
137. MAHOUDO Nolann

Soudal Quick-Step
141. MERLIER Tim
142. LAMPAERT Yves
143. MAGNIER Paul
144. VANGHELUWE Warre
145. EENKHOORN Pascal
146. PEDERSEN Casper
147. VAN LERBERGHE Bert

Movistar Team
151. GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
152. AULAR Orluis
153. CIMOLAI Davide
154. MORO Manlio
155. NORSGAARD Mathias
156. MILESI Lorenzo
157. SERRANO Gonzalo

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
161. CHRISTEN Fabio
162. NIZZOLO Giacomo
163. GONZÁLEZ David
164. LIEPIŅŠ Emīls
165. TOWNSEND Rory
166. PARISINI Nicolò
167. STEIMLE Jannik

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
171. GAUTHERAT Pierre
172. DE BONDT Dries
173. DE PESTEL Sander
174. CHAMBERLAIN Oscar
175. POLLEFLIET Gianluca
176. BENNETT Sam
177. PEDERSEN Rasmus Søjberg

Team Jayco AlUla
181. WALSCHEID Max
182. DONALDSON Robert
183. GAMPER Patrick
184. KRIJNSEN Jelte
185. O'BRIEN Kelland
186. REINDERS Elmar
187. SÜTTERLIN Jasha

Israel - Premier Tech
191. BLACKMORE Joseph
192. PICKRELL Riley
193. LOUVEL Matis
194. RAISBERG Nadav
195. SHEEHAN Riley
196. STEWART Jake
197. VAN ASBROECK Tom

Bahrain - Victorious
201. MOHORIČ Matej
202. WRIGHT Fred
203. ERMAKOV Roman
204. BRUTTOMESSO Alberto
205. PASQUALON Andrea
206. VAN MECHELEN Vlad
207. STANNARD Robert

Team Picnic PostNL
211. DEGENKOLB John
212. EDMONDSON Alex
213. ROOSEN Timo
214. FLYNN Sean
215. LEIJNSE Enzo
216. NABERMAN Tim
217. VAN DEN BERG Julius

Wagner Bazin WB
221. BEZZA Quentin
222. DESAL Ceriel
223. LAMBRECHT Michiel
224. REYNDERS Jens
225. VAN ROOY Kenneth
226. VAN HAUTEGEM Leander
227. VLIEGEN Loïc
DS: DETILLOUX

Team Flanders - Baloise
231. VANDENSTORME Dylan
232. VERCOUILLIE Victor
233. DEMAN Brem
234. DENS Tuur
235. GERITS Vince
236. VAN HEMELEN Vincent
237. VANDEVELDE Yentl