It will be the final test for Jasper Philipsen ahead of Saturday's Milan-San Remo, a race he has already won in 2024. The Flemish rider from Alpecin-Premier Tech, who crashed in the finale of the last stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in San Benedetto del Tronto, will race today in the 80th Nokere Koerse, a Flemish semi-classic in East Flanders: starting from Deinze and finishing in Nokere, 184 kilometers featuring a mix of 7 climbs and 15 cobbled sectors. Philipsen clearly considers it the right preparation for the Classicissima, having raced at Nokere in 2024 as well: third in the sprint behind Merlier and Jakobsen.

In any case, this is an opportunity to be seized for the sprinters: at the start line, besides Philipsen, there will be Kanter, Jakobsen, Walscheid, Ackermann, Morgado and Jordi Meeus, while Alberto Dainese (Soudal-Quick Step), Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello Q 36.5) and Luca Mozzato (Tudor) will be the Italians with the best chances at the start. Also worth watching are two very young riders from Bahrain-Victorious, Alberto Bruttomesso and Alessandro Borgo.

After the start from Deinze at 12:45, the peloton will tackle mainly straight and wide roads. It will head towards Gavere in the direction of Zottegem, where the Paddestraat awaits them, the first cobbled section. Upon reaching Oudenaarde, the traditional finish of the Tour of Flanders and home to the Flanders Museum, climbs and cobbled sections will alternate constantly. There will be passages through well-known climbs such as Lange Munte, Kattenberg, Holleweg, Jagerij, Varent, Hellestraat, Holstraat and Petegemberg. In the finale, once they reach Nokere, they will complete three laps of 31 kilometers. The seven climbs are: Eikenberg (1200 meters, 5%-10.6%), Hellestraat (400 m, 5.2%-7.2%), Holstraat (100 m, 4.7%-7%), Petegemberg (600 m, 6.7%-10.1%), Pareelstraat (500 m, 5.8%-8%), Nokereberg (350 m, 5.7%-7%), Lange Ast (700 m, 3.3%-6.2%).

The women's race is also scheduled and will be an opportunity for Rachele Barbieri (PicNic) to compete against Gillespie, Sierra and Baker.