They've changed the name of one of the greatest Flemish classics to further enhance the region and increase its commercial and marketing appeal. Today is the day of the former Ghent-Wevelgem, which is now called "In Flanders Fields", meaning "In the fields of Flanders".

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It's the 88th edition of a historic race, won three times by Van Looy, Merckx, Cipollini, Boonen, Sagan and Pedersen. It's incredible to think that among the giants of this generation, Van der Poel has never won it, Pogacar has never raced it and Van Aert has won it only once, in 2021. The start is no longer from Ghent or Ypres: the race departs from Middelkerke at 11 am and finishes in Wevelgem after 241 km. The agreement between organizer Flanders Classics and Middelkerke lasts ten years, until 2035: the North Sea coastal city will pay 175,000 euros per year and hopes to establish itself as a tourist destination. "In Flanders Fields" obviously refers to important sites from World War I, and this motivation was also one of the keys to the name change.

Route - From Middelkerke, riders pass through Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide, De Panne and after 80 km they reach the coast, often an area of strong crosswinds. They then move to the hilly part of Flanders and approximately ninety kilometers from the finish comes the Monteberg-Kemmelberg pair, where the Kemmelberg climb with its pavé, the symbolic location of the race, is tackled from the eastern side (Belvedere), longer but less steep. They leave West Flanders for a loop through Hainaut and then the group will return for the grand finale. First the double passage over Monteberg and Kemmelberg, then the third climb of Kemmel from the western side (Ossuary), quite steep, where differences are often made.

From the summit, 35 kilometers will remain to the classic Wevelgem finish. A tough race, then, for what was once the classic par excellence for sprinters. Remember the last group sprint? It was 2019, another era of cycling: Pogacar a neo-professional and Van der Poel hadn't yet won any of his eight Monument classics. Then Norwegian Alexander Kristoff prevailed over Degenkolb, Naesen and Van der Poel. Last year, Danish Mads Pedersen made it three with a solo breakaway of 56 km started on the third Kemmel climb. Merlier at 49" then won the sprint for second place ahead of Jonathan Milan.

THE FAVORITES. 175 riders from 25 teams at the start. Pedersen, fourth at Sanremo, won't be here due to illness, while Milan will try to surpass himself and make another leap in quality after two stages and the green jersey at the 2025 Tour. The Friulian, who will race with number 1, didn't compete in Sanremo and is expected to deliver a great performance: he finished fifth here in 2024 and third in 2025. The two favorites remain Van der Poel and Van Aert: the Dutchman demonstrated frightening mental strength on Friday at Harelbeke, and this race is still not part of his palmares, while the Belgian is flying on the wings of third place at Sanremo. Van Aert won Ghent in 2021 and then "gave it away" in 2023 to his teammate Laporte: on the road of Flanders (Sunday, April 5) and Roubaix (Sunday, April 12), Wout is ready for a great spring, considering that all the injuries of the last two years haven't allowed him to express himself at his level.

In the category of great attackers, we can't forget Stuyven, Ganna, Trentin, Valgren and Florian Vermeersch. And the sprinters? There are Philipsen (who can count, in case of a sprint, on Van der Poel and Groves), Magnier (expected to have one of the key races of his spring), Brennan (winner of Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne), Meuus, De Lie, Lund Andresen, Mozzato, Turner and Eritrean Biniam Girmay, who with his 2023 victory achieved a historic day for Africa and cycling.

THE STARTERS

Lidl - Trek
1. MILAN Jonathan
2. KRAGH ANDERSEN Soren
3. TEUTENBERG Tim Torn
4. SUNEKAER NORSGAARD Mathias
5. VACEK Mathias
6. SODERQVIST Jakob
7. THEUNS Edward

Soudal Quick-Step
11. MAGNIER Paul
12. LAMPAERT Yves
13. STUYVEN Jasper
14. REX Laurenz
15. VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio
16. VERVENNE Jonathan
17. VAN LERBERGHE Bert

Alpecin-Premier Tech
21. VAN DER POEL Mathieu
22. PHILIPSEN Jasper
23. DILLIER Silvan
24. GEENS Jonas
25. MARSMAN Tim
26. RICKAERT Jonas
27. SENECHAL Florian

Bahrain - Victorious
31. MOHORIC Matej
32. SKERL Daniel
33. BORGO Alessandro
34. GRADEK Kamil
35. MIQUEL Pau
36. SEGAERT Alec
37. STOCKWELL Oliver

Decathlon CMA CGM Team
41. ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
42. BISSEGGER Stefan
43. BOL Cees
44. HOOLE Daan
45. DE PESTEL Sander
46. NAESEN Oliver
47. PEDERSEN Rasmus Sojberg

EF Education - EasyPost
51. ASGREEN Kasper
52. VALGREN Michael
53. LAMPERTI Luke
54. WALKER Max
55. MIHKELS Madis
56. HONORE Mikkel Frolich
57. SIMMONS Colby

Groupama - FDJ United
61. BARTHE Cyril
62. GRUEL Thibaud
63. HUENS Axel
64. JACOBS Johan
65. PENHOET Paul
66. RUSSO Clement
67. TRONCHON Bastien

INEOS Grenadiers
71. GANNA Filippo
72. HEIDUK Kim
73. TARLING Joshua
74. WELSFORD Sam
75. SWIFT Connor
76. TURNER Ben
77. WATSON Samuel

Lotto Intermarché
81. DE LIE Arnaud
82. ARTZ Huub
83. BERCKMOES Jenno
84. BEULLENS Cedric
85. GRIGNARD Sebastien
86. RUTSCH Jonas
87. DE SCHUYTENEER Steffen
DS: VAN DE WOUWER

Movistar Team
91. ADRIA Roger
92. AULAR Orluis
93. BARRENETXEA Jon
94. CANAL Carlos
95. GARCIA CORTINA Ivan
96. MILESI Lorenzo
97. TORRES Albert

NSN Cycling Team
101. GIRMAY Biniam
102. ASKEY Lewis
103. BOIVIN Guillaume
104. HOFSTETTER Hugo
105. LOUVEL Matis
106. RAISBERG Nadav
107. VAN ASBROECK Tom

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
111. MEEUS Jordi
112. DRIZNERS Jarrad
113. VERMEERSCH Gianni
114. PITHIE Laurence
115. TRATNIK Jan
116. VAN DIJKE Mick
117. VAN DIJKE Tim

Team Jayco AlUla
121. ACKERMANN Pascal
122. MEZGEC Luka
123. DE BONDT Dries
124. O'BRIEN Kelland
125. DONALDSON Robert
126. SUTTERLIN Jasha
127. FOLDAGER Anders

Team Picnic PostNL
131. DEGENKOLB John
132. BIESTERBOS Frits
133. BITTNER Pavel
134. FLYNN Sean
135. MARKL Niklas
136. NABERMAN Tim
137. VAN DEN BERG Julius

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
141. VAN AERT Wout
142. AFFINI Edoardo
143. BRENNAN Matthew
144. DOULL Owain
145. KIELICH Timo
146. LAPORTE Christophe
147. REX Tim

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
151. VERMEERSCH Florian
152. OLIVEIRA Rui
153. GIAIMI Luca
154. JOHANSEN Julius
155. MOLANO Juan Sebastian
156. POLITT Nils
157. BJERG Mikkel

Uno-X Mobility
161. ABRAHAMSEN Jonas
162. BYSTROM Sven Erik
163. BLUME LEVY William
164. HOELGAARD Markus
165. RESELL Erik Nordsaeter
166. TILLER Rasmus
167. WAERENSKJOLD Soren

XDS Astana Team
171. BALLERINI Davide
172. FEDOROV Yevgeniy
173. GATE Aaron
174. KANTER Max
175. LIVYNS Arjen
176. SYRITSA Gleb
177. TEUNISSEN Mike

Cofidis
181. ALLEGAERT Piet
182. CHARRET Camille
183. FRETIN Milan
184. ZAMPERINI Edoardo
185. PAGE Hugo
186. RENARD Alexis
187. TEUNS Dylan

Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
191. DE GENDT Aime
193. LIEPINS Emils
194. PARISINI Nicolo
195. VAN MOER Brent
196. WRIGHT Fred
197. ZUKOWSKY Nickolas
198. FRISON Frederik

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
201. TRENTIN Matteo
202. HALLER Marco
203. KELEMEN Petr
204. KOLZE CHANGIZI Sebastian
205. KLUCKERS Arthur
206. LIENHARD Fabian
207. MOZZATO Luca

Burgos Burpellet BH
211. ALLENO Clement
212. CAVIA Daniel
213. DE LA CALLE Hugo
214. FAGUNDEZ Eric Antonio
215. BOUGLAS Georgios
216. MACIAS Cesar
217. SAINBAYAR Jambaljamts

Team Flanders - Baloise
221. CRABBE Tom
222. DEMAN Brem
223. HESTERS Jules
224. LAMBRECHT Michiel
225. GEERAERTS Ferre
226. VANHOOF Ward
227. VERCOUILLIE Victor

TotalEnergies
231. TURGIS Anthony
232. BRUNEL Alexys
233. DAUPHIN Florian
234. DUJARDIN Sandy
235. GACHIGNARD Thomas
236. LEROUX Samuel
237. JEANNIERE Emilien

Unibet Rose Rockets
241. KUBIS Lukas
242. BLOEM Joren
243. DE VRIES Hartthijs
244. KOPECKY Matyas
245. KOPECKY Tomas
246. MOURIS Wessel
247. AUGE Ronan