Double visit to the Kapelmuur
The Muur van Gerardsbergen (Kapelmuur) is one of the most famous cobbled hills in Flanders, and a place of pilgrimage for cycling fans from all over the world. Since 2020, however, the Muur has been removed from the Ronde Van Vlaanderen route, and there are fewer and fewer opportunities to see cyclists struggling on its steep slopes. This season, only the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February, the queen stage of the Benelux Tour in September and the Brussels Cycling Classic in this weekend pass through the famous Muur, so we should take every opportunity and not miss Sunday's race.
Route
As we said, one of the main attractions of the Brussels Cycling Classic route is the double ascent of Muur van Gerardsbergen (1.2 km at 7.8%), which is chained with Bosberg (1.4 km at 5%) in a small 30-kilometer circuit in the middle of the race. From the second pass over the top of the Muur to the finish line there will be 57 kilometers left, so it is possible that the decisive attacks will be later, on the Bosberg or even on the climb to Heiligekruiswegstraat (1.2 km at 4.2%), the last climb of the race which is located 18 km from the finish line.
Favorites
Taking notice of the distance between the hills from the finish line, most of the teams bring some of their best sprinters to the race in case there is a big group arriving together. Pascal Ackermann (1000) for UAE Team Emirates, Alexander Kristoff (800) for Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux, Elia Viviani (600) for Ineos Grenadiers, Kristoffer Halvorsen (400) for Uno-X, Kaden Groves (600) for Team BikeExchange - Jayco, Arnaud De Lie (200) for Lotto Soudal, Ethan Vernon (200) for Quick Step - Alpha Vinyl or Hugo Hofstetter (400) for Arkéa - Samsic are some of the fastest on the starting list.
In the event of a broken race, which seems most likely, Amaury Capiot (600), Danny Van Poppel (600), Rasmus Tiller (200), Victor Campenaerts (400), Philippe Gilbert (200), Gianni Vermersch (200), Jake Stewart (200), Mauro Schmid (200) or Ide Schelling (400) are some of the strongest on paper.
For his part, Biniam Girmay (400) has the qualities to win in both scenarios.