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During the past two weeks, the Belgian region of Flanders and its famous cobbled hills have been the epicenter of world cycling, with the celebration of several top-level races such as Classic Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields and Dwars door Vlaanderen. However, the queen race among all of them is undoubtedly the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which will take place next Sunday. The Ronde is the second monument of the year and the culmination of the Vlaamse Wielerweek (Flemish Cycling Week), as it is a race that paralyzes the country, in what is in fact the national cycling day.

Men's race: route and favorites

Route: The Ronde van Vlaanderen is not only the most famous of the Flemish races, but also the toughest. The monumental distance of 271 km and the 2172 meters of climbing mean this is a race for resilient riders and specialists in cobbled climbs. As usual in Belgian races, the first part of the race is mostly flat and on tarmac. It is in the second half of the race when the 15 cobbled sections of the men's race appear, with the most notable being the three passages through the Oude Kwaremont (2.1 km at 4.2%) and the two through the Paterberg (0.4 km at 9%). The Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg sequence is a classic in the race's finale in recent years.

Favorites: Wout Van Aert (1200), Mathieu Van Der Poel (1200) and Tadej Pogačar (1200) are the three big favorites, and anything other than a win for one of these three cyclists could be considered a surprise. Mads Pedersen (1000), Julian Alaphilippe (1000), Stefan Küng (1000), Matej Mohorič (800), Christophe Laporte (800), Alexander Kristoff (800), Thomas Pidcock (600), Kasper Asgreen (600), Matteo Trentin (600), Yves Lampaert (400), Dylan Van Baarle (400), Valentin Madouas (400), Nils Politt (400), Neilson Powless (600), Tiesj Benoot (400), Tim Wellens (400), Anthony Turgis (400), Greg Van Avermaet (400), Sep Vanmarcke (200) and Oliver Naesen (200) are other riders who can get good results in this race.

Women's Race: route and favorites

Route: The women's Ronde covers 157 kilometers and 10 cobbled sections, and like the men's race, also features the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg as the last two difficulties.

Favorites: The SD Worx women have been dominating the entire classics season and have a dream team with three of the top favorites, Lotte Kopecky (1000), Lorena Wiebes (1200) and Demi Vollering (1200). Additionally, the team also includes last Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem winner, Marlen Reusser (800), so team director Anna Van Der Breggen has plenty of cards to play. Other contenders for the win are Annemiek Van Vleuten (1200), Elisa Balsamo (1000), Elisa Longo Borghini (1000), Marianne Vos (1200), Pfeiffer Georgi (600), Grace Brown (800), Floortje Mackaij (600), Karlijn Swinkels (600), Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (1000), Shirin Van Anrooij (400), Silvia Persico (800) and Anna Henderson (600).

Photo: © Flanders Classics