Flanders Championship again a party for sprinters?

In Lotto Dstny, Caleb Ewan is the advanced pawn, but there are many doubts. “Caleb did not finish the Fourmies GP last Sunday. I don’t think his condition is really in good condition,” sports director Nikolas Maes said. Ewan rode his first race in France since retiring from the Tour. “The heat in Northern France was an additional factor on Sunday, but still. Let me say that the situation is sensitive. I hope we can still get it on track. Cedric Beullens will fill in tomorrow for the ill Jacopo Guarnieri. “I’m definitely counting on a group sprint in Koolskamp. The top teams will start with their sprinters and they therefore have an interest in the pack staying together until the end.”

Soudal Quick-Step has outgoing winner Fabio Jakobsen in its ranks. “We once again have a very solid team at the start,” said sports director Wilfried Peeters. “Normally it will end in a bunch sprint. If that is the case, then Fabio Jakobsen is of course our man. He won last year. With Jannik Steimle we have another former winner at the start.”

Intermarché-Circus starts with Gerben Thijssen as leader. “Gerben is our man when it comes to a sprint,” sport director Steven De Neef nodded. “Many teams benefit from a group sprint, so I don’t see a scenario in which a group or one person remains out of the grasp of the peloton. Moreover, there will not be much wind. Pulling fans will be an impossible task. It will happen It’s important to put Gerben in the best possible position at the front.”