Offside looks ahead to the Ronde: “The big 3 are a class too strong”

They also see that the Big Three: van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogaçar are a class too strong. But the fact that Van Aert did not have to unload for the first time on the Oude Kwaremont during the E3 Harelbeke has been remembered.

Rik Vanwalleghem, cycling connoisseur: “I think he has more chance of blocking mentally on the Oude Kwaremont than physically.” Jens Debusschere (Yaro-Belisol) : “Mentally he is also strong enough to get over there. And especially now, once again with superior confidence on Sunday. He is also super strong in his head. And he also beats van der Poel in the E3 of course. The only thing I do think is that next week, during the Tour of Flanders, van der Poel will really have a team. Because I saw a really good Gianni Vermeersch in Gent-Wevelgem. Jasper Philipsen rides well Kragh Andersen too. I think he will have a team that has a foot next to Jumbo.”

And what about the Wolfpack? Can Lampaert still dream of one day putting a cobblestone in the air? “If there is a monument that he can win, still, it is Roubaix. And maybe it is better not to be one of the big favorites at the start of Roubaix. Because so much can happen in Roubaix. Problem is of course that van der Poel and Van Aert have absolutely set their sights on it.”