The Race - E3 Harelbeke, a race that acts as a trial towards The Tour of Flanders but often ends up being just as good. It kicks off a month of Cobbled classics, something that cycling purists look forward to all year round, with such famous races like Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix over the coming months.
The Route - Begins and ends in the industrial town of Harelbeke, a city in West Flanders that is almost exclusively known for this event each year.
There are 15 climbs through the race – given the typically Flemish name of hillengen – and of course, healthy lashings of cobbles to boot.
The first 100 kilometres are relatively benign; The only two hillengen during the first half of the race are the climbs of the Wolvenberg and La Houppe, which won’t be enough to split the race at such an early stage.
The first proper test is the Oude Kruisberg, which is 1.4 kilometres at an average of 4%, although it tops out at 8%, albeit with the section that hits 8% being too short for any real effect on the bunch.
That’s only a warmup for the first proper test of the Knokteberg, arguably one of the toughest hellingen. 1.5km long with an average of 5.3%, it has a peak of 13.3% and for longer than the Kruisberg, so can expose those on a bad day even though we are still too far out from the finish to really change things – there’s 80 kilometres left at this point.
The Hotondberg comes very soon after that, before a descent leads to the Kortekeer and then the race hits its defining phase.
One of the most famous parts of the race is the Taaienberg, known to pro cycling fans the world over. It’s ‘just’ 650 metres long but it has an average gradient of 9.5% and tops out at 18% - little wonder it’s known as a leg-breaker. This is also a key part of the race for another reason; it’s the beginning of the cobbles, which appear five times in the closing sectors.
Anyone who does suffer on the Taaienberg could easily lose their race on the Boigneberg, which averages 4.8% but is 2.1km long – one of the longest sectors in the race – and the hardest sections coming at the narrow points at the start of the climb. The Boigneberg is another cobbled sector which is 1.2km long and has a max of 11% strategically placed to try and make a selection with 60 kilometres to go. It’s important for many big teams to go early here given that the Eikenberg is incredibly narrow – about one car’s width if we’re being generous – it’s 1.17km at 5.6% and positioning will be everything for the top riders.
The Stationsberg and Kapelberg are not known as hugely consequential climbs in themselves and once we reach the day’s last three climbs, the race is about to get decided.
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The Finish - The Paterberg is only 380 metres long but it is the steepest hellingberg by far at 13.7%. It’s often used as an attacking launchpad at full gas by the very best. The Oude Kwaremont is the opposite in terms of gradient – it’s 4.2% - but it’s packed with cobbles, taking in 1500m of them over 2.1km.
There are then just two obstacles left - the Karnemelkbeekstraat, 1.5km at 4.9%, and the Tiegemberg which is 1.km at 6.5%. After that there’s a flat run through to the finish with a straight and uncomplicated finish, and a strong group of riders working together can have an advantage over others.
The Weather - Will be windy, with a breeze of about 22kmh coming from the south all day. There are plenty of scattered showers that are set to fall early in the day – without much in the way of sun they could leave the road surface slippery during the race.
The Contenders - BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet is yet to show the form that saw him take this race to start a sensational Classics season, although the increased strength of Astana prevented attempts in Omloop and Kuurne. More worrying is his lacklustre Tirreno (for all that the GC riders did end up dominating) and San-Remo, although he counted on the bunch trying to bring Nibali back. This is the most suitable terrain he’s had all season though and he came to life here last year after a relatively quiet beginning of the season.
Peter Sagan (Bora) decided to stick instead of following and was sixth in the sprint; As a two-time winner here, this terrain is much more suitable for him however and perhaps the more attacking nature will suit him better as well. He’s been in form for a while now, having improved for his return at Strade, and he is the favourite.
Lotto’s Tiesj Benoot always threatened to be a great rider through last year but even his most ardent supporters must have been taken aback but the stunning power which he used to take Strade Bianche. If anything, even more impressive was his performance at Tirreno-Adriatico, where he was fourth overall behind Michal Kwiatkowski, Damiano Caruso and Geraint Thomas, finishing sixth on the queen stage as well as sixth and fourth on two other stages. He can sprint well but this terrain begs for several attacks and he’s a huge contender on all current form.
AG2R’s Oliver Naesen was a sensational last year and has not been blessed with luck in his two main objectives this season. Part of the elite group that broke from 68 kilometres out last year, with a clearer run he will expect to contend at the finish.
Trek’s Jasper Stuyven was caught behind a crash at the wrong time in Omloop and sat in the wheels for 11th in San-Remo. He finally caught the winning streak again at the end of the Binckbank Tour, in many ways a carbon copy of this terrain, and he doesn’t need this to be a sprint although he is one of the quickest in the field.
In the unlikely even this turns out to be a sprint, FDJ’s Arnaud Demare, in fine form through Paris-Nice, would be a major contender along with Bahrain Merida’s Sonny Colbrelli, who was seriously impressive at Omloop and Kuurne and can go with the attacks when they come.
Quick-Step are last but never least here, with a range of multiple options. Philippe Gilbert is the top name there and was fifth in Omloop and then second in Le Samyn to the incredibly impressive Niki Terpstra. Meanwhile, Yves Lampert was 13th on the final stage of Paris-Nice when he was beaten by mostly climbers and is now on more suitable terrain whilst Zdenek Stybar showed up well in the final sprint of the race at Tirreno-Adriatico and was seventh at Strade. Who will they pick? Impossible to tell (or very difficult) but they can animate the race.
Astana have had a brilliant start to the season and Michael Valgren’s win at Omloop was incredible considering the size of the group he broke away from. He was sixth in this last year but is a better rider with a stronger team to come here. Alexey Lutsenko is another option for Astana to use along with Oscar Gatto and it wouldn’t be a surprise if all three tried to animate the race.
