Friday schedules one of the hardest and most important cobbled races of the season.
Regarded by many as the quintessential dress rehearsal for De Ronde, which this year takes place on the last day of the month, the 66th edition of E3 Saxo Classic will feature a total of seventeen hills – including the Taaienberg, Stationberg, Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont – and present plenty of opportunities for the attackers to try to make the difference and split the peloton during the 207.6km race.
Winner of the prestigious classic in 2021, when after more than 40 kilometers alone at the front he still had enough left in the tank to launch a decisive attack after he got caught by the chasing group containing many of the pre-race favourites, Kasper Asgreen will be part of a strong Soudal Quick-Step squad that is set to include also two-time World Champion Julian Alaphilippe, double Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Yves Lampaert, Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, neo-pro Pepijn Reinderink and Jordi Warlop.
“E3 Harelbeke is a beautiful but hard race containing many of the roads and climbs that the peloton will tackle in Ronde van Vlaanderen next Sunday. We are going to the start with a solid team, comprising riders who are very motivated and who have shown a lot of nice things recently, so we are confident in our chances of fighting for a good result at the end of the day”, said sports director Wilfried Peeters ahead of the race which our team has won a total of eight times until now.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
