In the holy Flemish cycling week, Dwars door Vlaanderen is the first stop. Who is already in shape? Mathieu van der Poel is not participating, but his main competitors for next Sunday are. Who enjoys the appetizer in Waregem? These are the biggest contenders according to the cycling jury.
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Number 1 for this Dwars door Vlaanderen: Wout van Aert. The leader of Visma-Lease a Bike saw many other riders from his team drop out, such as former winners Laporte and Van Baarle. Van Aert is therefore the spearhead and, in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel, remains the top favorite on the typical Flemish course.
According to our jury, his biggest competitor will be a fellow countryman: Jasper Stuyven. His Lidl-Trek team is perhaps the strongest group at the start and is still on a roll following the victory in Gent-Wevelgem last weekend.
Stuyven himself also showed that he has more than the right form with his 2nd place in the E3 (ahead of Van Aert) and top 10 places in the Omloop, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Milan-Sanremo.
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In the circle of riders with two stars we see another Lidl-Trek rider: Mads Pedersen. He continues to surf the waves of Ghent-Wevelgem.
Here too we see two compatriots with Jasper Philipsen and Tim Wellens. Philipsen is the leader at Alpecin-Deceuninck and his team must therefore ensure that there will be a sprint in Waregem, with a large or a small group. His legs and head are doing well following victories in Milan-Sanremo and the Classic Brugge-De Panne.
Tim Wellens is also being given opportunities following his strong spring so far. With his second place (behind Van Aert) in Kuurne as the current highlight.
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It is clear that Lidl-Trek’s team is in good shape because we also see one of their riders among the riders with 1 star: Toms Skujinš.
Last year’s number two also receives a star: Oier Lazkano. Can the Spaniard from Movistar, who is also performing well this year, improve one place?
One of Van Aert’s teammates also gets another star: Matteo Jorgenson. In addition, there is also faith in Nils Politt and Stefan Küng.
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