The Tour of Flanders is underway, with the men's peloton racing from Bruges to Oudenaarde over 269km of Flanders' toughest hills and cobbles to decide the victory of the season's second Monument.
The build-up races are done, and now, so is the talking as the Classics stars of the peloton made the media rounds in Bruges at the team presentation ahead of the race start.
We've compiled quotes from all the big favourites for glory this Sunday afternoon thanks to our reporters on the ground, Matilda Price and James Moultrie, as well as interviews with Het Nieuwsblad and CyclingPro.
The Tour is tailor-made for me because it is a very tough race due to the rapid succession of hills where positioning is important. The second time Kwaremont will be crucial. There, UAE will break the race open, although it can also be earlier.
It is important to rest because the bad weather and the efforts are taking their toll, but I have recovered well, and fortunately, I never got sick because the germs have been circulating in the peloton in recent weeks.
I am just going to try to win. Those who are in third place also thought they would add a fourth, so it is not easy.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
This is the day I've been thinking about while I've been training all winter. This is the goal of the entire spring: to show up to Flanders healthy, fit, and show up to fight for a podium or even a win. I'm going to give it my best go.
I think the biggest lesson I learned is that I can ride with almost anyone as long as I can get up the road with them. The race is quite difficult when it's a big peloton, but as soon as the race has been selected, then I feel like I can race with almost anyone.
Pogačar rides to the team presentation stage ahead of the start (Image credit: Getty Images)
I don't think it's the cobbles that attract me so much, it's just the way of racing and the atmosphere of the race.
In San Remo, it's 5 or 6 climbs, maybe. Here, I cannot count – it's a lot – so we hope for the best.
We have last year's podium finish and three more guys from the top 10. To have these guys around me, it's incredible. I'm so grateful to have such a team around me. We have a really great relationship and atmosphere, so let's hope we can transform this into racing.
I don't know if I have gained any extra confidence; the Tour of Flanders is a completely different race, and I am just really looking forward to it.
Purely man-to-man, I lose to those two; you already saw that in the E3 when Mathieu rode me off on the Oude Kwaremont, but if I didn't believe that I could win, I wouldn't be at the start here.
Van Aert speaks at the team presentation (Image credit: Getty Images)
If this doesn’t make you want to race, I don’t know what will. It’s still incredible to start the Tour. If you’ve had to miss it a few times, you appreciate the support of the public here even more.
After that tough race on Wednesday, I tried to take another step forward. Everyone is looking at Mathieu and Tadej, they are clearly the two favorites. They are so good, and a tough race is to their advantage. But we have a strong team to counter that. I hope to try something as a team.
That people say I should be more of a 'scumbag' in the race? I don’t dare contradict the stars of yesteryear, but I’ve reached this point in my career because I’ve remained myself, and I’m going to continue to do so.
I’ve already been on the podium here, so I don’t necessarily have to try anything special. I’m going to go for the win. But Pogacar is the big favorite for me.
For me, it's the most important day of the year. The pressure is so great. I hope to follow the big three as long as possible, and then we'll see where we end up.
Van Aert remains one of the favorites for me, just like Pedersen, by the way. So, actually, they are the big four.
I hope to anticipate, but we'll have to see that at the moment itself. That will be difficult anyway.
Filippo Ganna rolls out at the start of the race (Image credit: Getty Images)
I hope I am even better than in San Remo. I slept well, and I think I am even stronger than a few weeks ago. I've trained well, and I'm ready to go.
There are many riders besides the big two. We are also doing well with the team. It will be a tough day, also with the wind, but we are going to take control of the race.
I'm not at 100%. I crashed at Dwars door Vlaanderen and in the Classic Brugge-De Panne, so I'm a bit wounded, but I hope it won't affect me too much.
It will be hard for me to win today but if I'm lucky maybe I can be with the outsiders maybe. If they attack a bit early I can join them and follow at the front it will be perfect. Otherwise, I'll just try to survive and maybe I can make a top 10 if I'm lucky.
Girmay on stage at the start (Image credit: Getty Images)
To be honest, I felt super good at San Remo and the last races in Belgium. My shape is also growing. Everybody know that this race is one of the hardest for me, and there's also a lot of strong teams with strong leaders. It's not going to be easy to win, for sure, but to be in the top 10 is a possibility. We also have a strong team and we'll try to do the best result possible for me and for the team.
I think it's not easy to follow them, waiting until they put the hammer down. I think for sure there will be a pre-final before the second time or third time up the Oude Kwaremont, so I think we try to anticipate this kind of move and try to be in front as much as possible.
We'd wait until some guys arrive from behind and then we try to follow them. But otherwise, we saw in some races that two guys go and then we ride for third or fifth position, so that also could be nice for us. It's not easy to be in the top 5 or top 10 in a Monument.
I think it makes the race a little bit more predictable in a way. We're pretty sure what they're going to do, but to beat that is also very difficult because they have very strong teams to control it for them to make sure it's the race they want.
Let's try to mix it up if possible and then we'll see what happens at the finish.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Spring Classics coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from all the Cobbled Classics from Opening Weekend to Paris-Roubaix. Find out more
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
