E3 Saxo Bank Classic - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2022 E3 Saxo Bank Classic.

Today's race kicks off in just under 40 minutes, at 12:15 CET.

Here's our preview of the race, which is often billed as a mini version of the Tour of Flanders.

E3 Saxo Bank Classic to test Tour of Flanders favourites

We have Patrick Fletcher and Barry Ryan on the ground in Harelbeke today getting the quotes before and after the race. Here's what Milan-San Remo champion Matej Mohorič had to say before the race start.

"My condition is pretty good and I'm confident that I have a good team around me so we'll try and fight for the win.

"I think today is overall harder than a San Remo because San Remo has a hard final which is very intense but the race overall is easier. There's plenty of opportunities to empty the legs before the final."

Here's what race favourite Wout van Aert said...

"I'm super happy to be here with such a strong squad, especially with all the sickness going around in the peloton. I think we managed to come through that well to this point. It's a big advantage for us.

"Our only goal is to try and win this race by doing the best possible with the team. We want to do a big result.

"I think Mohorič, Asgreen and then Trek with Stuyven and Pedersen are really strong guys," he added when asked about his main rivals today.

BikeExchange-Jayco rider Lawson Craddock had an unfortunate moment at the start. The American crashed as he rode away from the podium presentation. At the moment it's unclear if he's too injured to start today's race.

Sep Vanmarcke has suffered illness already this spring, missing out on Opening Weekend and Nokere Koerse as a result. Here's what he had to say today...

"I've had little of a worry-free spring. The advantage is that I've learned to deal with it and I always make the best of it. There is a quiet hope that still burns to make something of the spring, and sometimes I succeed."

Reigning champion Kasper Asgreen heads up QuickStep-AlphaVinyl today...

"It's a really tough race and the course is pretty intense. It can be a tough day, I think.

"I think it's possible but it will be difficult. It's always difficult racing here in Flanders. Last year I had a good run but it's no guarantee for this year. I hope so [I have the same legs as 2021]."

The team presentation has come to a close and the riders will be heading to the start line now.

A big crowd at the start of the race today. Nice weather too – it's currently 17°C in Harelbeke.

The peloton will roll out from the start shortly.

A 3.2-kilometre neutral zone to kick things off today.

172 starters today – Mikkel Honoré is a DNS for QuickStep-AlphaVinyl with a respiratory infection while UAE Team Emirates are down Pascal Ackermann after his crash at the Classic Brugge-De Panne. Lawson Craddock is also out after his crash before the start.

A look at the riders at today's start line.

Here's what Trek-Segafredo co-leader Jasper Stuyven said before the start today.

"Just put three out of five starts by my name. The decisive moment could come at any moment in the intense hilly zone mid-race. That's the beauty of E3.

"Mads Pedersen and I are on the same level. I hope we are in the final together. We haven't been able to do that yet. My health is in order and shouldn't give me a problem."

204km to go

The race proper has started and we've already had a crash in the peloton. Riders from Israel-Premier Tech, Jumbo-Visma, and Groupama-FDJ are involved.

Stefan Küng was among those to hit the deck. No major injuries or DNFs to report.

The first climb of the day is the Katteberg at 20 kilometres.

198km to go

Unconfirmed, but Jumbo-Visma might be down Tosh van der Sande after that crash.

The peloton is still all together at the moment.

Tosh Van der Sande (Jumbo-Visma) and Guy Sagiv (Israel Premier Tech) are out of the race after that early crash.

185km to go

The riders head through Oudenaarde. No breakaway yet.

The aftermath of that early crash.

The peloton is forced to stop at a level crossing as the barriers have come down.

There were plenty of quotes from the start today from all the big favourites. Read what the riders had to say here.

E3 Saxo Bank Classic start line quotes: Van Aert, Mohoric, Asgreen and more

Jumbo-Visma confirm Tosh Van der Sande's withdrawal with an elbow injury. 

They have Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Edoardo Affini, Mike Teunissen, and Nathan Van Hooydonck left in the race.

Tom Wirtgen (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB) is on the move at the front.

Mohoric drops dropper post and reverts to aero bike for cobbled Classics

Slovenian champion returns to Merida Reacto for E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Flemish campaign

174km to go

Wirtgen was brought back by the peloton. Still not breakaway at the moment.

The peloton wait at the level crossing earlier on.

No break up the Katteberg. Victor Koretzky (B&B Hotels-KTM) and Niklas Larsen (Uno-X) are trying to get away now, though.

163km to go

More riders attempting to get away now. It looks like around seven men are on the move.

The peloton is not giving them much leeway as the riders try to get a gap...

Niklas Larsen (Uno-X) and Victor Koretzky (B&B Hotels-KTM) have been joined by Jonas Koch (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jenthe Biermans (Israel-Premier Tech), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM), Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB), and Lindsay De Vylder (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

Another level crossing forces the riders to stop for a train.

It's all together again after all riders stopped for that train.

150km to go

Bora-Hansgrohe men Ryan Mullen and Lukas Pöstlberger are on the move now. Already over 50 kilometres covered during this fast opening to the race.

They only have a small gap at the moment.

143km to go

The pair are caught by the peloton. Still no breakaway.

TV coverage of the race is set to get underway soon. Check out all the live streaming options with our handy guide here.

How to watch the E3 Saxo Bank Classic – Spring Classics live streaming

Now another group is attempting to break away. Seven men on the move.

It seems like the peloton is letting the group go as the gap grows to 40 seconds.

Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies), Jelle Wallays (Cofidis), Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal), Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB) and Lasse Norman Hansen (Uno-X) are out front with Mullen and Pöstlberger.

130km to go

1:50 between break and peloton now.

Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Fenix) and Sander De Pestel (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) are trying to make it across to the leaders.

Nine men out front. That's our break for the day.

The riders are now approaching the second major climb of the day at La Houppe. The hills come thick and fast after that.

109km to go

Still just 1:30 between the breakaway and the peloton at the moment. They're not going to get very far up the road.

The two chasers aren't going to get across, either. They're just 20 seconds up on the peloton.

Later today, we'll have reports, galleries and results from this race as well as the Volta a Catalunya and the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. We've got plenty of news and interviews on the way too.

1:55 now. The chasers just 10 seconds up on the peloton.

Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar) Frederik Frison (Lotto Soudal), Davide Martinelli (Astana Qazaqstan) caught in a crash but they're up and running again.

101km to go

Bayer and De Pestel are caught

Asgreen: Right now, we just can’t match Jumbo-Visma’s strength

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl leader looks ahead to E3 Saxo Bank Classic defence

The Knokteberg is up next after the riders have traversed the first couple of climbs today.

Unsurprisingly it's QuickStep at the head of the peloton. Ineos Grenadiers up there with them.

Cofidis rider Max Walscheid has had a great run of form recently, finishing second at Nokere Koerse, fourth at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, and taking the win at the GP Denain.

Unfortunately, he's in hospital after being hit by a driver while out training on Thursday.

Walscheid airlifted to hospital after being hit head-on by car driver

1:45 for the seven-man break as they hit the Knokteberg.

95km to go

Two minutes between the groups now. Calm in the peloton.

Owain Doull (EF-EasyPost) has a slow-motion, rather gentle, crash in the peloton. He hit the floor and had a brief struggle to get his foot unclipped from the pedals but he's OK and is back up and running.

90km to go

Jumbo-Visma on the front now with Edoardo Affini. Under 10km to go until the riders hit the Taaienberg. The tarmac climb of the Kortekeer lies before the cobbled hill.

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) has stopped with a mechanical. It has taken an age for the team to give him a new bike despite the car stopping with him. His front wheel had several broken spokes.

The Belgian finished fifth and sixth at Opening Weekend following his switch of focus to the Classics this season.

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Jumbo-Visma, Trek-Segafredo massed at the head of the peloton.

1:30 to the break. No time gap to Campenaerts but it must be over a minute.

A very quick pace as the peloton speeds towards Kortekeer.

Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) leads the break of the day.

Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) jumps off the front of the peloton.

85km to go

Kortekeer now. De Bondt leads the peloton onto the hill.

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Campenaerts is making his way back to the peloton but it's a very strung-out group over the top of the Kortekeer. A long way back to the front...

81km to go

Two riders hit the deck. Antoine Raugel (AG2R Citroën) and Jonas Koch (Bora-Hansgrohe) side out on a dusty corner and look in some pain.

De Bondt back with the peloton now after his foray off the front.

The break hits the Taaienberg (long known as the Boonen-berg). Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton at 50 seconds down.

The cobbled hill is 700 metres long at a 6.3 per cent gradient, with a max gradient of 16 per cent.

Van Aert goes to the front and pushes the pace!

Big move from the Belgian.

Kasper Asgreen follows Van Aert with two Jumbo-Visma men just behind. Splits further back.

A select front group now. Van Aert, Benoot, Laporte, Asgreen, Küng, Stuyven and Mohorič...

Just 18 seconds to the break now after that big acceleration. 

77km to go

Groups spread all over the road here. The Van Aert group still out front, chasing the breakaway. Everyone working together there, including Van Aert himself despite having two teammates to help.

A flatter section of road now before the riders hit the next climbs – Berg Ten Stene, the Boigneberg, and the Eikenberg.

The attacking group has caught the breakaway.

Riders being tailed off the front group now – Mullen and Van Moer from the break drop.

It looks like Oss is the only man left from the break in that front group now after Benoot put in an acceleration on Berg Ten Stene.

45 seconds to the Ineos-led peloton.

70km to go

Benoot pushes once once more. Küng follows and the rest get back.

40 seconds between peloton and the attackers now.

Slovenians (Pogačar, Roglič, Mohorič) and Belgians (Van Aert, Merlier) have won all seven WorldTour races so far in 2022.

Mohorič, Van Aert, Benoot and Stuyven are in the front group here at the moment...

31 seconds for the move as they ride up the tarmac climb of the Boigneberg.

65km to go

Ineos continue to command the peloton. 23 seconds now.

A couple of weeks ago at Paris-Nice we saw Kevin Geniets abandon after crashing before the start of a stage. Here at E3, Lawson Craddock met the same fate, falling after riding over TV cables. He has headed to hospital for X-rays.

Freak pre-race crash takes Craddock out of E3 Saxo Bank Classic

Magnus Sheffield is putting in a big turn for Ineos.

The attackers hit the Eikenberg, the next cobbled climb of the race. It's 1.25km long at an average of 6.2 per cent. Asgreen leads the way.

Attack from Ineos! Jhonatan Narváez is on the move.

Davide Ballerini (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) gets on his wheel and they make it across to the attackers at the top of the hill.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Florian Sénéchal (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Fenix), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) follow.

So the front of the race is now made up of...

Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Kasper Asgreen, Davide Ballerini, Florian Sénéchal (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Daniel Oss, Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Fenix), Jhonatan Narváez, Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers).

60km to go

Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) make it across to the front now, too.

Gogl pushes on the front now as they hit the cobbled Stationsberg. Asgreen takes over. Oss is out the back, with Ballerini following.

Valentin Madouas is also in the front group with Groupama-FDJ teammate Stefan Küng.

56km to go

Van Aert leads the group onto the cobbled sector – not climb – of the Marieborrestraat.

Benoot and Teunissen are on the rear of the group, fighting to stay on. Oss is back.

Girmay pushes on now! Great riding from the 21-year-old Eritrean, who is riding his first cobbled Classic today.

It looks like the group is all back together, with Ballerini still chasing.

Now Benoot pushes on as Girmay drops back to the group.

54km to go

Now the group has split up a bit.

A shot of Benoot pushing on in the front group from earlier today.

A mix of Trek-Segafredo, AG2R, Movistar on the front of the peloton. Not sure on the time gap at the moment.

AG2R with Van Avermaet and Naesen the biggest losers so far today.

A calmer moment now. The riders in the lead group all pulling through at the front to keep things going.

49km to go

They're racing on flatter roads, heading towards the Kapelberg, then Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. After that it's just the Karnemelkbeekstraat and Teigemberg to go.

AG2R Citroën still at the head of the chasing peloton.

Still not sure of the time gap here, but it's not very close between the two groups.

A great shot of Narváez's attack on the Eikenberg.

44km to go

Benoot moves to the front with Van Aert, Tiller, Stuyven, Mohorič, and Girmay just behind. 

Sénéchal is out the back with a mechanical problem.

Paterberg coming up!

The peloton is 1:10 down.

Van Aert goes to the front on the Paterberg. Girmay in third wheel behind Laporte.

Everyone gets in the gutter and Van Aert and Laporte push on up the steepest section of the climb.

Girmay leads Mohorič, Küng, Asgreen and the rest.

Van Aert and Laporte solo at the front.

The two Jumbo-Visma men have a gap here. It looks like 20 seconds already!

It looks like much of the group is intact in the chase. Not sure who has been dropped, if anyone.

40km to go

15 seconds between the groups. Laporte and Van Aert working. Asgreen leads the chase.

Oude Kwaremont next.

20 seconds between them.

Oude Kwaremont now. 2.2km at 4 per cent over the cobbles.

Laporte struggling to stay with Van Aert on the toughest section of the climb.

Asgreen still leading the chase.

Turgis off the back. Stuyven too.

Now Madouas is on the front of the group.

16 seconds to the front as the Frenchman ups the pace.

Now Mohorič takes it up. Madouas and Küng just behind.

Asgreen, Girmay, Van Baarle and Narváez are with the two Groupama-FDJ men and Mohorič.

Tiller and Benoot just behind.

Gogl and Teunissen also seem to have lost contact with the chase group.

36km to go

The long uphill tarmac drag following Oude Kwaremont now. Benoot fighting to get back.

34km to go

22 seconds from Van Aert and Laporte to the eight-man chase.

31km to go

Flat roads now and 30 seconds between the groups.

The riders approach the Karnemelkbeekstraat.

Van Aert leads Laporte onto the 1.5km tarmac climb.

Mohorič, Küng, Girmay at the front of the chase group, 35 seconds down.

One of the rides of the day from Biniam Girmay. The 21-year-old was a silver medallist in the U23 race at the Leuven Worlds last year and is only kicking on so far in 2022.

27km to go

The time gap is only increasing now. From 35 to 45 and now 55 seconds in short order.

Still the same eight men in the chase – Benoot, Girmay, Narváez, Van Baarle, Madouas, Küng, Asgreen, Mohorič.

24km to go

A minute between the groups.

1.4km of cobbles now for the leaders as they hit the Varent.

After this it's only the tarmac climb of the Tiegemberg left among a flat run to the line back in Harelbeke.

1:05 between the groups. This looks like it's over.

Van Aert and Laporte hit the Tiegemberg. It's 750 metres long at an average of 5.6 per cent.

20km to go

Time to start thinking about who might take third place now.

Sprinting after a long race is always unpredictable, but there aren't many quick finishers in that chase group. Girmay is a good punchy sprinter – he took fourth, sixth and sixth places at Paris-Nice and won the Trofeo Alcúdia.

Of course, there could be an attack before any finishing sprint. Mohorič with a late one?

17km to go

1:25 now for the two leaders.

Great to see cycling fans out in force at the side of the road.

We're really just waiting for a late attack or sprint in the chase group now. 

14km to go

1:35 between the two groups.

The peloton is miles behind. AG2R and DSM are up there leading the way.

A reminder of what Van Aert said before the start of the race today. He wasn't wrong...

"Taaienberg is the key point today. On the narrow roads after it the race explodes completely."

E3 Saxo Bank Classic start line quotes: Van Aert, Mohoric, Asgreen and more

Van Aert and Laporte on the Oude Kwaremont.

Daniel Oss has been voted as the most combative rider of the day, as voted for by Het Nieuwsblad readers. He was the last man remaining from the break of the day.

10km to go

1:45 from the lead duo to the chase.

Reports coming through that Van Aert and Laporte's teammate Tosh Van der Sande fractured his elbow in that early crash. Unconfirmed, though.

8km to go

No moves in the chase group yet. 1:50 to the leaders.

7km to go

Normally, Van Aert and Laporte would be pretty well matched in this situation. They're both good sprinters, though the Belgian would likely win a match-up.

Of course, we're in Belgium so it seems certain that Van Aert is going to get the win. Maybe they can have a bit of fun in the final kilometres and put on some fake attacks and trackstands?

Van Aert and Laporte greeted by the big crowds on the Oude Kwaremont earlier.

5km to go

Two minutes between the groups now.

No change in the situation now as the riders approach the final three kilometres.

When will the attacks start in the chase group?

3km to go

Two minutes. Huge crowds out to see the Jumbo-Visma men race home.

Küng attacks!

Girmay on his wheel. No surprise that a time triallist like the Swiss rider doesn't want to wait for a sprint.

2km to go

Van Baarle responds.

Madouas chases and goes through at the front.

Now Benoot goes after hanging at the rear of the group for a very long time – well within his rights to do so, of course.

1km to go

Van Aert and Laporte coming to the finish now.

They put their hands on each other's shoulders and salute the crowd.

Van Aert takes the win as they cross the line arm in arm.

Now back to the chase.

Asgreen pushing on.

Still all together in the group.

Küng attacks in the final kilometre!

A slow reaction. Ineos chase.

A slow sprint behind. Küng had third though!

It looked like Girmay took fourth place there just ahead of Mohorič.

Dropped riders Turgis, Teunissen, Tiller come home at 3:30 down.

Van Aert and Laporte celebrate their one-two.

Here's what Van Aert said after the finish...

"The team was impressive. I have  thank every single one of the guys to set us up in the final. Me and Christophe were supposed to be more defensive until the Paterberg and from then on we were together in front. Also a big thank you to Christophe to give me this victory. It means so much to win this big Classic in Flanders and I'm really proud of my team.

"Actually there was no discussion at all [about the win]. I think still a lot of races to come and we'll definitely end up in more difficult situations with more guys around us. Sooner or later Christophe or someone else will get this chance. This is how we want to race and this is the way everybody believes we can have the biggest chance of winning.

"Bike racing is really hard. It's one of the hardest races of the spring season. I learned our team is really on top of it. Very unfortunate that we lost Tosh at the beginning of the race. I think he's not going really good. I hope his injury is still ok but that's a shame. On the other hand, we stick to the plan we had and every single one of us was impressive."

Our brief report is up. More to come...

Here's today's top 10...

1 Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 04:36:19
2 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma
3 Stefan Kung (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 00:01:35
4 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
5 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert
6 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
9 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
10 Kasper Asgreen (Den) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl

Celebrations after the finish for the top two today.

Over in Italy, another Van won stage 4 of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Check out the results here.

Van Aert takes the podium and gets a duck-adorned €3,000 cheque (to spend at X20 Bathrooms) for being the first Belgian or Dutch rider over the top of the Tiegemberg.

And now Daniel Oss gets a big €1,200 fuel card as his combativity prize.

Now the podium presentation.

Küng steps onto the third step of the podium as Laporte takes up spot number two. Now for Van Aert.

Van Aert steps up and takes the plaudits from the crowd.

A shot of Küng taking third place ahead of Mohorič and Girmay at the line.

Heinrich Haussler took a hard spill at the finish line. He looks very uncomfortable in the photos we've seen, a torn jersey at his shoulder. We don't know what happened or how badly hurt he is yet.

Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) was also involved in a crash at the finish. Unclear whether it's the same fall.

The final podium – Van Aert, Laporte, and Küng.

Van Aert with a very big Kwaremont beer on the podium

Stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya has just finished.

Find out what happened in Spain here

Beers for the podium trio.

We'll have more news and reaction from Van Aert and Laporte, Küng, Mohorič, Girmay, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Ineos Grenadiers and more coming through the afternoon and evening...

Van Baarle: Jumbo-Visma are unbeatable at the moment

Dutchman settles for top 10 alongside Narváez as Ineos save their race but lose it again

Girmay makes light of cobbles inexperience with assured E3 Classic display

Eritrean set for Gent-Wevelgem after fifth place on cobbled Classic debut in Harelbeke

Asgreen: It's possible to beat Van Aert, we just have to figure out how

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl left with ground to recoup before the Tour of Flanders

Van Aert: It'd be stupid if I said it was easy

Belgian reveals how E3 victory was decided as he basks in complete team performance