Hello and welcome to a cold but dry and almost sunny Belgium for this year's Gent-Wevelgem.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the race yet again.
The riders and teams are already at the start in Deinze, on the outskirts of Gent, for the sign-on.
It is a busy Easter Sunday of racing with riders also in action in Barcelona for the final hilly stage of the Volta a Catalunya.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) leads Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) by just seven seconds and so we expect some aggressive racing.
In Italy it is time for the decisive stage of the Coppi e Bartali race, with a hilly day of racing, also likely to shake up the overall classification.
We will have full coverage of both the Volta a Catalunya and Coppi e Bartali on Cyclingnews later today.
Other riders are also in action in Corsica, France at the Criterium International. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) won the 7km time trial on Saturday afternoon and will be looking to defend the leader's yellow jersey.
This is the map of the men's race. They face 243km and ten climbs in the new-look route.
As per tradition, the race first heads north west to the Belgian coast and then returns to the heart of southern Flanders for the climb and especially the double loop around the Kemmelberg. This year the riders climb on the older, steeper cobbled climb and descend on the safer asphalt road.
This live page will also bring updates and information from the women's Gent-Wevelgem.
Cyclingnews will have a full race report, news and photo gallery from the women's race soon after the finish.
@petosagan looks relaxed ahaed of the race. Good luck champ ! @GentWevelgem @sportful @iamspecialized @tinkoff_bank https://t.co/vkYd7pkhaL
Despite the recent attacks in Belgium, the cycling fans are out in force at the start. Security has been increased but the race was given the green light to go ahead.
Dimension Data rider Mekseb Debesay arrived at his team hotel several hours after the conclusion of E3 Harelbeke after becoming lost and disorientated during the final kilometres of his first ever race in Flanders.
The team has ensured he has a GPS Garmin on his bike today just in case he gets lost again.
#GWE don't worry everybody, @ziyadamk2 has his GPS today.
The riders are gathering in the main square in Deinze and are about to roll out and start Gent-Wevelgem.
The riders await the start.
Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) before the start.
After Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was forced to miss Gent-Wevelgem due to illness, Team Sky has also revealed that Ian Stannard is also ill and will not race today.
Former Belgian rider and 1982 Gent-Wevelgem winner Frank Hoste has dropped the start flag and waved the riders away.
Race on!!
Sadly @IStannard felt unwell this morning and has not taken the start at #GWE https://t.co/V30MGHl5z4
The riders are heading towards Tielt and then the Belgian coast. The race route also includes brief visit into France before heading back to East Flanders for the key climbs of the race.
#gentwevelgem just started. Cloudy but dry. Wind from south sw https://t.co/txOwUBnFPW
The women's Gent-Wevelgem is also underway after the race left Ieper. The Women face 112km of racing and five climbs before they finish in Wevelgem at around 2pm local time.
Former Classics legend Kelly gives his analysis on Milan-San Remo, a race won by Arnaud Demare but followed by accusations that the Frenchman took a tow on the Cipressa.
And finally, with the Spring Classics in full swing, Kelly and company try but seemingly fail to decide on who the best Classics rider of this generation has been – Tom Boonen or Fabian Cancellara?
Listen to the podcast and let us know who you think is the best Classics star in the comments section.
6km away from the first time up the Kemmelberg and the peloton is in two large groups, 25 sec is the gap #UCIWWT #GWE
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) is one of the favourites for Gent-Wevelgem but he doesn’t seem to have as much confidence in his chances.
The world champion placed second to Michal Kwiatkowski at E3 Harelbeke Friday but says that Gent-Wevelgem might be an even bigger challenge.
"Gent-Wevelgem might prove more difficult for me than E3 Harelbeke, as the finish is more suitable for solo attacks and it's not easy to watch everyone,” Sagan said in a team press release. Sagan won the race in 2013 while racing with Cannondale and celebrated by pulling a wheelie.
This year, organisers have routed the 243km race race up the tougher side of the Kemmelberg and added in several other climbs, with 10 climbs within 65km.
After climbing the Kemmelberg for the first time at the 170km mark, the riders will loop around and pass over the Monteberg and the Baneberg before heading back into Kemmel. On the second time up the Kemmelberg, riders will race up the other, older side, which has a section at 23 per cent.
“Any team with more riders at the front after crossing the hills could have a big advantage, but it may not be decisive - anyone can surprise in these classics,” Sagan suggested.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) was back in action after missing E3 Harelbeke due to illness.
Do you remember last year's Gent-Wevelgem?
The wind and rain made for a hard race, with some riders blown off the road and into the ditch.
Click here to look back at last year's windy Gent-Wevelgem via our race report and photo gallery.
To get ready for the finale of Gent-Wevelgem, read our special E3Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem preview.
It has all you need to know on this weekend's Belgian Classics.
The the wind making the peloton cautious, the break has opened its lead to 11:00.
Belgian television reporting that Fernando Gaviria has crashed. He seems to be ok though and he's making his way back to the peloton.
The weather has been pretty good to the riders so far but it is cold and we can expect a bit of wind and rain in the final hour of racing.
Katusha are without Alexander Kristoff today after the Norwegian fell sick over the weekend. Cyclingnews caught up with his fellow Norwegian and roommate Sven Erik Bystrom at the start of the race. Bystrom himself is feeling under the weather and says that the team will try their hardest in the absence of their leader.
"I’m not 100 per cent healthy but I hope that as a team that we can do well without Alex as a leader," he told Cyclingnews. "He [Alex] is also a little bit sick so he will try to recover before De Panne.
"It’s just a small flu, and I think some other guys in other teams have suffered with this. It’s a hard time of year to try and stay healthy, with the cold, but we will try to make the best out of it.
"Today we don’t have a main leader today but we still have Jacopo Guarnieri, which is pretty good, and Marco Haller and Michael Morkov, who can do something in the final. We still have some options but it’s not the same without Alex."
After 80km, the riders are passing through the feed zone at the moment. They'll need to keep fulled up with a challenging finish ahead.
The peloton has split into three groups. We have also seen reports that Wanty's Simone Antonini has crashed out of the race.
Currently around 20 seconds between the first and second peloton.
We've collected a selection of photos and quotes from the start this morning, take a look at them all here.
142km remaining from 243km
The gap to the escapees is now just under the four-minute mark with s touch over 30 seconds between the two main groups.
Team Sky has had a very good weekend with Michal Kwiatkowski winning on Friday. They are without Kwiatkowski or Ian Stannard today but they still have a number of options. One of which is sprinter Elia Viviani and Cyclingnews caught up with him at the start.
"I rode E3 and we are really happy with the team performance. It was a really big goal for us. Kwiatkowski is not here with us today. Normally it is a sprinter’s classic but with this wind maybe it will be really hard. Maybe not as tough as last year but it will still be hard. There are some small changes, with two times up the Kemmel and also the tougher side. We have Luke Rowe in good condition to make a hard race and I’m ready for the sprint if we make it.
"We decide to come here this year because I’m doing all the classics because for sure they will be my focus for the next few years. From San Remo, to Flanders and Roubaix, it will be a really big goal to focus on in the next few years after the track at the Olympic. For that reason, we also wanted to try it this year to see what my level is at the moment."
The front group contains many of the favourites including Boonen, Van Avermaet, Sagan, Boasson Hagen, Cancellara, Demare and Benoot.
We also spotted Fabian Cancellara's new steed at the start. He was riding it at Strade Bianche and at Friday's E3 Harelbeke. The new colours and design are in honour of the Tour of Flanders. If you want one of these yourselves, it's not yet available in the shops but you can look at it in our gallery here.
131km remaining from 243km
The gap to the escepees continues to come down. It's now just over two minutes, while the third group on the road continues to lose ground to the peloton. They're almost a minute behind now.
Taylor Phinney is another of the riders who has made the split. He's making his Classics debut after his 2014 crash that put him out for over a year.
"It’s been two years. It’s a good energy to be back," he said to Cyclingnews. "We’ll see how today goes, we have a pretty strong team and we’re going for Greg. I’m just taking it as it comes and trying to have some fun and trying to stay warm.
"I’m just going to see how it unfolds on the roads, these races are really hard to predict."
Outside of Belgium, and Nair Quintana has just won the Volta a Catalunya with Alexei Tsatevich took the final stage. You can read the report here.
119km remaining from 243km
There only looks to be around 20 riders in this chasing group. We can see Sagan, Terpstra, Cancellara, Roelandts, Boonen Benoot and Demare in there. Several LottoNL-Jumbo riders and plenty from BMC too. They're in an echelon across the road as they track down this leading group. Less than a minute between the two groups.
There is no sign of Nacer Bouhanni yet. It appears he has missed out on the split in the bunch. He was a late edition to this race after he missed out on Milan-San Remo glory. He'll have his team working hard to bring this split back.
117km remaining from 243km
A problem for Fabian Cancellara. Unlike Friday, his team are quickly with him and he's back on his way with a new wheel.
The front peloton has made contact with the escapees. There's still 113km and plenty of action to come.
Edvald Boasson Hagen is back in action today, after missing Friday's E3 Harelbeke due to illness. He's a previous winner of this race and will be looking to bounce back with a strong result here.
""I had a cold after Milan-San Remo so I didn’t feel like I was ready to race on Friday. I am feeling better now and hopefully I’m ready to race.
"I’ve won once before and you have to be up front to make the split in the cross winds. It’s pretty windy today. Hopefully it will be ok. Last year was not so great."
108km remaining from 243km
Riders are getting shed from this front group. 54 seconds now separate the first and second groups on the road.
Peter Sagan staying hidden in the front group. This morning, he and teammate Erik Baska, wanted to go to the toilet before the start. They ran into a nearby bar, as the busses were too far away, and had 100 people standing outside waiting for them when they returned. The bar owner has promised them free beer if they come back this evening. Sagan won't be able to take them up on the offer as he's flying home right after the race.
104km remaining from 243km
The wind is picking up out on course and it's getting tough out there. We can expect some rain later too.
A problem for Popovych, he goes into the grass but manages to stay upright.
Tyler Farrar and Manuel Quinziato setting the pace at the front of the leading group. They're putting in a good effort and have made a small gap. They realise and slow a little for the others to catch up.
Just under the 100km to go and Dimension Data continue to share the effort with Etixx-QuickStep and BMC. The gap to the group behind is coming down very slowly. 46 seconds is now the advantage.
Alexander Kristoff isn't racing today. After a tough E3 Harelbeke, he fell ill. You can read the full story here.
Sep Vanmarcke is at the front of the second group, he's doing great work to bring the gap down. It now only stands at 17 seconds.
88km remaining from 243km
Both groups have now come together and we've got lots of attacks coming off the front. Manuel
