Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2022 - Race Preview

Head to the website of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and you'd be hard pressed to work out who won last year's edition. Julien Vermote hangs from the ceiling of a mechanic's workshop in the race's promo poster shoot, but all references to the previous edition of the race point not to Mads Pedersen but to Mathieu van der Poel. 

Pedersen won the 2021 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in a bunch sprint, but the organisers would rather you remember it for Van der Poel's audacious long-range roll of the dice that saw him attack with 85km and nearly take it to the finish.

As the website reads, "it was the beginning of a competition to lick your thumbs and fingers", while the winner of the race was deemed to have "thrown a spanner in the works".

Somehow, a bunch sprint is not quite as spectacular or glamorous as one of the sport's superstars throwing all caution to the wind, and this is a problem the organisers have been grappling with in recent years. 

Caught between a race for the sprinters and one for the Classics specialists - with Mark Cavendish a two-time winner in among several solo champions - Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne has suffered a sort of identity crisis. 

The organisers have been unwilling to rip up the format entirely but have tinkered regularly in the past several years with the stated aim of making the race harder. Solo winners in 2019 and 2020 suggested an impact, but then Pedersen popped up last year. 

Now for 2022, they're tinkering again, adding several new climbs. They've taken out the Oude Kwaremont - as it's used enough in other races, they say - but have added a new section in Wallonia, taking the race out of Flanders for a trio of climbs that could break open the race just past the half-way mark. 

From there, though, it's familiar stuff, with the Kruisberg, Hotond, Côte de Trieu and Kluisberg forming the critical section of the race, before what remains a 52km run-in to Kuurne. That will once again give the sprint teams some hope of controlling the race but there will be just one loop of the 12.5km finishing circuit, with the approach set to see a tailwind that could favour the attackers.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne takes place on Sunday, February 27, and joins with Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to form what is known as the Opening Weekend of the Classics season in Belgium.

The contenders

The updated route hasn't put many sprinters off. The start list is, in fact, packed full of them. 

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) are perhaps the fastest pure sprinters and it'll be interesting to see how their teams race with them in the field. Victor Campenaerts has promised aggression from Lotto Soudal, while the usual QuickStep approach is an attacking one, but at some point there might be a temptation to keep things together for their finishers, but it's also worth noting that Jakobsen was in the field when his teammate Kasper Asgreen won alone. 

Either way, those two teams - especially QuickStep - have the ability to define this race.

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) is arguably the next fastest on paper, although Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne will instead be ridden on tarmac after 13 climbs, countless cobbles, and nearly 200 kilometres. In that respect, the Belgian's streak of wins in Belgian semi-classics last year might just give him the edge. 

Other fast finishers to take into account include Alexander Kristoff at (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates), John Degenkolb (Team DSM), and Matt Walls (Bora-Hansgrohe). 

And then there are fast finishers who are more-rounded Classics riders, such as 2017 winner Peter Sagan (Team TotalEnergies) and Paris-Roubaix champion Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious). 

Of the more thoroughbred Classics riders, Jasper Stuyven stands out. He made his big breakthrough by winning in 2016 and won Milan-San Remo last year. With Pedersen choosing not to defend his title and hold his form, Stuyven leads the line for Trek-Segafredo.

There's no Pedersen, but also no Van der Poel for Alpecin-Fenix, who is still recovering from a back injury, and no Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who only races Omloop on Saturday. Tiesj Benoot will be on hand for them, while fellow new signing Christophe Laporte and David Dekker offer finishing options. 

There is, however, one big multi-disciplinarian star, with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) lining up for his second Opening Weekend. After lighting up Omloop last year, he managed a podium in the Kuurne sprint, and simply can't be counted out of anything.

Greg van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen team up again for AG2R Citroën, while other top Classics riders include Zdenek Stybar (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ).

The route

The 2022 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne runs 195.1km, starting and finishing in the small town of Kuurne, just outside Kortrijk in the Flanders region of Belgium. 

The riders will head south-east, through the heart of the Flemish Ardennes, before turning south-west for a dip into Wallonia, and then back north-west through more classic Flandrien territory en route to Kuurne, where they'll do a local lap of 12.6km. 

There are a total of 13 climbs on the menu, the last of which tops out some 52km. Despite the claims of a 'renewed route', the final 50-plus kilometres give it a similar overall complexion to previous editions. 

The riders set out and make their way to the paved slopes of the Tiegemberg before heading for a new climb in the form of the Kattenberg and then ticking off the Boembeek. The first real string of climbs comes between 120 and 110 kilometres to go, with the Bossenaarstraat, Berg Ten Houte, and La Houppe. 

There's then a 20km jolt over into Wallonia, for a phase of the race that could suit the audacious. Three new climbs - Hameau des Papins, Le Bourliquet, and Mont Saint-Laurent - come in the space of 14km. Of the three, the latter looks the most brutal, with an average gradient of nearly eight per cent, pitches of 17 per cent, and rough curving cobblestones. 

From there, the race heads back into Flanders on a 10km stretch before the decisive phase of the race. With 68km to go, they'll take on the Kruisberg, followed immediately by Hotond. It's then onto the Côte de Trieu - also known as Knoketeberg - and Kluisberg, which tops out 52.3km to the line. 

What happens next depends on how much damage has been done in the so-called 'hill-zone'. There are a few light hills and a cobblestone sector with 33km to go, but there's plenty of time for a regrouping. That said, there's also plenty of time for fresh attacks and, unless multiple teams are on the same page, it's set to be a tactical run-in. 

They'll reach Kuurne and hit the line with 12.6km still to go, looping back round via Kortrijk and heading back onto the long, wide, and flat finishing straight.