Male Team 01 Apr
Ronde van Vlaanderen
150.9 Kilometers
The Ronde van Vlaanderen crowns a big month of classics with off-road sections for the best riders in the WorldTour, across Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. The 15th edition of this ‘Monument’ classic offer the Movistar Team riders a chance to take on some of the hills and cobbles that have created memories in cycling history. The route, just over 150km, is different from the men’s course in the sense that no rest is allowed.
Starting and finishing in Oudenaarde, the race has no long transfers from the depart and comprises two main loops. The first one is clearly easier than the second, with about 50km which feature the pavé sections of Lange Munte (13km), Lippenhovestraat (36km) and Paddestraat (38km). The race is then brought back to Oudenaarde to tackle the opening ‘hellingen’ -Edelare (60km) and Wolvenberg (63km)- plus the final cobbled sectors on flat roads: Holleweg (63km) and Haaghoek (69km).
The climbs will then be faced quite close together, with the Kapelmuur (-59km) as first crucial point of an event which should still remain quite open after Grammont – that’s because neither the Koppenberg nor the Taaienberg are featured in the women’s route. The ascents of Pottelberg (-41km), Kanarieberg (-35km) and Kruisberg (-26km), will though, add some wear to the bodies and anticipate the decisive duo of Oude Kwaremont (-17km) and Paterberg (-14km), only tackled once in the women’s ‘De Ronde’.