Male Team 29 Mar
E3 Harelbeke Classic
203.9 Kilometers
Formerly a ‘final rehearsal’ for those aiming to win the Tour of Flanders, the fact that the Waregem race (Dwars door Vlaanderen) was moved forth to the Wednesday immedialy before ‘De Ronde’ and Gent-Wevelgem was made significantly harder over the year have both made the E3 Harelbeke lose some of its protagonism, the race now held under the same title sponsorship the main Belgian / Dutch WorldTour stagerace holds every August.
The route (203km in length) continues to be, though, the most challenging, twisty and demanding of all events prior to the ‘Vlaanderens Mooiste’. There will be no less than 15 hills; some of those major ones present at the Ronde van Vlaanderen are missing here -the Koppenberg is an RvV ‘exclusive’, and the tough Molenberg isn’t included, either-, yet most relevant ones are here, such as the Taaienberg (-79km) and the consecutive Paterberg (-42km) / Oude Kwaremont (-39km), here in reverse order to ‘De Ronde’ and surely to make their mark in the race.