Male Team 26 Mar
E3 Harelbeke Classic
205.1 Kilometers
The race will be broadcast live on Eurosport Player and GCN, at 3pm CET.
Due to its characteristics, the area it’s held at and its nine-day distance from ‘De Ronde’, the E3 Harelbeke has long been considered as the big rehearsal before the Tour of Flanders. It’s a race whose sixteen climbs -some of them over cobblestones- in barely hundred kilometers only leave space for the win to the big Northern classics specialists.
The narrow and steep Taaienberg, strategically placed with 80km from the finish, constitutes the first breaking point of a race whose other decisive point should be the consecutive climbs of the Paterberg (-42km), with its ramps up to 20%, and the Oude Kwaremont (-39km), here overcome in inverse order to that of De Ronde. From there, the riders will only have to tackle two other hills plus a long flag approach to the finish. It’s an event where positioning is as important as overall strength, and having good strategical sense is key.