The focus on the tour of the Flanders: Lotte Kopecky (M.) in the world championship rainbow jersey
Photo: Imago/Tomas Sisk
The tension increases in Belgium: beer boxes are cold and the appropriate grill products are ordered so that the big festival can be appropriately committed on Sunday. The Tour of Flanders is coming up, for the 109th time with the men, for the 22nd time with the women. All of Belgium is therefore in motion – around 750,000 people will line the route as always and turn on the television equipment about 1.5 million. Not a bad quota for almost 12 million inhabitants. “Every sixth Belgian is part of the Flanders Tour,” summarizes Kristof de Kegel, sporting director at the team of defending champion Mathieu van der Poel, to “nd” the enthusiasm.
In the spring, the cycling week between Gent-Wevelgem on the last Sunday, the tour of the Flanders on this and across Flanders on Wednesday in between, is the “Belgian Christmas”. Finally, van der Poel starts as a big favorite. He has already won three times here and thanks to his victory on the first classic monument of the season, Milan – san Remo, comes with a lot of self -confidence. He also cooked the competition with a solo victory at the hard half -classic E3 last week.
The greatest competitor is Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian had to accept the tactical and physical superiority van der Poels in San Remo. The Dutchman’s tour with its numerous short climbs is also more to the Dutch. Nevertheless, the triple tour of the France winner wants to add another one to his only win in Flanders from 2023. An early attack by the two superstars, crowned by the final duel, is the most likely scenario.
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In women, fans can even hope for a Belgian victory. World champion Lotte Kopecky has not won a race this season, but started later than usual. “We have changed your program a bit. This will only be your fourth race. But she slowly comes into its true constitution, «says her team manager Danny Stam. Kopecky himself sees it similarly: “I get closer to the shape I want.” At Gent – Wevelgem, she also did carer work when she was victory of her teammate Lorena Wiebes.
Kopecky was already second over Flanders last Wednesday and won the sprint of a chasing group behind solo winner Elisa Longo Borghini. These two are also the focus on Sunday: they already won the Flanders Tour twice and could take the top list with a third win. Kopecky can trust her explosiveness, the Italian Longo Borghini has to try to arrive alone or with very few companions. Last year she only won the sprint from a group of three because she still had a teammate with her and both were able to hold Kasia Niewiadoma from the German Canyon racing team in chess.
It was nice at the time that the sprint decision between women meant the crowning glory of the “Belgian Christmas”. Because route and start times are placed in such a way that men and women not only drive past the fans several times in the same places. The arrival time of women is also about an hour later than that of the men – the cyclists do not represent the opening act for the male stars. On the contrary: Pogačar and van der Poel heat up the mood before Kopecky, Longo Borghini and possibly again Niewiadoma fight for the queen of Flanders.
The organizers are already strong partners in the upgrading of women’s cycling. Already in 2022 there was the same prize money for women and men – 50,000 euros each, 20,000 of them for the winner. A year later, Tomas van Den Spiegel launched the Slogan “Equal Pain Day”. This was an allusion to the same fee that women should get for the same work as the men, and the similar suffering that athletes have to endure on the paving stones and dirt roads. »We had a multi -year plan to eliminate the differences in prize money. We see that the winners in both races have to bring the same victims, and therefore they should receive the same money. Therefore, we converted the ›Equal Pay Day‹ into ›Equal Pain Day‹, «Van Den Spiegel explained the decision.
It is still a long way to pay the same payment by the teams. The Flanders’ tour and the other two races of the “Belgian Christmas” are milestones on the way to gender equity in road cycling.
When it comes to German hopes for the tour of the Flanders, the women are also in focus. Liane Lippert – at least the sixth of Flanders on Wednesday – starts with outsider opportunities for the podium. Nils Politt, third in Flanders last year, fell on Wednesday. Even in the best form, helper services for his team captain Pogačar are primarily intended for him.