Yahoo Autos Van der Poel, Van Vleuten, Jorgenson, Vollering: 10 riders to watch at the Tour of Flanders
This article originally appeared on Velo News
Monument season is picking up speed and the peloton has its next appointment this weekend at the Tour of Flanders.
Both men and women will be setting off Sunday for a day of cobbles bashing, with the men departing from Bruges and the women setting out from Oudenaarde.
After some mixed racing programs, the world's top one-day races will descend on Belgium this weekend and both races look set to deliver us some exciting action.
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Tour of Flanders preview: Can Annemiek van Vleuten take a history-making third title?
Mathieu van der Poel finds sunshine in E3 Saxo Classic loss: 'My work is done'
Marianne Vos sets sights on Tour of Flanders win as surgery comeback ramps up
The Tour of Flanders can be unpredictable, but there are some riders that stand above the rest when considering those that will make it to the final podium.
VeloNews takes a look at those standout riders.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Debut: 2019
Starts: 4
Best finish: 1 (x2)
Mathieu van der Poel has one of the best conversion rates, if not the best, at the Tour of Flanders. From four starts, the Dutchman has taken two victories, in 2020 and last year. When he hasn't won the race, he hasn't been far off it. In his two other appearances, he finished second and fourth -- his worst result so far.
When Van der Poel returned to the peloton after notching up yet another cyclocross world title, there were some doubts about his form and if mixing disciplines was beginning to take its toll. He answered those doubts pretty quickly evaporated when he soloed to victory at Milan-San Remo. He came close to winning the E3 Saxo Classic but was pipped in the sprint by Wout van Aert. He's going to be tough to beat Sunday.
Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)
Debut: 2008
Starts: 15
Best finish: 1 (x2)
Annemiek van Vleuten could make history this weekend. If she wins, she would become the first woman to take three Tour of Flanders titles. The Dutchwoman won her first in 2011 and added her second a decade later in 2021. She won't be able to wait another decade for her third as this year marks her final season in the peloton.
So far in 2023, Van Vleuten hasn't looked the same all-conquering rider she was at the start of last season, but that's unlikely to last very long. After finishing fourth at the Tour of Flanders, she has been squirreling away at altitude to build her form. Unlike many of her rivals, she chose to skip Dwars door Vlaanderen this week and is going straight into De Ronde without any racing for almost a month. Coming down from altitude can be unpredictable, but Van Vleuten has become quite adept at it.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
Debut: 2018
Starts: 4
Best finish: 2
For now at least, the Tour of Flanders seems to be the one that got away for Wout van Aert. His epic battle with Van der Poel in 2020 will live long in the memory and saw him take his best performance yet with second place. It is the only time he has been on the podium in his four attempts with ninth, 14th, and sixth are his other three results. Last year, Van Aert seemed to be destined for victory at last after his blistering performance at E3, but COVID-19 put pay to that.
Van Aert didn't seem to be quite in that shape over the last week, but he's still on strong form. He battled hard to hold onto Van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar at E3 before beating them in the sprint to the line. At Dwars door Vlaanderen, the only rider that could get close to him was his teammate Christophe Laporte and he gifted the win to the Frenchman.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx)
Debut: 2020
Starts: 3
Best finish: 5
Given her talents, it's perhaps a bit surprising that Demi Vollering has never even reached the De Ronde podium. The Dutchwoman's best finish was fifth at the 2021 edition when Van Vleuten romped away from the pack and Vollering lost out on a rostrum spot in the sprint from the group behind. Times are a changing, though, and Vollering is continuing to grow as a rider.
Where she was often left frustrated during the spring last year, Vollering has hit the ground running this year. From three races she has won twice, taking Strade Bianche just ahead of her teammate Lotte Kopecky, and soloing to the win at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. With SD Worx on flying form at the moment, Vollering's biggest threat for the win is probably her own teammates but she's in the form to go it alone and finally add this race to her palmares.
