Gent-Wevelgem race guide
Sunday 27 March 2016 16:13, UK
Get the lowdown on this dramatic one-day Belgian Classic with our bite-size preview.
Ghent-Wevelgem has been the scene of some exciting racing in recent years and the 2016 edition looks like it will provide more of the same.
With an extra climb added to the WorldTour race this year, the sprinters might find it tougher to stay the course on what is traditionally seen as a cobbled Classic for the quick men.
Our line up
There's just one change from our E3 Harelbeke line up, with the Coppi e Bartali race organisers giving permission for Danny van Poppel to leave Italy early to replace Michal Kwiatkowski in Belgium.
If it comes down to a sprint both van Poppel and Elia Viviani will hope to be in the mix, while Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard could fancy their chances if the race splits. Michal Golas, Christian Knees, Salvatore Puccio and Andy Fenn complete our roster.
You can read Christian Knees' thoughts on Gent-Wevelgem and riding the cobbles HERE.
Riders to watch
Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) has won the race four times and looked in fine fettle at E3 Harelbeke recently. Fresh from his Milan-San Remo win, Arnaud Demare (FDJ) will hope to better his second place here in 2014, while young gun Fernando Gaviria (Etixx - Quick-Step) is after his first major one-day victory. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) is still hunting for his first triumph in the rainbow jersey, and after his second place at E3 Harelbeke, the world champion will be desperate for success this time around.
Race overview
The day starts in Deinze - not Ghent as the name suggests - and heads in a Westerly loop before the finish in Wevelgem. The first 140 kilometres should be fairly serene before the peloton hits the opening climb, the Catsberg. That's the first of ten climbs and the riders have to tackle both the Banenberg and the Kemmelberg twice. Then there's a reasonably flat 32km run to the line, where the sprinter's teams will be working hard to ensure a bunch finish.
There's also high winds to consider after they caused carnage at last year's Gent-Wevelgem, when Geraint Thomas was quite literally blown off his bike. Echelons can often form on Belgium's more open roads and cause decisive splits in the peloton.
Key section
After climbing the Kemmelberg for the first time at the 170km mark the riders will face it again 40km later. With sections reaching 23% it's a brutal climb, and the final kilometre is narrow with wet cobbles due to overhanging trees. It will be one final chance for puncheurs and climbers to distance the sprinters before consolidating their advantage on the notoriously tricky descent.
Our history
After being blown off his bike last year Geraint remounted and rode to a remarkable third place in Belgium - our best result to date.
The Welshman battled hard on a gruelling day and the race came down to a six-man break, from which Luca Paolini (Katusha) attacked with 6km to go. The group didn't respond, and although Thomas tried to bring the eventual winner back, he came home third behind the second-placed Niki Terpstra (Etixx - Quick-Step).
Edvald Boasson Hagen sprinted to fifth for us back in 2012, while Ian Stannard so nearly took a famous solo victory in 2011, but was caught just 200m from the line.
