Who will win 2019 Tour of Flanders?

The pro peloton have been duking it out in the Flemish Ardennes for the past week but it all culminates on Sunday with Flanders’ Finest. De Ronde van Vlaanderen is the big show that everyone really wants to win. It’s a tough one to call because of how tactical it can become but it’s a race where the cream rises to the top. The cobbled helligen of Flanders are demanding and very selective. With so many top names in form, there doesn’t seem to be a clear cut favourite. That won’t stop our savvy editors from calling the winners.

Dan Walker – Social Media Editor

John Degenkolb was second at an extremely hard edition of Gent-Wevelgem and has been showing great legs this Classics season. He was in the lead group before a mechanical at Milan-San Remo and he showed good sprint legs at Paris-Nice. Look for the two-times Monument winner to add number three to his palmares at de Ronde van Vlaanderen this year.

Marianne Vos has been on great form lately, winning the tough and hilly Trofea Alfredo Binda and taking some decent results in her last two Belgian races. Vos is primed to add a second tour of Flanders victory to her palmares. Plus she’ll have super domestique Ashleigh Moolman Pasio keeping the pace high on the bergs and limiting opportunities for some to take a long-range flyer for the win.

Matthew Pioro – Editor

What helps a rider win a race? Winning a race. That’s a clunky way of saying success breeds success. I think Alexander Kristoff’s win at Gent-Wevelgem will boost the Norwegian’s chances of taking his second Flanders victory. And, I want to see more of the “power couple” tactics employed by Kristoff and his teammate Fernando Gaviria at last weekend’s race. And if Gaviria wins on Sunday, I’ll still consider my prediction mostly right.

Alison Jackson of Vermilion, Alta., had a really strong Australian campaign earlier this year. In Northern Europe, she’s had a few top-20 finishes. I’m hoping she’ll be able to finish well at de Ronde. Leah Kirchmann, who’s done the race five times, will likely be protecting 2017 winner Coryn Rivera or Lucinda Brand. Marie-Soleil Blais will make her debut at the event. I’m excited to how the Canuck women will do, but as for who I think will win, I’m going with Marta Bastianelli. The European champion hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 since Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Out of five podium finishes, she was on the top step two times. At de Ronde, she’ll make it three.

Andre Cheuk – Associate Editor

Winning a Monument on debut is unheard of, everyone knows that, so how come Mathieu van der Poel is the bookie’s favourite for the win on Sunday? The answer is because van der Poel is an unheard of once in a generation talent. Conventional wisdom does not apply to him. Van der Poel has shot to the front of the field in every cycling discipline he’s tried his hand at, elite road racing included. The Dutchman won in only his second WorldTour race, and not just an anonymous stage in some minor stage race from a long breakaway. He won Dwars Door Vlaanderen this week with legitimate opposition, prevailing against established next generations stars like Bob Jungels and Tiej Benoot. So sure, van der Poel is a long shot for the win but he is the most exciting contender in the peloton. Bet on him to animate the race and make his mark. Few will argue van der Poel could win De Ronde some day, it could be as early as this Sunday.

For the women’s race, I will once again go with the recent winner of the Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Ellen van Dijk. Van Dijk is the polar opposite of van der Poel in many ways. A veteran and previous winner of De Ronde, Van Dijk knows the race well and what it takes to win. She is also ably supported by a strong team in Trek-Segafredo. But the best argument for van Dijk is the way she won Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, soloing away imperiously from a select group of 11, that included reigning world TT champion Annemiak Van Vleuten. Van Dijk has the experience, the team, the tactical nous and clearly the form to take De Ronde. Call it a double Dutch weekend.

Philippe Tremblay – Web editor

I really wanted to pick Oliver Naesen to take his maiden cobbled Classics victory but the fragile Flemishman claims a champagne shower has given him bronchitis. If this isn’t some elaborate ploy to fools his rivals, he’ll have trouble being in contention in such a stacked field. Greg van Avermaet was the strongest rider at E3-Harelbeke so I expect him to be in contention but I think he wants this one too much and will waste too much energy attacking to be able to win but he’ll be on the podium. After Mathieu van der Poel won his maiden WorldTour race on Wednesday, it’s Wout van Aert‘s move. He’s going to take the grand prize in Flanders with savvy racing in just his second De Ronde.

Somehow, Boels-Dolmans haven’t won a one-day WorldTour race in 2019. How this is possible completely baffles me for such a strong team. Unlike Deceuninck-Quick Step, they keep messing up their team tactics. They’ll right that at Flanders backing Chantal Blaak who was second at Ronde van Drenthe and won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Conventionally wisdom says you can’t win Omloop and Flanders in the same year, but I think the Dutch champion will emerge victorious.

Rob Sturney – Web contributor

I don’t think the Wolfpack will be shut out of the top-10 like it was at Gent-Wevelgem. The team will be smarting from Gent-Wevelgem and want to get back to dominating. I believe in their Czech Zdenek Stybar, who took Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 BinckBank. Deceuninck-Quick Step is sending Bob Jungels, Yves Lampaert and Philippe Gilbert as well. Stybar will beat out ex-teammates Niki Terpstra and Matteo Trentin.

In the women’s race, I see 2014 winner Ellen van Dijk taking the victory. The Trek-Segafredo rider is coming off Wednesday’s win in Dwars door Vlaanderen and placed third in Ronde van Drenthe. Trek-Segafredo is sending a pretty crack squad. Marta Bastianelli will finish on the podium and cling to her WorldTour lead over Kirsten Wild.

Terry McKall- MTB Web Editor

In typical Peter Sagan fashion, he has been close to several wins, leading critics to dismiss the three-time world champions chances of winning one of this year’s Monuments. In typical Sagan fashion, he will surprise everyone and win De Ronde in spectacular fashion. How is this still a surprise? Why is no one picking Sagan? If he doesn’t win this weekend, he will repeat at Paris-Roubaix.

At Strade Bianche, Annemiek van Vleuten rode away from Marianne Vos and the entire powerhouse Boels-Dolmans team to win solo, showing she is on incredible form this year. Since then, van Vleuten had time to recover, and refocus for De Ronde. The Mitchelton-Scott rider is the 2018 women’s WorldTour champion because she knows how to win consistently, when she wants to and when it matters the most. Organizers have made the women’s finale more difficult for 2019, sending them up the Taaienberg before the 40 km return to Oudenaarde just like the men. This plays perfectly to the strengths of the two time UCI TT world champion with a reputation for winning grueling, long races.