The Hoogmis. The most important one of all. The most beautiful. The most beautiful. Flanders’ Finest. The Tour of Flanders 2022, or in Dutch the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2022, is also one of the most important cycling races there is. One of the five Monuments, but for the true Flandriens and cobblestone fans the most important. Winding roads through the Flemish countryside. Typical Belgian macadam roads and cobblestone paved iconic slopes to overcome. Cycling-Classics.com is presenting the preview Tour of Flanders 2022.
Preview Tour of Flanders 2022
Where the Netherlands has the Elfstedentocht and each year is a walk in the park for King’s Day – in Flanders only one thing counts: the Tour. The annual high mass of the Flemish cycling spring. The entire region will be in an uproar when the starting shot – “Heeren Vertrekt” – for the 106th edition of the Tour of Flanders is fired from Antwerp.
The Tour of Flanders is the alpha and omega of what cycling should be. There is no race in the world where history, experience, heroism and tragedy come together. It’s all about the culture of cycling. Hopefully the 2022 edition will again have spectators along the road, but coronary restrictions or not. The Tour of Flanders 2022 will again be a true popular feast.
When is the Tour of Flanders 2022?
The Tour of Flanders 2022 will again be held on the fourteenth Sunday of the year and will be scheduled for Sunday, April 3, 2022. Salient detail: just like in 2020 and 2021, the year 2022 does not have a holy cycling week. Paris-Roubaix will not be ridden the week after the Tour of Flanders, but two weeks after, on Sunday, April 17, 2022. Due to the French presidential elections, Paris-Roubaix cannot be held on Sunday, April 10 and therefore had to look for a new date. Amstel Gold Race agreed to switch and will now be held on Sunday, April 10, 2022. In 2019 no Dubbel Flanders-Roubaix took place at all, last year there was a whole racing season between The Dubbel, when Paris Roubaix was held on October 3, 2021.
History of the Tour of Flanders
“The Ronde: skone course, hard course, a course for dorebiters.” – Briek Schotte
The history of the Tour of Flanders goes back to 1913, when Karel “Koarle” Van Wijnendaele, journalist for The Sport World, organized the first edition of the Tour of Flanders to promote his newspaper. In a race of just under 37 riders over 324 kilometers from the bicycle store of Frans Demeunynck at the Rooigemlaan in Ghent to the wooden track in Mariakerke, the local outsider Paul Deman won the first edition. The race was a great success, at least according to the organizer Van Wijnendaele himself. “A real sea of people was present and all the villages along the route were swarming with spectators. Although Herman Chevrolet in his magnificent cycling epic The Flandriens doubts this, one thing is certain: the birth of a sacred race is a fact.
After the Second World War, the Tour of Flanders rapidly gained popularity abroad and became one of the most important races on the international cycling calendar. And although the Tour of Flanders has undergone several transformations over the years, it has turned a whole bunch of riders into imaginative Flemish cycling heroes.
With Briek Schotte proudly in the lead. He rode no less than twenty (!) editions of Vlaanderens Mooiste, where he crossed the finish line first twice. But also say Rik van Steenbergen. Rik van Looy. Walter Godefroot. Of course, the cannibal Eddy Merckx. Or Eric Leman, who won three times and is therefore co-record holder. But also Walter Planckaert, Roger de Vlaeminck, Eddy Planckaert, Edwig van Hooydonck, Johan Museeuw (also won three times), Peter van Petegem and Andrei Tchmil. And more recently Tom Boonen (also three wins, including his first at age 24), Stijn Devolder, Nick Nuyens and Philippe Gilbert.
If you win the Tour of Flanders, you are in an illustrious line and you are a cycling hero for all of Flanders for the rest of your life. The combination of these Flemish heroes, but certainly also non-Belgian cycling greats, with the heroism of the race led to a whole range of legendary cycling moments.
The tears of 23-year-old Edwig van Hooydonck in 1989, after he rode to victory on his Bosberg (photo below) with a splitting attack.
The punishing 55-kilometer solo of Philippe Gilbert in 2017. The also 23-year-old Eric Vanderaerden who arrived alone after a grueling and icy cold Ronde in 1985.
The powerful, now legendary acceleration of Fabian Cancellara on the Wall of Geraardsbergen in 2010 – to which the hero of the nation Tom Boonen had no answer. When we think back to that edition, the Swiss and Belgian both in champion’s jerseys in perfect shape in a man-to-man fight. Goosebumps…
Or what about the victory of Andrei Tchmil, who with 37 years, 2 months and 12 days in 2000 became the oldest winner of the Tour. And of course very recently the millimeter sprint between the Big Two Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, where the former pulls the longest straw and thus writes the 2020 Tour of Flanders on his name.
“The Tour of Flanders is different from all other races. On that day, the whole country stands still. It’s a different dimension” – Fabian Cancellara
Previous edition
Kasper Asgreen (Elegant-QuickStep) scored a sensational victory in the 2021 Tour of Flanders by beating defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) in a sprint-a-deux.
The pair were the strongest riders in the race and dropped their remaining opponents on the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont before setting up a sprint finish.
Asgreen was expected to attack in the closing stages, with Van der Poel the favorite for the sprint, but although the Dutch rider started a long sprint he had to give up with 50 meters to go as Asgreen took the biggest win of his career.
Last year the Law of the E3 and Ronde was once again in force: Asgreen won both the E3 Prijs and thus the Tour of Flanders 2021.
Course Tour of Flanders 2022
The Berendries. The Valkenberg. The Marlboroughstraat. The Steenbeekdries. The Taaienberg. And the final piece, the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, which have to be tackled three times in total. But even just saying the names of the cobbled sections makes your mouth water. Lip-pen-hove-street. Toad-street. Hollow-road. Karel Martelstraat. Ma-ria-bor-re-street. It. Is. Course!!!
“Beeching, nervousness, winding roads, rain and wind, crooked trees, kappelekens. Perhaps it would be good to ask the Fleming to associate the Ronde with five nouns. Cobblestones, shit weather and the Wall will certainly be among them” – Rik Vanwalleghem describes the Tour of Flanders in his column in De Standaard
The typical Belgian macadam roads and the cobblestone-paved short slopes. The course of the Tour of Flanders 2022 in a sentence. But the riders await this year’s edition of a leaden course, which as always has the Flemish Ardennes as its epicenter. No Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg, but the Old Kwaremont-Paterberg duo as the main event. With a total of 19 hills and 11 cobbled sections, the course will be finger-licking good.
Hills Tour of Flanders 2022
1. Oude Kwaremont (2,200 meters at 4%) – Around 1:25 p.m.
2. Kortekeer (1,000 meters at 6.2%)
3. Achterberg (1,500 meters at 4.4%)
4. Wolvenberg (645 meters at 7.9%)
5. Molenberg (463 meters at 7%)
6. Marlboroughstraat (2,000 meters at 3%)
7. Berendries (940 meters at 7%)
8. Valkenberg (540 meters at 8.1%)
9. Berg Ten Houte (1,100 meters at 6%)
10. Kanarieberg (1.000 meters at 7.7%)
11. Oude Kwaremont (2,200 meters at 4%) – Around 3:15 p.m.
12. Paterberg (360 meters at 12.9%)
13. Koppenberg (600 meters at 11.6%) – Around 15.30 hours
14. Steenbeekdries (700 meters at 5.3%)
15. Taaienberg (530 meters at 6.6%)
16. Kruisberg/Hotond (2,500 meters at 5%)
17. Oude Kwaremont (2,200 meters at 4%) – Around 4:05 p.m.
18. Paterberg (360 meters at 12.9%) – Around 4:10 p.m.
Cobblestone sections Tour of Flanders 2022
1. Lippenhovestraat (1,300 meters)
2. Paddestraat (1,500 meters)
3. Hollow Road (1,500 meters)
4. Churchgate (2,500 meters)
5. Hunterry (800 meters)
6. Mariaborre Street (2,400 meters)
Favourites Tour of Flanders 2022
It should come as no surprise that all the big names and big names will appear at the start on Sunday, April 3, 2022 with just one goal: to win the Tour of Flanders 2022.
Will Wout van Aert once again show that the winner of the E3 Prijs also takes the Tour of Flanders? Is Mathieu van der Poel (runner-up in 2021, winner in 2020) back? And what can the Slovenians Tadej Pogačar and Matej Mohorič do? How strong is the Trek-Segafredo block with Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven? And can Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl take revenge on their mediocre spring so far and count on defending champion Kasper Asgreen? To what extent are Yves Lampaert (sick) and Florian Sénéchal (fell in the E3 and in Gent) again 100% fit?
Questions, all questions. The editors of Voorjaarsklassiekers.be will try to answer as many of them as possible, with the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2022 special favorites and the well known dark horses plus tips for your cycling prognostications!
Favourites Tour of Flanders 2022: the stars
***** Wout van Aert
The demonstration by Wout van Aert and his teammate Christophe Laporte in the E3 Prijs was great, great class. First he wrote the Omloop on his name, now also the dress rehearsal, literally winning the mini-round. Statistically speaking, slam the Law of the E3 and the Ronde as explained above, and the Belgian champion can’t help but get the full five stars. Can Wout win the first of the two dreamed-of Monuments and the first of the Double Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix on Sunday and live up to his role as a favorite?
**** Mathieu van der Poel
Someone who also dreams of that mythical Double is Mathieu van der Poel. But where three weeks ago we would not have given a penny for a top classification in the larger spring classics – after his resounding victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen last Sunday he is the outsider to Van Aert. While his eternal rival was already there from the Omloop, a back injury seemed to play tricks on MVDP. Suddenly he was there in Milan Sanremo. Third place.
A week later he had an excellent number in the Coppi e Bartali. First he stayed in the solo for a long time, then he was caught up and won the group sprint. On Wednesday in Dwars door Vlaanderen he gave it a go at about 90 kilometers from the finish, to then finish it off in the sprint. Will travel to the Ronde in high form.
*** Tadej Pogačar
Behind eternal rivals Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, we have an atypical rider in the form of Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar as a co-favorite for victory in the Tour of Flanders. It’s been a long time since the defending champion of Le Grande Boucle was a favorite for Flanders’ Most Beautiful.Allee, Tadej is a special one he! He rode Dwars door Vlaanderen more than just to play and watch the cobblestone riding, but missed the decisive battle. He even got caught in the famous chasse patatte, but eventually sprinted to tenth place. With Matteo Trentin at his side, Pogiboy will want to surprise friend and foe on Sunday.
** Kasper Asgreen
Headaches for Patrick Lefevere and Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. Of course, Kasper Asgreen will be eager to get to the start line with jersey number 1 and the bonny hard rider has been getting better and better in recent weeks. But it is not yet the spring of the normally dominant Quick-Step team. “Instead of a super-covid-safe training camp in December, we should have organized an orgy,” PatLev said.
The always outspoken team manager was, of course, referring to the large sickbay. Don’t expect Julian Alaphilippe in the Tour on Sunday, the world champion prefers the Walloon to the Flemish work. Yves Lampaert will also not be able to compete due to illness – he is aiming for success in his dream Roubaix two weeks later. In other words: all balls on Asgreen. Can the Dane win the title in the Tour of Flanders for the first time since 2014?
* Matej Mohorič
The extreme pressure on the camps Jumbo Visma and Alpecin-Fenix, because admit it honestly and we write for nothing: Wout and Mathieu are the top favorites. Team UAE Emirates, with Pogi, also wants to flame. And not to mention the crews of Trek-Segafredo, INEOS Grenadiers and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl and AG2R Citroën and Lotto-Soudal in particular: they have nothing yet and have to do everything. Someone who has nothing to do, because already has a big fat fish in his pocket, and is only allowed to do is Matej Mohorič of Bahrain-Victorious. And it is precisely the lack of that pressure that could be the right puzzle piece for a new success for the Slovenian winner of Milan Sanremo. After all, with a fourth place in the E3 Prijs and a ninth place in Gent-Wevelgem, we can say that Mohorič’s form is up to scratch.
Dark horses: Christophe Laporte, Tom Pidcock, Greg van Avermaet, Mads Pedersen and Stefan Küng
A whole bunch of clean people in the dark horses. We will briefly explain them. First of all, Christophe Laporte. It should be obvious. Perhaps he has the most comfortable position Sunday. Because admit it: everyone is looking at Wout and he might end up in a dream situation. Could be a scenario. In any case, he has the legs to survive the Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg and be present in the deep finale.
The same goes for Tom Pidcock, he proved that on Wednesday in Dwars door Vlaanderen. If you still want to keep Pidcock and play him later this spring, that could be a smart move. Especially next week in the Amstel or the following Wednesday in the Brabantse Pijl, the Briton will certainly be there, Sunday he can do well, but it is still the question how his stomach problems relate to two hundred and fifty kilometers of Flemish cobblestones.
Someone who gets better as the race gets harder and tougher is Greg van Avermaet. The 2016 Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro is tougher than tough. Last year he rode an extremely disappointing spring, but still managed to finish third in the Ronde. Also this spring he put his nose to the window – third in the Omloop, Wednesday in Dwars door Vlaanderen goest, but bad luck. Can he still surprise on Sunday and give AG2R the much desired success?
The second-to-last dark horse then. Well, dark horse. At many bookmakers you won’t get many cents back if you play Mads Pedersen for the podium Sunday. Whether he can win? He will have to have the necessary luck. Nevertheless, he already rode to a second place in Vlaanderens Mooiste in 2018.
Last but not least Stefan Küng. Here at the offices of Voorjaarsklassiekers.be we are convinced: write the Swiss hard rider down in Paris-Roubaix. But the Tour is also about suffering and eating cobblestones, so why shouldn’t KingKüng stunt on Sunday? He will have to arrive alone and it will be very surprising if that is the case, but we certainly do not exclude it!
Favourites and star distribution Tour of Flanders 2022 according to Voorjaarsklassiekers.be:
***** Wout van Aert
**** Mathieu van der Poel
*** Tadej Pogačar
** Kasper Asgreen
* Matej Mohorič
Dark horses: Christophe Laporte, Tom Pidcock, Greg van Avermaet, Mads Pedersen and Stefan Küng