2023 Tour of Flanders: Preview, schedule, how to watch both men's and women's classic races live
Mathieu van der Poel is favourite to defend his title at the iconic one-day men's classic race on the Belgian cobbles, while Annemiek van Vleuten chases a third women's crown in her final season.
Cycling Road
The second road cycling one-day classic monument of the 2023 season is here.
On Sunday (2 April), the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen; Tour des Flandres) will celebrate its 107th men's and 20th women's editions as the first of two back-to-back cobbled monuments (Paris–Roubaix follows next week).
Men have raced 'De Ronde' annually uninterrupted since 1919. This year, for the first time since 2016, the race begins in Bruges/Brugge – the first year of an agreement that will see Bruges/Brugge and Antwerp alternate start-line duties. The race will end in Oudenaarde, as it has done every year since 2012, after 273.4km (169.9mi).
The women, meanwhile, face a 156.6km (97.3mi) course set around Oudenaarde but also encompassing swathes of the men's route.
Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands and Belgium's own Lotte Kopecky are the respective defending champions. Van der Poel is looking for his third title in four races, having also triumphed in 2020.
2023 Tour of Flanders course routes
Welcome back to Bruges/Brugge. That's the main headline from this year's men's Ronde van Vlaanderen course, as the race returns to the same UNESCO World Heritage Site start town it had from 1998 through 2016.
The Grote Markt in Bruges/Brugge is where the peloton will start from; the change in start city from Antwerp means the route south to Oudenaard is also changing.
While the daunting Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg finale will still take pride of place, the course for the first 136km (84.5 miles) to the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont looks a little less heavy on the legs compared to last year, with only a single cobbled sector (down from two) at Huisepontweg and a generally flatter parcours, albeit with an additional côte.
However, the traditional loop around Oudenaard will again test the riders, with 18 climbs from the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont to the finish. Once more, the Paterberg is the last climb of the day with 13 km to go before a fast, flat finish. Across the day's 19 classified hills, the riders will climb 3,227m (10,587ft).
The women will ride a course very similar to the ones they are used to – a loop around Oudenaard, beginning at the Markt and ending on Minderbroedersstraat as the men do.
As with the men's race, Huisepontweg at 49.6km is the first cobbled sector; unlike the men, the women's peloton will already have had to climb their first test – the Tiegemberg.
Twelve further climbs await the women, who will face the same final 45km as the men, starting with the notoriously difficult cobbled climb up the Kopperberg (113.4km) and concluding with the Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg one-two to finish. A total elevation gain of 2,682m (8,799ft) awaits the peloton.
2023 Tour of Flanders riders to watch
Men's race - 2023 riders to watch
- Mathieu van der Poel – the defending champion from the Netherlands. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider also triumphed in 2020 and was beaten into second place in 2021. He will aim for a fourth straight podium finish on the back of winning Milano-Sanremo two weeks ago.
- Tadej Pogacar – the all-round phenomenon from Slovenia is looking for his fourth career monument win (2 at Il Lombardia, 1 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège). This is just his second appearance in De Ronde, having finished agonisingly off the podium in fourth last year.
- Kasper Asgreen – the Dane was the surprise winner in 2021, knocking van der Poel into second place. His Soudal–Quick Step team can also count on…
- Julian Alaphilippe – the two-time road race world champion, who looked set to challenge for the 2020 race before crashing into a motorcycle while in the winning breakaway.
- Wout van Aert – Jumbo-Visma's leader in Flanders, who was forced to miss last year's race after catching Covid. Widely considered the biggest rival to Van der Poel, Van Aert will be hoping to upgrade his 2020 second place to the top step of the podium. Enters off the back of a second place at Gent-Wevelgem.
- Greg van Avermaet – even aged 37, don't rule out the Belgian on his home roads. The 2016 Olympic road race champion is a specialist in the one-day classics, and has finished on the podium in Oudenaarde four times without ever winning the race.
- Tom Pidcock – the Briton is, like Van der Poel and Van Aert, used to riding on different terrain as a cyclo-cross, mountain bike, and road rider. Pidcock claimed his first major one-day win earlier this year at Strade Bianche and has experience of winning on cobbles, triumphing in the 2021 Brabantse Pijl and 2019 Paris–Roubaix Espoirs junior race.
Women's race - 2023 riders to watch
- Annemiek van Vleuten – the Dutch women's cycling legend has announced that 2023 will be her final season. A two-time winner of the women's Tour of Flanders (2011, 2021), Van Vleuten is no stranger to success in all forms of road cycling, from long stage races to one-day classics, and will hope to sign off from Oudenaarde with a third victory.
- Lotte Kopecky – defending champion from 2022, Kopecky will have the home support behind her. A two-time national road race champion, she already has a pair of one-day classic race wins under her belt this season and will be one of the favourites for a third.
- Marianne Vos – the London 2012 Olympic road race champion hasn't won in a one-day race since Gent-Wevelgem in 2021, but count Vos out at your peril. The vastly experienced Dutchwoman is still a force to be reckoned with on her day.
- Elisa Longo Borghini – the Trek-Segafredo team leader, who won bronze in the last two Olympic road races, is a previous winner of the event (2015) and will be supported by fellow Italian and 2021 world champion Elisa Balsamo.
2023 Tour of Flanders: Race schedules
(All times local CEST, approximate after race start. Assumes an average race speed of 44km/h for men and 40km/h for women)
- 10:00 – Men's race unofficial start in Bruges/Brugge (-8.3km)
- 10:16 – Men's race official start in Beernem (0.0km)
- 12:45 – Men's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (109.0km)
- 13:22 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 2, 136.8km)
- 13:30 – Women's race unofficial start in Oudenaarde (-2.7km)
- 13:35 – Women's race official start in Oudenaarde (0.0km)
- 13:50 – Women's race reaches first climb at Tiegemberg (climb 1, 10.0km)
- 14:49 – Women's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (49.5km)
- 15:14 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 218.8km)
- 15:19 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Paterberg (climb 13, 222.3km)
- 15:28 – Men's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 14, 228.8km)
- 16:06 – Men's race reaches third ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 18, 256.7km)
- 16:11 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Paterberg (climb 19, 260.1km)
- 16:23 – Women's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 8, 112.0km)
- 16:29 – Men's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (273.4km)
- 17:05 – Women's race reaches Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 139.9km)
- 17:10 – Women's race reaches Paterberg (climb 13, 143.3km)
- 17:30 – Women's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (156.6km)
Tour of Flanders: Last five winners
Men
- 2022: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
- 2021: Kasper Asgreen (DEN/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
- 2020: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
- 2019: Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF Educational First)
- 2018: Niki Terpstra (NED/Quick-Step Floors)
Women
- 2022: Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx)
- 2021: Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/Movistar Team)
- 2020: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (NED/Boels-Dolmans)
- 2019: Marta Bastianelli (ITA/Team Virtu Cycling)
- 2018: Anna van der Breggen (NED/Boels-Dolmans)
How to watch 2023 Tour of Flanders - Ronde van Vlaanderen
List of regional broadcasters (TV / online):
- Belgium – RTBF
- Czechia – Czech TV
- Denmark – TV2
- France – France TV
- Italy – RAI
- Netherlands – NOS
- Norway – TV2
- Slovenia – JOJ
- Spain – Enjoy
- Switzerland – SRG SSR
- Pan-Europe – Eurosport, GCN
- Canada – Flobikes
- United States – Flobikes
- Australia – Flobikes, SBS
- New Zealand – SKY Sport
- Central and South America and the Caribbean – ESPN
- Sub-Saharan Africa – Supersport