While most of the world turns their attention to Italy and France for Strade Bianche and Paris-Nice, Belgium offers an alternative path for the classics riders. The Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen has traditionally been an opportunity for some of the lesser known riders to shine and while the time triallists usually decide the GC, the road stages are usually dominated by sprinters.

 

Belgium may mostly be known for one-day races but the country plays host to a few shorter stage races too. While the Eneco Tour, the Tour of Belgium and the Driedaagse van De Panne are the best-known multi-day events in the cycling-mad country, the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen plays a more anonymous role as an early spring event.

 

Taking place in West Flanders, it is no surprise that it doesn’t have any major climbs and so it offers the kind of racing that characterizes Flanders. Cobbles, hellingen and wind are the main challenge in this part of the country and this means that it is a true Belgian race for classics riders and sprinters.

 

Belgian stage races often have an all-important time trial and after a few years when the sprinters were allowed to battle it out for the win, the organizers have tipped the GC balance in favour of the time triallists by including an opening race against the clock. With the two road stages usually being dominated by the sprinters, the opening stage is usually crucial in determining the outcome and it is no surprise that the last five editions have all been won by great rouleurs that have finished in the top 4 on the opening day.

 

The Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen takes place at a busy time of the year. The main stars are all preparing for Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico and many have been riding in Belgium in the opening weekend. Hence, the Flemish stage race has usually offered a chance for some of the domestiques to shine and has often been a happy hunting ground for young, upcoming stars who get a rare opportunity to take a leadership role. Together with Le Samyn, it offers an alternative approach to the classics for riders that are not selected for any of the two big WorldTour stage races.

 

Last year Anton Vorobyev was on track for the overall victory after he had won the prologue but surprisingly, five riders managed to keep the peloton at bay by 4 seconds in the first road stage. Yves Lampaert who had been fourth in the time trial, won the stage and that was enough to catapult him into the lead which he defended on the final day. Vorobyev and Jesse Sergent completed the podium.

 

The course

After several editions dominated by sprinters, the opening prologue was introduced in 2011 and since then the race has had an unchanged format. The time trial has usually decided the GC while the sprinters have fought it out in the two road stages. However, bad weather always has the potential to wreak havoc on the peloton in this part of Belgium and on certain occasions, the road stages have been a lot more selective, changing the outcome after the time trial. The combination of wind, cobbles and hellingen is always a dangerous one and what should be an easy sprint stage can suddenly turn out to be a race of attrition.

 

The 2016 edition of the race will follow the well-known formula. The opening prologue is unchanged and then the riders face two mostly flat stages in classic Belgian terrain. The first stage has been slightly modified to include a bit more climbing and the second stage is largely unchanged so it is a race very similar to the one that saw Yves Lampaert win last year.

 

Prologue:

Friday will be the day of the 7km prologue in Middelkerke that has been unchanged since it was introduced in 2011. It consists of a completely flat out-and-back run along the coast and only has a few corners at the turning point and at the start, meaning that it is one for the really powerful specialists.

 

This is the stage that will most likely decide the GC. Many time triallists know that this is a great chance to win a stage race and they will go all out on the flat, windy roads. For the sprinters, it is about limiting the losses and stay within striking distance via bonus seconds for the final two stages.

 

 

Stage 1:

The first stage will bring the riders over 176.3km from Brugge to Harelbeke. After a flat opening section, the riders head into the Flemish Ardennes where they will go up four famous hellingen: Tiegemberg, Holstraat, Oude Kwaremont and Tiegemberg again. The top of the latter climb comes with 56km to go and then the riders will head back north to Harelbeke where they will finish the race by doing four laps of a 10.6km finishing circuit that is pretty technical and completely flat. The finale is very technical with several roundabouts, including a left-hand turn in a roundabout 350 from the line.

 

With the Kwaremont at the midpoint, the stage resembles Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne but with a long, flat stretch in the end, only bad weather seems to have the potential to prevent a bunch sprint. However, the technical circuit can be difficult and last year a few riders managed to prevent the predicted scenario. This year Holstraat and the two passages of Tiegemberg have been added to the course to make things slightly harder and the finishing circuit has been modified a bit.

 

 

Stage 2:

The second road stage has usually been the most difficult one. It brings the riders over 182.7km from Nieuwpoort to Ichtegem and after a flat start, it enters the well-known Gent-Wevelgem terrain as the riders will go up the Goeberg, Rodeberg, Monteberg and Kemmelberg at the midpoint. The final climb comes with 98.1km to go – there’s an intermediate sprint at the top of the famous ascent – and then the riders will turn around to go back up to Ichtegem that they already passed earlier in the stage. Along the way they’ll pass the Diksmuideweg and Steenstraat cobbles and the small Catteberg climb. In the finishing city, they will end the race by doing 3 laps of a 13.8km finishing circuit. With the two small climbs of Keiberg and Catteberg, it is not completely flat but they are no big challenges. The circuit isn’t technical and the final challenge is a roundabout 800m from the line.

 

The finishing circuit has been modified and now seems to be a bit easier than the one that has been used in the past. The first part of the stage is largely unchanged and most of the riders know what to expect. Usually, it is impossible to split the field and the race has mostly been decided in a bunch sprint. However,  Guillaume van Keirsbulck managed to deny the sprinters with a late move in 2014. In 2012, bad weather made it more selective than usual and cost Michal Kwiatkowski the overall win when his teammate Julien Vermote took the lead on the final day. Nonetheless, the most likely outcome is a bunch sprint at the end of what is usually a very aggressive race.

 

 

The favourites

The Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen follows a well-known formula. The two road stages have been slightly modified and are now a bit harder but it is unlikely to change things much. The opening time trial is likely to determine the final GC but the best time triallists still have to stay attentive in the road stages where splits can occur in the crosswinds or in the hectic finales like it happened last year. Furthermore, the bonus seconds can come into play as the time differences are usually very small and if a sprinter can limit his losses in the prologue, he may have a chance to win.

 

Usually, sprinters are pretty good prologue riders but the nature of the opening time trial suits the really powerful riders so much that it is very hard for them to limit their losses enough to stay in overall contention. As the best time triallists usually ride for one of the major WorldTour teams which are usually strong enough to control the race, the winner of the prologue has usually been able to defend his lead in the road stages. The 2012 edition was a main exception when a crash for Michal Kwiatkowski in the final stage saw his teammate Julien Vermote win the race overall and last year Yves Lampaert managed to escape in the first stage and deny Anton Vorobyev the win.

 

What can potentially change the script is the weather which can make the road stages a lot more selective. In sunny and calm conditions, the race is likely to be fully determined by the time trials but if the weather is bad, a lot of things can change in the road stages.

 

The weather forecast predicts some rain for the prologue and maybe a shower on the final day while Saturday should be calm and sunny. There won’t be too much wind on Sunday either but it seems that this is the day to potentially try to make a difference. However, the race is likely to be won by the best time triallist and the conditions are not very hard. None of the sprinters in this race are very good time triallists and this means that they are likely to lose so much time that they take the win by picking enough bonus seconds. The fact that the race is likely to come down to a battle between the specialists is reflected in the start list as many teams have lined up some of their best time triallists.

 

Already in his first year as a professional, Anton Vorobyev showed that his U23 world championships win was no fluke. However, while he occasionally did very well in the time trials, he seemed to be very inconsistent and he had a very hard time in the road races. Towards the end of 2014, he seemed to have become a lot stronger and he seemed to cope better with the climbing. He proved his strength when he finished 8th at the World Championships which was definitely not held on a flat course.

 

In 2015, he had to deal with several health issues but got back on track towards the end of the year. This year he has started very well. He did a solid time trial in Valencia until he crashed and he was up there relatively late in the race in the epic Le Samyn on Wednesday. This indicates that his form is pretty good and there is little doubt that this race is his first big goal of the year.

 

The short power route in Middelkerke suits him down to the ground and it was no surprise that he won the TT last year. He also rode strongly in the road stages but missed out on the victory by a narrow margin. This year he has a solid Katusha team to support him and he seems to be a lot stronger in the road races. On paper he is the best time triallist and this makes him our overall winner pick.

 

For many years, Marcin Bialoblocki had a relatively anonymous life on the British domesic scene but that changed in 2015 when he came out of nowhere to win the Tour de Pologne time trial, beating a certain Vasil Kiryienka into second. He confirmed his potential by finishing in the top 10 at the World Championships and so he is definitely one of the best time triallists in the world. He should find the flat course in Middelkerke to his liking and he showed good form by winning the sprints jersey in the Dubai Tour. However, the course may be a bit too short for him and he has never proved that he can be up there with the best over this distance. Furthermore, his ONE tam may not be strong enough to control the road stages if he suddenly finds himself in the lead.

 

Ryan Mullen is one of the greatest time trial talents in the world. At a very young age, he was already able to match the best in a similar time trial at the 2014 Tour of Britain and that year he was agonizingly close to claiming the win at the U23 World Championships. He has turned professional at a very young age but he has already proved that he can match the best in this kind of test. His form is a bit uncertain as he has only done races that don’t really suit him. However, Cannondale don’t have the most experienced classics team and he doesn’t have much experience either. It will definitely be possible to put him into difficult in the road stages.

 

Vorobyev is not the only Katusha card as the team can also go for victory with an in-form Nils Politt. The German has had an outstanding start to his professional career as he was one of the very strongest in the epic Le Samyn. He is a great rouleur as he proved with his good TTs at last year’s Bayern Rundfahrt and the Tour de l’Eurometropole and this year’s Tour of Qatar. Unlike many of the best time triallists, he won’t get into trouble in the road stages and may even be the one to attack.

 

Etixx-QuickStep have a three-pronged attack with Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Davide Martinelli and Lukasz Wisniowski. They are both solid time triallists and showed decent condition in Le Samyn. The Belgian is no real TT specialist but as he proved in De Panne last year, he can do well when the form is good. Unfortunately, he is clearly not at his best level yet. Martinelli has had a great pro debut but has been pretty inconsistent in his time trials in the past. Wisniowski did some good time trials in his first year and is clearly a lot stronger now. Both have the advantage of being part of a very strong team for the road stages where they can try to turn things around.

 

BMC have young Tom Bohli who is another talented time triallist. He crashed out in Qatar but returned to racing almost immediately. However, it will be hard for him to win and he can be put under pressure in the road stages. Loic Vliegen is in great form and offers the team a second option.

 

Alexander Porsev is the sprinter with the biggest chance. At the 2014 Dubai Tour, he proved that he can do a very good time trial on this kind of course and he is one of the fastest sprinters here so he can pick up lots of bonus seconds. He was in very good condition at the start of the year but he has been ill and so his form is now uncertain. Furthermore, he will have to work as a domestique if Vorobyev wins the prologue.

 

We will point to LottoNL-Jumbo’s Martijn Keizer who is no real specialist but if he can do a TT like he did at last year’s Tour de l’Eurometropole, he is a strong outsider. Steven Lammertink is the current European champion and has done some great time trials at the U23 level. On paper, the Ag2r pair of Patrick Gretsch and Damien Gaudin are some of the best time triallists here but none of them are in great condition at the moment as it is usually the case for this time of the year.

 

Finally, Olivier Pardini deserves a mention. The Wallonie rider is in great form as he was on the podium in Sud-Ardeche and rode strongly in Le Samyn. He has done some very good prologues in the past and this race is a big goal for him.

 

***** Anton Vorobyev

**** Marcin Bialoblocki, Ryan Mullen

*** Nils Politt, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Davide Martinelli

** Martijn Keizer, Steven Lammertink, Lukasz Wisniowski, Tom Bohli, Loic Vliegen, Olivier Pardini, Alexander Porsev, Patrick Gretsch, Damien Gaudin

* Sean De Bie, Arnaud Gerard, Frederik Frison, Joey Rosskopf, Tom Skujins