Whenever men’s and women’s races are held in conjunction, the events for the women are usually gaining minor attention. However, things are different in the Netherlands when the region of Drenthe invites the world to a cycling festival that includes three pro races and while the women battle it out in a WorldTour race, the men’s Ronde van Drenthe is a much smaller event.

In recent years, it has become common for men’s races to attach a women’s race to their event in an attempt to improve the state of women’s cycling. In those cases, however, it has always been difficult for the women to get the same amount of attention as the men and very often the women’s races have been almost completely overlooked.

However, one country is different. In the Netherlands, women’s cycling is a attracting a lot of attention and Marianne Vos is a big star in her home country. Hence, it is no surprise that the country has traditionally hosted the World Cup opener and on Saturday the Ronde van Drenthe will be part of the new WorldTour.

The race is part of a much bigger event as the region of Drenthe plays host to a cycling festival that has included a total of five races. The main event is the women’s WorldTour race but during the four days, there have been two women’s races and two events for the men were also scheduled. This year one event for each gender has disappeared, turning it into a weekend with two races for the women and one for men

The race on the men’s calendar is also named Ronde van Drenthe and takes place on the Saturday alongside the women’s World Cup race. However, it is unable to attract the same amount of attention as the women’s race and while all the big teams are on the start line for the World Cup race, LottoNL-Jumbo is the only WorldTour team that has included the Drenthe race in a heavy schedule that also includes Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

Hence, the race has developed into a big chance for some of the smaller teams and younger riders to win a big UCI race. The race takes place in a completely flat part of the Netherlands and on paper it is destined to end in a bunch sprint. However, the combination of windy conditions and a lack of control in races with fewer big teams mean that they have rarely followed the script and very often they have been the scene of some selective and aggressive racing.

The course

The Ronde van Drenthe is an almost completely flat race but it features the famous Vamberg – an artificial climb in an area that is among the flattest in the world. On paper, the short ascent is no major challenge but very often bad weather and windy conditions have turned the events into races of attrition. At the end of a hard race, even the Vamberg can do some serious damage and very often the decisive moves have been made on its slopes.

The 197.1km race starts and finishes in the city of Hoogeveen and takes place in the area northeast of the Dutch city. Apart from the Vamberg, the race is completely flat and the challenges come from the only climb, the wind and the pave sectors.

Already in the early part of the race, the riders do the Vamberg circuit twice, meaning that they go up the short ascent already after 10.2km and 17.3km of racing. Then they head onto the big loop that includes several paves, with sectors coming at the 33.5km, 63.9km, 66.7km, 71.3km, 102.7km, 104.0km, 111.3km and 121.2km.

Having returned to the Vamberg circuit, the riders do another three laps here, meaning that they go up the climb with 50.3km, 43.2km and 36.1km to go respectively. Then they return along flat roads to the finish where they will cross the line for the first time with 15.8km to go. The final part of the race consists of two laps of a flat 7.9km finishing circuit.

Compared to last year, the number of passages of the Vamberg has been increased from 4 to 5 as the Vamberg circuit will be tackled an extra time. At the same time, the number of laps of the finishing circuit has been reduced from three to two, meaning that the race should be a bit harder.

The weather

Sunday will be a sunny day with a maximum temperature of 8 degrees. There will only be a light wind from an easterly direction. This means that it will mainly be a headwind in the first part and a tailwind in the second part but there will be lots of crosswind sections.

The favourites

The Ronde van Drenthe is an almost completely flat race that always looks like it’s going to be decided in a bunch sprint. However, that rarely happens and we have not had a bunch kick since 2011. The combination of narrow roads, difficult cobbles and the Vamberg always make the race a selective affair suited to classics riders.

A lot always depends on the weather. If it’s rainy and windy, the race becomes a lot hard while calm and sunny conditions make a bunch sprint more likely. Saturday will be a very nice day in the Netherlands and this means that we could get a bunch sprint this time.

Much will depend on the two strongest teams which are Wanty-Groupe Gobert and LottoNL-Jumbo. Both have pretty strong sprint teams and will be eyeing bunch sprint finishes. Especially, LottoNL-Jumbo will go all in for a bunch kick. Both will still try to follow the moves but we expect their main goal to be a sprint. Roompot will have similar plans.

With three teams going for a sprint and very calm conditions, we expect a sprint finish. There is little doubt that there will be a selection and we won’t get a full bunch in the end. However, we expect a bigger group to decide the race.

If that’s the case Dylan Groenewegen is the overwhelming favourite. He has already won two races since joining LottoNL-Jumbo and has proved that he can match the fastest sprinters in the world. Most recently, he won a stage in West Flanders. More importantly, the very hard Le Samyn proved that he can also handle tough conditions so he will even be able to go with the attacks if a small group ends up deciding a hard race. Groenewegen is clearly the favourite.

His biggest rival could be his former teammate Raymond Kreder. On paper he is the second fastest rider here and he has been in great form all year. He was outstanding in Ruta del Sol where he climbed better than ever. Unfortunately, he had to skip West Flanders due to illness so it remains to be seen whether he has recovered.

Wanty-Groupe Gobert have many sprinters here and can go for Danilo Napolitano, Antoine Demoitie, Kenny Dehaes, Tom Devriendt and Robin Stenuit. Dehaes is a former winner of the race and he has not had many chances to sprint for his new team as he has been suffering from a knee injury. Now he is getting better and we expect him to be the leader. He has proved that he can also be up there if the race becomes hard. Devriendt showed good form earlier this week and alongside Napolitano and Demoitie, he is probably the back-up plan while Stenuit is less likely to be the protected sprinter.

Timothy Dupont took a breakthrough win in West Flanders. It confirmed his great consistency in the sprints and showed that he can be up there in a hard race too. He clearly has the form to do well.

Other sprinters that can do well include Amaury Capiot, Grzegorz Stepnisk, Bartlomiej Matysiak, Erik Laton, Romain Maikin, Yanto Barker, Chris Opie, Martijn Verschorr, Andrea Peron, Lucas Gaday, Nicolas Vereecken, Frederique Robert, Coen Vermeltfoort, Fabio Silvestre, Alexander Krieger, Fabio Silvestre, Johim Ariesen, Jonathan McEvoy, Massimo Graziato, Remco Te Brake, Nicolai Brøchner, Patrick Claisen and Piotr Havik but it will be hard for them to win. In this kind of hard race, we will especially look to Vermeltfoort, McEvoy, Silvestre and Vereecken but as some of them have done little racing their form is uncertain.

If the race becomes harder and a small group makes it to the finish, we will point to Martijn Keizer, Twan Castelijns, Tim Declercq, Pieter Vanspeybrouck, Snader Helven, Andrey Solomennikov, Marcin Bialoblocki, Maurits Lammertink, Berden De Vries, Michel Kreder, Jasper Bovenhuis, Wouter Mol and Rob Ruijgh.

***** Dylan Groenewegen

**** Raymond Kreder, Kenny Dehaes

*** Timothy Dupont, Tom Devriendt, Antoine Demoitie, Danilo Napolitano

** Robin Stenuit, Coen Vermeltfoort, Martijn Keizer, Twan Castelijns, Tim Declercq

* Pieter Vanspeybrouck, Andrey Solomennikov, Maurits Lammertink, Berden De Vries, Michel Kreder, Marcin Bialoblocki, Sander Helven