The Paris-Roubaix favourites get a chance to spin their legs ahead of next Sunday's Hell of the North while the sprinters take center stage in tomorrow's Scheldeprijs semi-classic. Known as the sprinters' world championships, the flat race around the city of Schoten is one of the most important spring events for the fast finishers and has a history of producing one of the most exciting and competitive bunch sprints of the season with a high-level line-up that usually includes all the biggest names on the sprinting scene.

 

The series of cobbled races in Flanders comes to a close with an event that is slightly different from the ones that have dominated the past few weeks. The Scheldeprijs may be a Flemish race, take ina few cobbles and be held in the holy period of Belgian cycling but it takes place in a different part of the country, far from the hellingen that characterize the other major Flemish one-day classics, and so offers another kind of racing.

 

With a flat parcours, the Scheldeprijs makes for a perfect transition from the hilly Flemish races to the flat pavés of the Paris-Roubaix. Like the French classic, the race is entirely flat and its main challenge are a few flat cobblestone sectors but apart from that the races are completely different. While Paris-Roubaix is one of the most selective races of the entire season, Scheldeprijs finds itself at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Broeckstraat pavé - the main feature of the race - is not hard enough to make any significant difference and so the race is one of the most coveted events for the sprinters.

 

The calendar is loaded with flat one-day races for the sprinters but the Scheldeprijs is in a league of its own. No big sprinter can be completely satisfied with his career if he hasn't added the race known as the world championships of the sprinters to his palmares. What marks the race out from the other flat races is its long history. Held for the first time in 1907, the Scheldeprijs is one of the most historic races and in fact it is the oldest race in Flanders.  The victory list contains the names of most of the sport's fastest finishers and with the likes of Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Tyler Farrar, Alessandro Petacchi and Tom Boonen all former winners of the race, many of the current generations' top sprinters have already made their mark in the traditional finish in Schoten just outside of Antwerp. As most other Belgian races, it was dominated by the home nation in its first years but as the sport became more international and the race gained prestige, it's list of winners became more diverse and now the race hasn't been won by a Belgian since Tom Boonen won the spring in 2006.

 

While most of the big Belgian one-day races take place in a very small area in the Flemish Ardennes, the Scheldeprijs is different. Its centre is the small city of Schoten just outside of Antwerp and this part of Belgium is entirely flat. Wind and the few pavés may play a role but it is now wonder that this race has become an affair for the sprinters.

 

Held on the Wednesday after Paris-Roubaix, the race was the final race of the cobbles season for many years. With just a small number of kilometres on the rough surface, the biggest classics specialists had, however, limited opportunities to force a selection, and the main stars of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix often chose to end their spring season in the Roubaix velodrome three days prior to the Scheldeprijs. Instead, it became somewhat of an adjunct to one of the most exciting periods of racing that was held at a time when many of its potential contenders were fatigued.

 

In a general reshuffle of the Belgian spring calendar in 2010, the Scheldeprijs took over the calendar date of Gent-Wevelgem on the Wednesday between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, and this proved to be a wise decision. Instead of being a superfluous end to a long spring season, the race now offers the classics specialists an opportunity to keep their legs going and put in one final test on the pavés ahead of their major target on Sunday. The Brabantse Pijl has taken over its previous date, making a much more natural shift from the cobbles to the hillier races in the Ardennes.

 

As a consequence, the race has seen able to attract a much stronger field that is not just dominated by the sprinters. Nowadays, the biggest sprinters mingle with the favourites for the Paris-Roubaix but they have completely different ambitions in the race. While the likes of Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Sep Vanmarcke, Stijn Vandenbergh, and Peter Sagan may test their legs on the cobbles before they drop back or even abandon, sprinters like Marcel Kittel, Theo Bos and Andrea Gaurdini have marked it out as one of their most important races and will go all out for victory, making the race is a strange combination of preparation and highlight. Unfortunately, it has often been marred by a lot of crashes and it is always a delicate affair for the Roubaix contenders to decide whether to do the race or not.

 

Last year, Marcel Kittel once again proved that he is one of the fastest riders of the current generation as he powered to his second consecutive win in the classic that suits him the most and it is only fitting that the world's fastest rider is a double winner of the world championships for the sprinters. Mark Cavendish was looking for a record fourth win in the event but his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team failed in the lead-out, prompting team boss Patrick Lefevere to venture his criticism of the train publicly. Instead, it was Argos-Shimano who again delivered their fast German to the win as he held off Cavendish and upcoming Dutch sprinting star Barry Markus. This year Kittel will be back as he tries to become the first rider to win the race thrice in a row while Cavendish has been forced out due to illness. Markus will also be back in the race but this year he will be riding in the service of Theo Bos.

 

The course

The course follows a very traditional format and even though it varies slightly from year to year, there are never any major surprises in store for the contenders. The key points are always the same. After an opening big loop, the race finishes with three laps of a finishing circuit that includes the Broeckstraat pavé and this part of the race is unchanged from year to year.

 

A closer look at the 200.9km course immediately reveals why the race is known as the sprinters' world championships. The race takes place in a completely flat part of Belgium near the Schelde river, and the riders completely avoid the Flemish Ardennes which characterize most of the Belgian spring races.

 

The race has had a few different starting points but the neutral start is now back where it all started, in the major city of Antwerpen From there it heads to the nearby town of Schoten in which the race will kick off properly and where it will all end later in the day.

 

The first part of the race consists of a big, completely flat 151.7km loop in the area northeast of the city. From the start, the riders head northeast along straight roads before zigzagging their way back south to the first feed zone at the 97.6km mark. From there, they head straight west back towards Schoten, passing their first 1000m of pavé after 131km of racing.

 

At the 141.5km mark, the riders reach the city of Wijnegem for the first time at here they go over the race's main feature, the 1700m Broeckstraat pavé. They are now on the finishing circuit and make a right-hand turn to head back to Schoten in an easterly direction.

 

After 151.7km of racing, the riders cross the finish line for the first time and they end the day by doing three laps of a 16.4 flat finishing circuit. It is almost rectangular and mostly has the riders travelling in westerly or easterly direction. It is mostly non-technical and the only real challenge is the Broeckstraat pave which comes inside the final 10km of the circuit. From there, the race mostly follows a straight road and the finish is located at the end of a long straight road on the Churchilllaan in Schoten.

 

The race generally pans out as a traditional sprint stage in a major Grand Tour, and an early breakaway will take off and take center stage in the opening part of the race. The battle becomes more intense, as they pass the finish line in Schoten for the first time where the battle for position intensifies.

 

It is important to be well-positioned for the Broeckstraat. Even though the rough surface is rarely enough to force any major selection, some of the riders with ambitions for the Paris-Roubaix often use the opportunity to test their legs on the three passages of the pavé. They move to the front and accelerate on the cobbles while riders struggle to keep in contact behind.

 

As they exit the zone, the race often calms down again, thus allowing dropped riders to get back on, and the sprinters' teams continue their pace-setting in an attempt to reel in any breakaways. Successful escapes are extremely rare, and it would be a surprise not to see the major teams bring everything back together for a final bunch kick in Schoten.

 

The weather

In the past, Scheldeprijs has often been marred by very bad weather which has made the cobbles slippery and the sprint finishes extremely dangerous. We have seen some rather bad crashes but hopefully we will be spared so incidents in the 2014 edition.

 

The nice Belgian spring weather that has turned some of the classics into less selective affairs, is set to continue for the foreseeable future and tomorrow should be another perfect day for a bike race. It will be a beautiful sunny day and the temperatures are expected to reach a maximum of 14 degrees by the time the riders reach the finish line in Schoten for the final time.

 

Compared to many of the previous Flemish classics, it will be a bit windier as there will be a moderate wind from a westerly direction. This means that the riders will have a cross-tailwind for the first part of the big circuit before turning into what will predominantly a crosswinds. It will be a headwind from the feed zone and back to the finish in Schoten.

 

In the finishing circuit, the riders will mostly have a tail- or headwind. It will be a tailwind for the first part, then a headwind and finally a tailwind for the final few kilometres back to Schoten. The riders will have the wind directly in their back when they power down the long finishing straight for the sprint on the Churchilllaan in the Flemish city.

 

The favourites

Whenever a race is seen as a race for the sprinters, it often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. A few teams use the race merely to prepare for Sunday's Paris-Roubaix but every team which has any kind of competitive ambitions in tomorrow's race, line up a strong sprinter and a solid team to support him. As the event is one of the most prestigious one-day races that can be won by a sprinter, most of the fast finishers have made it a clear objective for which they have specifically prepared. They won't let this opportunity slip away and most teams line up with the clear plan of bringing things together for a big bunch sprint.

 

With most teams gunning for a sprint finish, the only thing that can really create some selection is the wind or the many crashes that have often marred the event. The Broeckstraat cobbles will sap the energy from the riders' legs and may cause a loss of position for some of the fast finishers while some of the riders at the rear end of the peloton may be send out the back door. However, history proves that even hard accelerations on this pavé sector is not enough to create any major gaps and so it is mainly a testing ground for Paris-Roubaix with little impact on the result of the race.

 

With tomorrow set to be a beautiful sunny day and with the riders having mostly a tail- or headwind on the finishing circuit, it is hard to imagine that the wind will play any major role. The windy conditions may cause some nervous racing but it should not be enough to create any splits. Unless crashes take some of the fast finishers out of contention, we can expect the race to come down to what it is really all about: one of the greatest sprint battles of the year.

 

In fact we can expect the race to pan out much like a traditional sprint stage of a grand tour with an early break that is kept under control by the sprint teams, mainly Giant-Shimano, Belkin, and FDJ. As it is the case for most one-day races, we may see a few more attacks near the end and the Broeckstraat should create some spectacular racing when the Roubaix riders test their legs on the cobbles. Otherwise, the racing should be a pretty straight forward affair.

 

A few weeks ago, the race was set to offer probably the most important sprint battle between Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish, and André Greipel before this year's Tour de France but again we have been deprived the opportunity to see the sprinting giants battle it out. Greipel crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem with a broken collarbone and won't be back in competition before the Tour of Turkey while the illness that forced Cavendish out of both Gent-Wevelgem and the Driedaagse van De Panne has cost him the participation in another important race.

 

Whenever he lines up in a flat race, Marcel Kittel is the man to beat but with Cavendish and Greipel both out of the race, he is now the overwhelming favourite. The big German has already won the race twice in a row and he has a fantastic chance to become the first rider to take three consecutive victories in one of the oldest races on the calendar.

 

Kittel hasn't won a single race since his dominant three wins at February's Dubai Tour. In fact, this drought is a big paradox as the big German has probably been riding better than ever. In the Middle East, he was totally dominant in the sprints and even showed massively improved climbing skills. Back in Europe, he did a very good prologue at the Ruta del Sol but withdrew from the race on the very hilly first stage, citing fatigue.

 

His first real target was Tirreno-Adriatico but he never got the chance to sprint in that race. In the first sprint stage, he crashed inside the final few kilometres and the final road stage proved to a bit too tough for Kittel who got dropped when Cannondale upped the pace on the late climbs. In the recent Driedaagse van De Panne, however, he was riding really well but it wasn't reflected in the results sheet.

 

Kittel showed great condition when he won the bunch sprint for 14th in the hard first stage which would surely have been too tough for him in the past. One day later he excelled when he made it over the Kemmelberg in the select group that escaped when Omega Pharma-Quick Step blew the race to pieces. Just one year ago, he would have found him in the second group. Being isolated in the finale, however, he got boxed in the sprint and one day later he decided to pull the plug in the infamous extremely dangerous sprint in De Panne. He capped the race by underlining his great condition in the final time trial, taking 6th to move into 5th on GC.

 

His lack of results may have given his rivals a slight glimpse of hope but if one looks beyond the facts and look at the way he has been riding, nothing suggests that Kittel is not fully ready for what is probably the most important race for him in the early part of the season. The long finishing straight suits a power sprinter like Kittel perfectly and the tailwind will be a further advantage as it makes the sprint more a case of power than aerodynamics and timing.

 

Usually, Kittel is supported by one of the best lead-out trains in the world but tomorrow he will be missing most of his key riders. Koen De Kort and Tom Veelers are usually the final two riders in his train but they are both absent, preparing for Paris-Roubaix. This is certainly a disadvantage for the defending champion but the team still brings a pretty powerful line-up. Bert De Backer, Roy Curves and Albert Timmer all play crucial roles in the usual train and Ramon Sinkeldam and Nikias Arndt will add some crucial speed in the hectic final phase. The train may lack a bit of their usual automatisms but in this race it should still be one of the strongest. If they just manage to get their German into a reasonable position with a clear run to the line, his immense turn of speed should make him almost impossible to beat.

 

In the absence of Cavendish and Greipel, Theo Bos takes over the role as his most dangerous opponent. The Dutchman is a pure sprinter who struggles whenever the road is just slightly uphill but Scheldeprijs has all the characteristics to suit him perfectly. It is no wonder that he has made it his key target this spring and he has specifically prepared for it for a long time.

 

Bos is one of the few sprinters that has the speed to challenge the three giants Kittel, Cavendish and Greipel. He proved so when he beat them all in a stage of last year's Ster ZLM Toer and when it comes to top speed, he is not too far behind the three best sprinters in the world. Furthermore, he is supported by a very strong lead-out train which is probably only rivaled by Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Giant-Shimano in this race.

 

Graeme Brown has developed himself into an excellent lead-out man and the understanding between the Australian and Bos grew almost to perfection during their successful run in the Tour de Langkawi. If one adds fast riders like Barry Markus, Dennis van Winden, Moreno Hofland, Nick van der Lijke and Lars Boom to the equation, the Belkin team could easily be the one that takes control in the finale. By dominating the Tour de Langkawi, both the team and Bos himself proved that their condition is excellent but his defeat at the Handzame Classic also underlined that Bos is still not up there with the very best. In that race he was clearly beaten by Luka Mezgec and when it comes to pure speed, he will be beaten by Kittel. If Giant make a small mistake and Belkin make another seamless lead-out, however, Bos may take the biggest win of his career.

 

For Arnaud Demare, the Scheldeprijs is not the most important race at the moment as he is fully focused on his quest to become a contender in the biggest cobbled classics. However, the race comes at a nice time as he tries to keep his legs going ahead of Sunday's Paris-Roubaix and a good result would help him regain confidence after his hunger knock at the Tour of Flanders.

 

In this field, Demare is certainly one of the three fastest sprinters but the sprint doesn't suit him too well. Being much more explosive than the likes of Kittel and Bos, he would have preferred a shorter finishing straight and a sprint that was less about power and more about acceleration. By winning the final stage of the Tour of Qatar twice, however, he has proved that he can also win the kind of sprints that's on offer tomorrow.

 

In the past, Demare has often been boxed in the finishes as he has not handled the positioning aspect too well but his FDJ train has developed into one of the very best in the business and it is now rather rare for him to lose out due to a poor position. At Tirreno, the team was up there with the very best lead-out trains in the world and this turned Demare into one of the most consistent sprinters in the world. The combination Offredo-Bonnet-Delage-Demare has proved to be a winning one and tomorrow they will again be expected to deliver and excellent performance. There is a chance that Demare decides to stay out of the carnage to save himself for Paris-Roubaix but if he gives it a shot, he will be a danger man.

 

With Cavendish out, Omega Pharma-Quick Step have had to reshuffle their strategy and it is not immediately clear who will be their sprinter for the race. Tom Boonen will probably stay safe ahead of the Paris-Roubaix as he usually takes it rather easy in the midweek race and even though his lack of form will probably prompt him to ride a bit harder than usual, he is unlikely to take any risks in the final sprint.

 

This means that Alessandro Petacchi may get a rare chance to sprint for himself. Despite having been signed as a key lead-out man for Cavendish, he has done nothing to hide that he would love to get a few personal opportunities along the way and tomorrow he may even get one in one of the biggest races for the sprinters. As the most successful sprinter of his generation, it is no wonder that Petacchi is already a past winner of the race and it would be impressive if he could add another one to his palmares at the age of 40.

 

Petacchi is certainly not as fast as he once was but this sprint suits him down to the ground. A long flat tailwind sprint is a treat for a power sprinter like the Italian who is even benefited by what could be the strongest train in the race. Mark Renshaw is one of the skilled lead-out men in the business and Matteo Trentin and Gert Steegmans both have plenty of experience too. If one adds the speed and firepower of Boonen and Andrew Fenn, you have a really formidable combination. When it comes to top speed, Petacchi can't match the likes of Kittel and Bos but by virtue of team support, he may overcome that hurdle.

 

Matteo Pelucchi rose to fame when he won a stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico against all the biggest sprinters in the world. Like Bos, the Italian is a pure sprinter who struggles on even the smallest climbs and so he will be pleased to know that he won't find any such difficulties on tomorrow's route. Pelucchi has an incredible turn of speed and has had so for many years but his results haven't been able to match his skills as a sprinter.

 

Like many other fast finishers, Pelucchi has had difficulty positioning himself and often finds himself outside the top 10. That's a big hurdle for a sprinter and tomorrow he won't have the strongest support team either. With Vicente Reynes just returning from illness, his train will mainly be made up of Sebasiten Hinault and Kevyn Ista and compared to some of the stronger teams he will be on the back foot right from the beginning. As that famous Tirreno stage proved, he has the speed to win if he gets a clear run to the line though.

 

What's said about Pelucchi can also be said about Andrea Guardini. When the Italian emerged at the biggest scene and beat Mark Cavendish in a direct battle at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, he was expected to become of the really great sprinters but since joining Astana his progress has stalled. In fact, his only wins have been taken at the Tour de Langkawi and even though his 2014 performances indicate that he is currently in excellent condition as he is climbing much better than usual, what counts for a sprinter are his wins.

 

Guardini is one of the fastest riders in the world but like Pelucchi he often gets boxed in the sprints and finds himself outside the top 10. To really excel, he would need an excellent lead-out train and he won't have one at Astana. Jacopo Guarnieri is just coming back from injury and Borut Bozic will have half an eye on Paris-Roubaix and this leaves him with Valentin Iglinskiy as his main support rider. That lack of team support will be hard to overcome but if he gets into a good position, he is one of the few riders who has the speed to win.

 

With Greipel out of the race, Lotto Belisol have had to turn their attention to their second sprinter, Kenny Dehaes. The Belgian showed great promise in his first professional years but his progress stalled and he settled into a domestique role. Last year he found back to his winning ways and he is now clearly second in the Lotto sprinting hierarchy.

 

Dehaes is certainly not as fast as Greipel but is a very capable sprinter. He is currently in great condition as he proved when he made the selection on the Vamberg to win the Ronde van Drenthe and he won the tough uphill sprint in the Nokere Koerse. In the Driedaagse van de Panne, he didn't get the result he had hoped for as he missed the selection on stage 2 and crashed on stage 3a but he was clearly riding well. With Kris Boeckmans, Jonas Vangenechten and Marcel Sieberg, he has one of the strong lead-out trains in the race and even though it will be hard to win, he is a solid podium candidate.

 

After his excellent showing at the Tour of Flanders, no one will deny that Alexander Kristoff is in excellent condition but tomorrow's race doesn't really suit him. Kristoff is a very capable sprinter but he is not as fast as the pure sprinters. He excels in sprints at the end of long, hard days where he is one of the best but tomorrow's race should be way too easy for him. As his Flanders performance has elevated him to winner candidate in Roubaix, he may even decide to stay away from the carnage in the finale but we still expect him to be up there in the sprint. Last year he gave it a try and finished 5th which proves that he is not afraid of mixing it up with the sprinters just days ahead of Roubaix.

 

Kristoff is one of the most consistent sprinters as he positions himself really well and so rarely finishes outside the top 10. In this kind of sprint, he may come up short though and even though he is a clear outsider, another win for the Norwegian would be a surprise.

 

Francesco Chicchi can be added to the list of pure sprinters that already contains Theo Bos, Andrea Guardini and Matteo Pelucchi. In the past, Chicchi was clearly one of the fastest sprinters in the world - maybe even the fastest - but he lost too much speed due to fatigue and he handled the positioning aspect really poorly. In the last few years, he doesn't seem to have his former fast finish anymore and since joining Vini Fantini he certainly hasn't improved his positioning skills either. Last year he won a few smaller races, including two wins in Langkawi, but it hasn't done him any good to be part of a smaller team where he doesn't get the right support to get into a good position. It would be a major feat for him to win the race but due to his speed, he deserves a mention as a potential outsider.

 

Finally, Tyler Farrar deserves a mention. After a few years of focusing on his sprints, he has realized that he may never become one of the best sprinters in the world. Instead, he has again decided to focus on the cobbled classics and this year he has been riding better than ever in the one-day races.

 

The skills that have brought him that far won't be too useful tomorrow's race where he will be relying more on his skills as a sprinter. By winning the sprint for 2nd at Dwars door Vlaanderen, however, he proved that he also has a solid pair of sprinting legs at the moment. It would be a big surprise if he takes a second win in the event but with his current condition, he cannot be ruled out.

 

***** Marcel Kittel

**** Theo Bos, Arnaud Demare

*** Alessandro Petacchi, ELia Viviani, Matteo Pelucchi, Andrea Guardini

** Kenny Dehaes , Alexander Kristoff , Francesco Chicchi, Tyler Farrar

* Sam Bennett, Kenny Van Hummel, Chris Sutton, Davide Appollonio, Thor Hushovd, Danny Van Poppel, Michael Van Staeyen