Kanarieberg and Kortekeer won't be on the route of the 2024 Tour of Flanders due to safety concerns

Kanarieberg and Kortekeer have been removed from the route of the 2024 Tour of Flanders. The organizers hope this will make the competition safer.

"On the way to Kortekeer, the speed is high and the pressure within the peloton is very high," says race director Scott Sunderland. "But then we have also seen in the past two years that a few teams decide to quietly ride up the Kortekeer. The question then is: why should we want such a narrow climb on the course so early in the race? Isn't it better to take out the Kortekeer and keep the race open?"

"There is a direction along which we have to go to the Kanarieberg. That goes downhill and the peloton reaches a speed of 90 km/h. Whereupon the road narrows from three lanes to one. When you talk about safety, you have to look at it seriously."

Because neither the Kanarieberg nor the Kortekeer have any added sporting value, the organization decided to cancel both slopes. "We have analyzed the editions of recent years. We looked at whether someone who attacked on the Kanarieberg or the Kortekeer ever stayed ahead. So no one."