PREVIEW | Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne 2023

Preview. The Opening Weekend is one of the most prominent weekends of racing in pro cycling as it features the first high-level cobbled classics of the year.

The second of which is Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne (start 12.19 hours CET), which should provide an opportunity for the sprinters aswell as the cobbled classics specialists.

The race features 196.5 kilometers in the roads of Flandres in what is a rather sprinter-friendly course, however that is of course if they survive the sequence of bergs that exist. Among them are some hard ones including the Mont Saint-Laurent (1.2Km; 7.3%; 78.5Km to go), Côte du Trieu (1.1Km; 5.6%; 52,5Km to go) and the Kluisberg (1.2Km; 7.1%; 60Km to go).

The final cobbled sector, and spot where differences can be made, comes with 33 kilometers to go which is the slight uphill Beerbosstraat. From there on it's almost completely pan-flat roads into Kuurne where the riders will have a small circuit before crossing the finish line for the final time.

The startlist includes riders such as: Fabio Jakobsen, Davide Ballerini, Dylan van Baarle, Christophe Laporte, Jasper Stuyven, Jordi Meeus, Dan McLay, Greg van Avermaet, Matej Mohoric, Fred Wright, Jasper Philipsen, Jake Stewart, Pascal Ackermann, Tim Wellens, Alberto Dainese, Arnaud de Lie, Bryan Coquard, Peter Sagan, Anthony Turgis, Iván Cortina, Giacomo Nizzolo, Matteo Moschetti and Alexander Kristoff.

*** Fabio Jakobsen, Jasper Philipsen, Arnaud de Lie
** Jordi Meeus, Christophe Laporte, Alexander Kristoff
* Dylan van Baarle, Giacomo Nizzolo, Jonathan Milan, Matej Mohoric, Pascal Ackermann, Alberto Dainese, Bryan Coquard, Davide Ballerini, Matteo Moschetti, Jake Stewart

Pick: Jasper Philipsen