With dry conditions and no wind, it will be hard for this race to go off the rails. Usually, it is one that ends in a sprint, albeit between riders who can climb and are used to the explosive racing. That does not fill all riders here and some sprinters will definitely get dropped before the final ascent.
We could see
Mathieu van der Poel on the attack before the finish, absolutely. He comes here without pressure, a sprint isn't safe for him, and he's got nothing to lose really, he would want to test himself a bit in the cobbles which can make the race quite a bit harder (and giving the team's sprinters less pressure). Both
Arnaud de Lie and
Paul Magnier seem brilliant in this kind of terrain though and even in an attacked race they would be amongst those who can respond. Most teams will be looking to protect their fast men and then hope for the best in the tough uphill sprint.
*** Arnaud De Lie, Paul Magnier
** Mathieu van der Poel,
Aaron Gate,
Erlend Blikra* Laurenz Rex, Luca Mozzato, Jenthe Biermans, Timo Kielich, Max Kanter, Pavel Bittner, Casper van Uden, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Jakob Soderqvist, Alec Segaert, Lukas Kubis, Hugo Hofstetter