Without Wout van Aert, the race is rather open this season as many riders are racing at a similar level. Currently that is the case, but the
Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal rider doesn't believe the track will favour anyone in specific: "Meulebeke has not been Meulebeke for a long time. The Berencross used to be a twist and turn competition. At intervals. They said at the time that it was an 'Eli course', but that is no longer the case at all. It is rather a combination of a park and meadow cross. A pinch of Urban Cross Kortrijk, but also somewhere in the direction of the World Cup in Dendermonde."
"It is not a good course for anyone, but it is also not a bad course for anyone. This makes it a reasonably good circuit as a championship, because everyone can do their thing somewhere in that 2,900-meter loop. For [Michael] Vanthourenhout it is the zone with the hills, for [Laurens] Sweeck the sand strips and for me there are still some bends, but fewer and fewer. While [Thibau] Nys can do a little bit of everything."