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2023 Tour of Flanders: Preview, schedule, how to watch both men's and women's classic races live

Mathieu van der Poel is favourite to defend his title at the iconic one-day men's classic race on the Belgian cobbles, while Annemiek van Vleuten chases a third women's crown in her final season.

The second road cycling one-day classic monument of the 2023 season is here.

On Sunday (2 April), the  Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen; Tour des Flandres) will celebrate its 107th men's and 20th women's editions as the first of two back-to-back cobbled monuments (Paris–Roubaix follows next week).

Men have raced 'De Ronde' annually uninterrupted since 1919. This year, for the first time since 2016, the race begins in Bruges/Brugge – the first year of an agreement that will see Bruges/Brugge and Antwerp alternate start-line duties. The race will end in Oudenaarde, as it has done every year since 2012, after 273.4km (169.9mi).

The women, meanwhile, face a 156.6km (97.3mi) course set around Oudenaarde but also encompassing swathes of the men's route.

Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands and Belgium's own  Lotte Kopecky are the respective defending champions. Van der Poel is looking for his third title in four races, having also triumphed in 2020.

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2023 tour of flanders course routes.

Welcome back to Bruges/Brugge. That's the main headline from this year's men's Ronde van Vlaanderen course , as the race returns to the same UNESCO World Heritage Site start town it had from 1998 through 2016.

The Grote Markt in Bruges/Brugge is where the peloton will start from; the change in start city from Antwerp means the route south to Oudenaard is also changing.

While the daunting Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg finale will still take pride of place, the course for the first 136km (84.5 miles) to the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont looks a little less heavy on the legs compared to last year, with only a single cobbled sector (down from two) at Huisepontweg and a generally flatter parcours, albeit with an additional côte.

However, the traditional loop around Oudenaard will again test the riders, with 18 climbs from the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont to the finish. Once more, the Paterberg is the last climb of the day with 13 km to go before a fast, flat finish. Across the day's 19 classified hills, the riders will climb 3,227m (10,587ft).

The women will ride a course very similar to the ones they are used to – a loop around Oudenaard, beginning at the Markt and ending on Minderbroedersstraat as the men do.

As with the men's race, Huisepontweg at 49.6km is the first cobbled sector; unlike the men, the women's peloton will already have had to climb their first test – the Tiegemberg.

Twelve further climbs await the women, who will face the same final 45km as the men, starting with the notoriously difficult cobbled climb up the Kopperberg (113.4km) and concluding with the Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg one-two to finish. A total elevation gain of 2,682m (8,799ft) awaits the peloton.

Men's Road Race - Cycling Road | Tokyo 2020 Replays

2023 tour of flanders riders to watch, men's race - 2023 riders to watch.

• Mathieu van der Poel – the defending champion from the Netherlands. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider also triumphed in 2020 and was beaten into second place in 2021. He will aim for a fourth straight podium finish on the back of winning Milano-Sanremo two weeks ago.
• Tadej Pogacar – the all-round phenomenon from Slovenia is looking for his fourth career monument win (2 at Il Lombardia, 1 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège). This is just his second appearance in De Ronde, having finished agonisingly off the podium in fourth last year.
• Kasper Asgreen – the Dane was the surprise winner in 2021, knocking van der Poel into second place. His Soudal–Quick Step team can also count on…
• Julian Alaphilippe – the two-time road race world champion, who looked set to challenge for the 2020 race before crashing into a motorcycle while in the winning breakaway.
• Wout van Aert – Jumbo-Visma's leader in Flanders, who was forced to miss last year's race after catching Covid. Widely considered the biggest rival to Van der Poel, Van Aert will be hoping to upgrade his 2020 second place to the top step of the podium. Enters off the back of a second place at Gent-Wevelgem.
• Greg van Avermaet – even aged 37, don't rule out the Belgian on his home roads. The 2016 Olympic road race champion is a specialist in the one-day classics, and has finished on the podium in Oudenaarde four times without ever winning the race.
• Tom Pidcock – the Briton is, like Van der Poel and Van Aert, used to riding on different terrain as a cyclo-cross, mountain bike, and road rider. Pidcock claimed his first major one-day win earlier this year at Strade Bianche and has experience of winning on cobbles, triumphing in the 2021 Brabantse Pijl and 2019 Paris–Roubaix Espoirs junior race.

Women's race - 2023 riders to watch

• Annemiek van Vleuten – the Dutch women's cycling legend has announced that 2023 will be her final season. A two-time winner of the women's Tour of Flanders (2011, 2021), Van Vleuten is no stranger to success in all forms of road cycling, from long stage races to one-day classics, and will hope to sign off from Oudenaarde with a third victory.
• Lotte Kopecky – defending champion from 2022, Kopecky will have the home support behind her. A two-time national road race champion, she already has a pair of one-day classic race wins under her belt this season and will be one of the favourites for a third.
• Marianne Vos – the London 2012 Olympic road race champion hasn't won in a one-day race since Gent-Wevelgem in 2021, but count Vos out at your peril. The vastly experienced Dutchwoman is still a force to be reckoned with on her day.
• Elisa Longo Borghini – the Trek-Segafredo team leader, who won bronze in the last two Olympic road races, is a previous winner of the event (2015) and will be supported by fellow Italian and 2021 world champion Elisa Balsamo.

Women's Road Race - Cycling Road | Tokyo 2020 Replays

2023 tour of flanders: race schedules.

(All times local CEST, approximate after race start. Assumes an average race speed of 44km/h for men and 40km/h for women)

• 10:00 – Men's race unofficial start in Bruges/Brugge (-8.3km)
• 10:16 – Men's race official start in Beernem (0.0km)
• 12:45 – Men's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (109.0km)
• 13:22 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 2, 136.8km)
• 13:30 – Women's race unofficial start in Oudenaarde (-2.7km)
• 13:35 – Women's race official start in Oudenaarde (0.0km)
• 13:50 – Women's race reaches first climb at Tiegemberg (climb 1, 10.0km)
• 14:49 – Women's race reaches first cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (49.5km)
• 15:14 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 218.8km)
• 15:19 – Men's race reaches first ascent of Paterberg (climb 13, 222.3km)
• 15:28 – Men's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 14, 228.8km)
• 16:06 – Men's race reaches third ascent of Oude Kwaremont (climb 18, 256.7km)
• 16:11 – Men's race reaches second ascent of Paterberg (climb 19, 260.1km)
• 16:23 – Women's race reaches Koppenberg (climb 8, 112.0km)
• 16:29 – Men's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (273.4km)
• 17:05 – Women's race reaches Oude Kwaremont (climb 12, 139.9km)
• 17:10 – Women's race reaches Paterberg (climb 13, 143.3km)
• 17:30 – Women's leaders arrive at finish line in Oudenaarde (156.6km)

Tour of Flanders: Last five winners

• 2022: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2021: Kasper Asgreen (DEN/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
• 2020: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2019: Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF Educational First)
• 2018: Niki Terpstra (NED/Quick-Step Floors)
• 2022: Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx)
• 2021: Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/Movistar Team)
• 2020: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (NED/Boels-Dolmans)
• 2019: Marta Bastianelli (ITA/Team Virtu Cycling)
• 2018: Anna van der Breggen (NED/Boels-Dolmans)

How to watch 2023 Tour of Flanders - Ronde van Vlaanderen

List of regional broadcasters (TV / online):

• Belgium – RTBF
• Czechia – Czech TV
• Denmark – TV2
• France – France TV
• Italy – RAI
• Netherlands – NOS
• Norway – TV2
• Slovenia – JOJ
• Spain – Enjoy
• Switzerland – SRG SSR
• Pan-Europe – Eurosport, GCN
• Canada – Flobikes
• United States – Flobikes
• Australia – Flobikes, SBS
• New Zealand – SKY Sport
• Central and South America and the Caribbean – ESPN
• Sub-Saharan Africa – Supersport

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Tour of Flanders 2023 route

The brutal cobbles and hills of Belgium's biggest race

The 273.4km Tour of Flanders route over the cobbles and hills of Flanders towards Oudenaarde has few alterations from the 2022 route, so it's a game of spot the difference compared to last year.

This year's race is slightly longer, 900 metres more, and the race start has switched from Antwerp in the north to Brugge in the west. As a result, the run to the first major climb of the day at Oude Kwaremont is also changed, though viewers at home won't notice much substantive difference on the flat roads. A cobbled sector at Huisepontweg (seen recently at Dwars door Vlaanderen) and the day's first climb at Korte Ast are also new.

From that climb of Oude Kwaremont (2.2km at 4.6%) – the first of three visits during the race – after 136.5km, the route is more or less a carbon copy of 2022, barring the replacement of the Achterberg with the Eikenberg as the fourth hill of the day.

After the first ascent of Oude Kwaremont, the cobbled hills of the Eikenberg, Molenberg, and Berg Ten Houte are among the highlights of the eastern loop towards Zwalm and Brakel in the east and back around to the famous climb and its neighbour, the Paterberg.

Along the way, the tarmac climbs of the Kortekeer, Marlboroughstraat, Berendries, Valkenburg, and Kanarieberg also line the route along with cobbled sectors at Holleweg, Kerkgate, and Jagerij. It's an obstacle-packed mid-section of the route, even if the major race-altering moves come a little later on.

The second visit to the Oude Kwaremont, after 220km of racing, and the first to the Paterberg (360 metres at 12.9%), 3.5km later are where the action has really kicked off in the last few editions of the race. 

In 2020 the key hills hosted the first major attacks from the favourites including Julian Alaphilippe , a year later it was eventual one-two finishers Kasper Asgreen and Mathieu van der Poel who showed themselves as the strongest as Wout van Aert led the chase behind, while last spring Tadej Pogačar sent contenders into a panic as his attack kicked off the finale.

That first Kwaremont-Paterberg duo, coming at around 15:30 local time, is the must-watch point of the afternoon, then. The equally famous Koppenberg (600 metres at 11.6%) is up next as the riders head onto the smaller loop to Maarkedaal and Ronse before the final run over Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.

The 30km or so loop takes the riders over the cobbles of the Marieborrestraat and Stationsberg and the cobbled climbs of Steekbeekdries, Taaienberg, and Kruisberg/Hotond before the final showdown beginning at 17km from the line.

The final Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg challenge was controversial when first introduced all the way back in 2012 as the traditional finale of the Muur van Geraardsbergen-Bosberg duo was replaced when the finish moved from Ninove to Oudenaarde. But now it's a well-loved closing combination which has played host to several epic showdowns ahead of the final 10km run to the line.

What happens on that last stretch, a north-eastern run on the N453 from Kerkhove, can depend on the wind, though the flat, straight road often plays host to one last moment of tension with a final chase or cat-and-mouse games among the leaders. Finally, unlike the Champs-Elysèes or the Roubaix velodrome, it might not be the most iconic or picturesque end to one of the biggest races of the season, but the outskirts of Oudenaarde host the finish.

Tour of Flanders key climbs

• Korte Ast (158.7km to go)
• Oude Kwaremont (136.6km to go)
• Kortekeer (126.1 km to go)
• Eikenberg (118.4km to go)
• Wolvenberg (114.3km to go)
• Molenberg (101.8km to go)
• Marlboroughstraat (97.9km to go)
• Berendries (93.8km to go)
• Valkenberg (km 184.9/88.5km to go)
• Berg Ten Houte (km 197.4/76km to go)
• Kanarieberg (202.9/70.5km to go)
• Oude Kwaremont (54.6km to go)
• Paterberg (51.1km to go)
• Koppenberg (44.6km to go)
• Steenbeekdries (39.2km to go)
• Taaienberg (36.8km to go)
• Kruisberg/Hotond (26.5km to go)
• Oude Kwaremont (16.7km to go)
• Paterberg (13.3km to go)

Tour of Flanders key cobble sectors

• Huisepontweg (km 109/164.4km to go)
• Holleweg (km 156.5/116.9km to go)
• Kerkgate (km 162.7/110.7km to go)
• Jagerij (km 165.3/108.1km to go)
• Mariaborrestraat (km 232.8/40.6km to go)
• Stationsberg (km 234.7/38.7km to go)

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Daniel Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, he had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also oversees The Leadout newsletter and How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal.

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Tour of Flanders 2023: Pogacar solos to triumph

Results 2023 Tour of Flanders

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo) 2. Mathieu van der Poel (nld) + 0.16 3. Mads Pedersen (den) + 1.12 4. Wout van Aert (bel) s.t. 5. Neilson Powless (usa) s.t. 6. Stefan Küng (swi) s.t. 7. Kasper Asgreen (den) s.t. 8. Fred Wright (gbr) s.t. 9. Matteo Jorgenson (usa) + 1.19 10. Matteo Trentin (ita) + 2.49

Race report The pace is high from the start. There is still no breakaway after almost 40 kilometres of action and then the peloton splits. Van der Poel, Madouas, Teuns, Vanmarcke, Matthews and Girmay are forced to restore the damage in a 20 kilometres chase.

One of the other hot favourites, Pogacar, if forced to chase a little later with Pedersen, Matthews and Vanmarcke. They rejoin the first group in a relatively short effort.

After two hours in the saddle – and 100 kilometres – Van Keirsbulck establish the breakaway with Hoole, Colombo, Reynders and De Buyst. Merlier, Rutsch and Houle track them down.

A crazy move by Maciejuk causes a massive crash in the peloton. Turner and Wellens can’t continue the race, while the peloton slows down and the eight race to a 6 minutes lead.

The gap has fallen to 2 minutes on the Molenberg. Trentin, Küng, Asgreen, Wright, Powless, Narváez, Wright and Van Hooydonck distance the peloton after the summit, while Pedersen and Vermeersch bridge across later. Jorgenson and Cosnefroy go after them on the Berendries and track them down on the flat. The twelve rejoin the lead group on Berg Ten Houte and they open up a 3 minutes lead.

Pogacar strikes in the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. He reaches the summit of the Paterberg 1.39 minutes behind the remains of the lead group. Laporte, Van Aert, Pidcock and Van der Poel are 13 seconds behind.

Laporte kicks to rejoin Pogacar before the others also bridge across.

Pogacar speeds up on the Koppenberg. Van der Poel and Van Aert follow the move and the trio reaches the summit 1 minute behind the lead group. The gap is down to 35 seconds on the Taaienberg.

Pedersen attacks from the remaining leaders – Van Hooydonck, Trentin, Vermeersch, Asgreen, Powless, Wright, Jorgenson, Küng – in the run-up to the Kruisberg. Van der Poel attacks in the climb from the chase group. Pogacar follows his move.

The two regain contact with the group Asgreen before the Oude Kwaremont. Pogacar tracks down Pedersen in the climb to continue on his own. Van der Poel reaches the summit with Pedersen, only to leave him behind.

Pogacar crests the Paterberg 12 seconds ahead of Van der Poel. Pedersen is 40 seconds in arrears before the chasers rejoin the Dane.

The double Tour de France winner takes the win ahead of double Tour of Flanders winner Van der Poel, while former World Champion outsprints Van Aert for the remaining podium spot.

Other interesting reads: route and start list 2023 Tour of Flanders.

Tour of Flanders 2023: route, profiles, more

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Tour of Flanders 2023 men’s race – Tadej Pogacar makes history after getting the better of Mathieu van der Poel

Updated 02/04/2023 at 15:14 GMT

• - HISTORIC VICTORY FOR TADEJ POGACAR OVER MATHIEU VAN DER POEL
• - POGACAR DROPS VAN DER POEL AND REELS IN PEDERSEN ON OUDE KWAREMONT
• - VAN AERT DISTANCED ON KRUISBERG AFTER VAN DER POEL ATTACK
• - TADEJ POGACAR SOLOES CLEAR ON SECOND ASCENT OF THE OUDE KWAREMONT
• - BINIAM GIRMAY DOWN AND OUT IN THE LATEST HIGH-SPEED CRASH

Pogacar topples Van der Poel in Flanders thriller

02/04/2023 at 16:46

Tour of Flanders 2023: Route and start list for the men's race

All the crucial information ahead of this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen

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The stage is set for the first cobbled Monument of the year, the Tour of Flanders , scheduled for 2 April. 

This year's race marks the event's 107th edition, making it one of the oldest in the world. The riders have changed over the years, but many of the event's iconic climbs have stayed the same. 

The route stretches out over 270km between Bruges and Oudenaarde. Below you'll find details of the race parcours , together with a list of those who will tackle it.

Tour of Flanders 2023: route

This year’s Tour of Flanders counts 273.4 kilometres, almost one kilometre longer than the 2022 edition won by Mathieu van der Poel. 

After six years in Antwerp, the race returns to Bruges in 2023 to kick off proceedings. The riders will roll out for an easy first 100km, before they hit the first cobbled sector - Huisepontweg - on the approach into Oudenaarde. 

The race’s midway point is marked with the first of three drags up the 2.2km-long Oude Kwaremont. From there, the terrain becomes unforgiving, offering little recovery time between the hellingen that quickly rack up. Notable ascents here include the Holleweg, Molenberg and Valkenberg. 

With 55km to go, the riders will get a practice run at the finishing two climbs as they go over the iconic pair of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg. The duo return around 17km from the line, where the decisive attacks are likely to come. 

The flat run-in to Oudenaarde is uncomplicated, but will bring some of the day’s most dramatic racing. If a rider hasn’t already broken away solo, expect a desperate sprint to the line. 

Tour of Flanders 2023: Start list

Alpecin-Deceuninck

VAN DER POEL Mathieu DILLIER Silvan BALLERSTEDT Maurice GOGL Michael KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren VERMEERSCH Gianni MEURISSE Xandro

Jumbo-Visma

VAN AERT Wout AFFINI Edoardo BENOOT Tiesj LAPORTE Christophe VAN FIJKE Tim VAN DER SANDE Tosh VAN HOOYDONCK Nathan

UAE Team Emirates

POGAČAR Tadej OLIVEIRA Rui BAX Sjoerd BJERG Mikkel LAENGEN Vegard Stake TRENTIN Matteo WELLENS Tim

AG2R Citroën Team

VAN AVERMAET Greg COSNEFROY Benoît DEWULF Stan NAESEN Lawrence NAESEN Oliver GAUTHERAT Pierre TOUZÉ Damien

Lotto Dstny

EWAN Caleb DE BUYST Jasper FRISON Frederik GRIGNARD Sébastien VAN MOER Brent VERMEERSCH Florian LIVYNS Arjen

Trek-Segafredo

STUYVEN Jasper LIEPINS Emīls HOOLE Daan KIRSCH Alex PEDERSEN Mads THEUNS Edward VACEK Mathias

INEOS Grenadiers

PIDCOCK Thomas HEIDUK Kim KWIATKOWSKI Michał TURNER Ben ROWE Luke SHEFFIELD Magnus SWIFT Ben

Soudal Quick-Step

ALAPHILIPPE Julian ASGREEN Kasper BALLERINI Davide MERLIER Tim LAMPAERT Yves SÉNÉCHAL Florian DECLERCQ Tim

Team Jayco AlUla

MATTHEWS Michael DURBRIDGE Luke MEZGEC Luka O'BRIEN Kelland QUICK Blake REINDERS Elmar ŠTYBAR Zdeněk

EF Education-EasyPost

BETTIOL Alberto SCULLY Tom DOULL Owain HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich KEUKELEIRE Jens POWLESS Neilson RUTSCH Jonas

Bahrain Victorious

MOHORIČ Matej ARNDT Nikias GRADEK Kamil MACIEJUK Filip PASQUALON Andrea RAJOVIĆ Dušan WRIGHT Fred

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

GIRMAY Biniam BYSTRØM Sven Erik DE GENDT Aimé DE POOTER Dries PLANCKAERT Baptiste TEUNISSEN Mike VAN DER HOORN Taco

DEGENKOLB John BEVIN Patrick EEKHOFF Nils HEINSCHKE Leon EDMONDSON Alex NABERMAN Tim VERMAERKE Kevin

BORA-Hansgrohe

ARCHBOLD Shane GAMPER Patrick HALLER Marco POLITT Nils MEEUS Jordi VAN POPPEL Danny KOCH Jonas

Astana Qazaqstan Team

CHZHAN Igo GIDICH Yevgeniy LAAS Martin FEDOROV Yevgeniy GRUZDEV Dmitriy NURLYKHASSYM Nurbergen SYRITSA Gleb

ALLEGAERT Piet KREDER Wesley NOPPE Christophe CARVALHO Andre RENARD Alexis ZINGLE Axel WALSCHEID Max

Israel - Premier Tech

VANMARCKE Sep BOIVIN Guillaume REYNDERS Jens HOULE Hugo NEILANDS Krists VAN ASBROECK Tom TEUNS Dylan

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team

BAUER Jack DEVRIENDT Tom FEDELI Alessandro PARISINI Nicolò MAŁECKI Kamil PUPPIO Antonio ZUKOWSKY Nickolas

Team Arkéa Samsic

HOFSTETTER Hugo BIERMANS Jenthe DEKKER David LOUVEL Matis MCLAY Daniel LE BERRE Mathis RUSSO Clément

Groupama-FDJ

KÜNG Stefan ASKEY Lewis GENIETS Kevin LE GAC Olivier LIENHARD Fabian MADOUAS Valentin WATSON Samuel

Movistar Team

GARCÍA CORTINA Iván HOLLMAN Juri JACOBS Johan JORGENSON Matteo LAZKANO Oier ROMEO Iván NORSGAARD Mathias

TotalEnergies

SAGAN Peter BOASSON HAGEN Edvald DUJARDIN Sandy BONNET Thomas OURSELIN Paul TURGIS Anthony VAN GESTEL Dries

VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume BLOUWE Louis DESAL Ceriel GEURIN Alexis MERTENS Julian ROBEET Ludovic VAN BOVEN Luca

Team Flanders - Baloise

BRAET Vito COLMAN Alex DE PESTEL Sander DE VYLDER Lindsay BERCKMOES Jenno DE WILDE Gilles VANHOOF Ward

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

KRISTOFF Alexander URIANSTAD Martin HALVORSEN Kristoffer BLUME LEVY William RESELL Erik Nordsæter BENDIXEN Louis TILLER Rasmus

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The rush to leave the Kwaremont after the men's race was depressing, and revealing. We all need to do more to support women's cycling

By Adam Becket Published 4 April 23

With Tour of Flanders victory ticked off, it’s hard to bet against him adding the two remaining Monuments to his palmarès in the years to come

By Tom Thewlis Published 3 April 23

Jumbo-Visma are fallible after all, and SD Worx's dominance continues with Roubaix in sight

With number one on her back, the Belgian won her third Classics race this spring with a powerful show of strength

By Chris Marshall-Bell Published 2 April 23

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- 2023 Tour of Flanders Live Online Coverage Guide -

Cyclingfans.com Tour of Flanders Men's race TourTracker w/live profile, GPS tracking, gaps, etc.

Cyclingfans.com Tour of Flanders Men's race TourTracker with LIVE GPS Tracking shows you who is in a breakaway, the time gaps, how far to go, etc.

Cyclingfans.com Tour of Flanders Women's race TourTracker w/live profile, GPS tracking, gaps, etc.

Cyclingfans.com Tour of Flanders Women's race TourTracker with LIVE GPS Tracking shows you who is in a breakaway, the time gaps, how far to go, etc.

- Videos: Tour of Flanders videos . (men's and women's races)

- Art: 2023 Tour of Flanders men's race art . (Greig Leach)

- Art: 2022 Tour of Flanders women's race art . (Greig Leach)

- Art: 2022 Tour of Flanders men's race art . (Greig Leach)

- Webcam LIVE video at the start here .

- Ticker LIVE here . ( auto-translated ) (women's race)

- Ticker LIVE here . ( auto-translated ) (men's race)

- Men's Race at 9:55 CET, 3:55am U.S. Eastern

- Need a VPN to access a geo-restricted feed? Try ExpressVPN .

- Expected LIVE video here .  (CeskaTV, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Eitb, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (France 3, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (NOS, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rai Sport, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rai2, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rtbf, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rtl, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (SBS, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (Sky Sport, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here and here . (Sporza, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Srf, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (SuperSport, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (Tdp, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (TV2/Sport.dk, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (TV2 Sumo, geo-restricted)

- Women's Race at 3:00pm CET, 9:00am U.S. Eastern

- Expected LIVE video here .  (France 3, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (NOS, geo-restricted)   - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rai2, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (Rtbf, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (SBS, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (Sky Sport, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here and here . (Sporza, geo-restricted) - Expected LIVE video here .  (SuperSport, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (TV2/Sport.dk, geo-restricted)  - Expected LIVE video here .  (TV2 Sumo, geo-restricted)

- This page will be updated throughout the race.

- Photos:   Tour of Flanders Photos .

- Art: Tour of Flanders art .

- Men's race Start List here .  Women's race Start List here .

- Art: 2021 Tour of Flanders women's race art . (Greig Leach)

- Photos:   2021 Tour of Flanders Photos - Women's Race .

- Photos:   2021 Tour of Flanders Photos - Men's Race .

- Art: 2020 Tour of Flanders men's race art .

- Photos:   2021 Tour of Flanders Recon Photos - Part 2 . (Julian Alaphilippe, Quickstep teammates and a drone + Greg Van Avermaet and teammates recon the cobbles ahead of Sunday's race.)

- Photos:   2021 Tour of Flanders Recon Photos - Part 1 . (Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma, Peter Sagan and Bora-Hansgrohe recon the cobblestones of the Ronde ahead of Sunday's race.)

- Women's race details here .

- Route map, profile and info here .

- Photos:   Tour of Flanders Photos . (2019 Day 2 recon photos)

- Photos:   Tour of Flanders Photos . (2019 recon photos)

- Photos:   2018 Women's Tour of Flanders Photos . (a look back at the 2018 edition of the women's race)

- 2023 Tour of Flanders schedule/times:

Men's race Start at 10:00 CET, 4:00am ET Finish at 16:29 CET, 10:29am ET

Women's race Start at 13:30 CET, 7:30am ET Finish at 17:32 CET, 11:32am ET

- Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won the men's 2022 Tour of Flanders.  Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) won the 2022 Tour of Flanders for Women.

- The 2023 Tour of Flanders is being held Sunday, April 2.

- Photos: Tour of Flanders photos in Hi-Res .

- Results: Tour of Flanders results .

- For the 19th consecutive year, you can follow the Tour of Flanders live on cyclingfans.com .

NOTE:   If you believe you may not be seeing the latest content on this page, try clearing your browser's cache (or try a different browser).

- More info and links to come.

- We will update here with the best and latest live feeds at broadcast time.

- Welcome to our live coverage guide for the 2023 Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen) .

2023 Tour of Flanders LIVE April 2, Belgium Official Website Men's Start List   Women's Start List  

Men's race starts at 10:00am CET (4:00am U.S. Eastern)

Finish at around 4:29pm CET (10:29am U.S. Eastern)

Men's race live video from 9:55am CET (3:55am U.S. Eastern)

Women's race starts at 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern)

Women's race finish at around 5:32pm CET (11:32am U.S. Eastern)

Women's race live video from 3:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern)

  Oudenaarde weather

Tour of Flanders Live Coverage

Live video streaming:

Links to come as available

- more links to come -

(watch Tour of Flanders online) (watch Ronde van Vlaanderen online)

Live audio streaming:

  (--) (Listen online)

TourTracker (Apple) TourTracker (Android)

Live tickers:

- More tickers to come -

News and photos:

Copyright © 2023 www.cyclingfans.com

2017 Tour of Flanders Interactive Profile with 3D Climb Profiles (click to launch)

How to Watch the Tour of Flanders

Here’s why you need to tune in for one of the most exciting races on the spring calendar.

This season’s second Monument just might be the best.

Here’s everything you need to know about Belgium’s biggest race.

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The men’s race begins in Antwerp and heads southwest toward the hills of the Flemish Ardennes, a region packed with short, steep cobbled climbs , which the locals call bergs . Once the race passes through Oudenaarde, the action centers around two big loops, each featuring the two climbs—the Oude Kwaremont (long, steady, and cobbled) and the Paterberg (short, steep, and cobbled)—that often determine the outcome of the race.

The 264km course is one of the most challenging in pro cycling, with narrow farm roads that seem to wind endlessly around the Flemish countryside. This is why it often takes years for riders to master the nuances of the race, as a rider’s position heading into each of the day’s key climbs can often make the difference between winning and losing. And in April, weather can be a factor as well.

Of the 19 climbs in this year’s men’s race, the Koppenberg (44km from the finish line) is probably the most famous. Super-steep, cobbled, and narrow, this is where the race’s final phase begins. Riders who don’t hit the climb at the front of the peloton are often forced to get off their bikes and walk as the sudden deceleration ripples through the pack. The race is essentially over for anyone who isn’t in the top 25.

After the Koppenberg, five climbs remain, and recent editions of the race have seen race-winning attacks launched on several of them. From the top of the second and final ascent of the Paterberg it’s only 13km to the finish line in Oudenaarde, a distance that several riders have covered alone in recent years. Sprints are rare in the Ronde; the race is too hard to see large groups make it to the finish line in contention for the win.

The 152km women’s race begins and ends in Oudenaarde, with many of the same climbs and cobbled sectors as the men’s event. While the women’s race skips the Koppenberg, the finale is the same as the men’s with the Kruisberg, the Oude Kwaremont, and the Paterberg coming in quick succession before the 13km ride back to the finish in Oudenaarde. As is the case with the men’s race, the strongest rider always wins.

How to Watch

A subscription to FloBikes ($150/year or $12.50/month) is the only legal way to stream the race in the United States and Canada. Both the men’s and women’s events will be available live and on-demand via FloBikes.com, the FloSports IOS app, and the FloSports app for Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Apple TV. The FloBikes team will also be providing lots of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with key riders.

What Happened Last Year

Last year’s men’s event was probably the most exciting event of the season with Quick Step’s Julian Alaphilippe, Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert, and Alpecin-Fenix’s Mathieu van der Poel—three of the sport’s biggest superstars right now—breaking away in the final 40km, only for Alaphilippe to crash-out after colliding with a motorcycle .

That left van Aert and van der Poel to add another chapter to what has quickly become one of the most exciting rivalries in the sport’s history, with the Dutchman (van der Poel) defeating the Belgian (van Aert) in a photo finish. For the second year in a row, UAE’s Alexander Kristoff (who won the Ronde in 2015) took the sprint for third, eight seconds later.

Later in the day (the timing of the men’s and women’s races were adjusted so as to maximize TV coverage of both), Boels-Doelmans’ Chantal van den Broek-Blaak attacked on the Oude Kwaremont to win the women’s event. The Dutchwoman took a dramatic solo victory, aided by her teammates who disrupted the efforts of those trying to catch the lone attacker. As if to emphasize the squad’s dominance, Amy Pieters won the sprint for second place, beating Lotto-Soudal’s Lotte Kopecky into third. van den Broek-Blaak’s win was the seventh for the Netherlands, by far the most for any nation in the 17-year history of the event.

Riders to Watch

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

Despite finishing second to van der Poel last year, van Aert gets the edge over the Dutchman thanks to his win in Sunday’s Ghent-Wevelgem, coupled with van der Poel’s poor showing in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen. The Belgian seems to have timed his form just right, but he needs to avoid playing his cards too soon and blowing himself up before the final, which cost him a chance to win last Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic. A win for van Aert would make Belgium’s cycling year.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix)

Van der Poel is probably the most talented rider in cycling, but he’s prone to making mistakes, which means many of his biggest wins have come after monumental efforts to compensate for missing key breakaways or poor positioning. He’s likely less worried about van Aert and more concerned with the depth of the Quick Step squad, which showed at last Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic that it has the collective strength to first isolate and then defeat the Dutchman. Then again, this is Mathieu van der Poel we’re talking about, and if he’s at his best, there might be little anyone can do to stop him.

Julian Alaphippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step)

Before crashing out of last year’s race, the reigning world champion showed he’s got what it takes to win the Tour of Flanders. He’s helped by the fact that his Quick Step squad has several cards to play with men like Kasper Asgreen, Zdenek Stybar, Yves Lampaert, and Florian Sénéchal all capable of winning the race themselves. The Belgian team has made a business of winning this race for decades, and whether it’s with Alaphilippe or one of his teammates, they’re always a good bet to win.

Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)

The Belgian won Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago with a savvy late-race attack that surprised the favorites. Now he’s a marked man for Flanders, a race more suited to his powerful style. He showed in Dwars door Vlaanderen that he’s still at the top of his game, making him the rider most likely to upset the MVP/WVA/Quick-Step triumvirate at the top of the list of contenders.

Greg van Avermaet (AG2R-Citroën)

The 35-year-old has won just about every Classic or semi-Classic on the calendar—except the Ronde. Now riding for a French team, the Belgian has been ever-present at the front of the peloton this spring, but seems to come up short when it matters most. But if he and teammate Oliver Naesen can get their timing right, they could capitalize on their outsider status to take AG2R’s first Monument victory.

Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SD Worx)

The defending women’s champion is back and ready to defend her title. The 31-year-old, who won the Strade Bianche in early March, rides for the strongest team in the sport with Anna van der Breggan, the reigning world champion and a former Ronde-winner (2018), joining her on Sunday’s starting line.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)

Van Vleuten had a relatively quiet spring before winning Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, a victory that put her near the top of the list for the Flanders, which she won back in 2011. Now riding for Movistar after five years with Mitchelton-Scott, the European champion might have less team support to rely upon, but when she’s in form, there’s little others can do to stop her.

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma)

Vos won her team’s first race ever at last Sunday’s Ghent-Wevelgem, a victory that reminded us all of the Dutchwoman’s immense talent. The win followed her second-place at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda the week before, results that show she’s peaking at just the right time to add another Flanders victory to the win she earned in 2013.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo)

Longo Borghini won the Ronde in 2015 and looks ready to add Flanders another victory to her resume after a win in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and second-place finish in Strade Bianche. She failed to impress in Ghent-Wevelgem or Dwars door Vlaanderen, but she leads one of the deeper squads on the women’s World Tour and has the experience to make-up for whatever form she might be lacking. Don’t discount the Italian’s chances.

Since getting hooked on pro cycling while watching Lance Armstrong win the 1993 U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, longtime Bicycling contributor Whit Yost has raced on Belgian cobbles, helped build a European pro team, and piloted that team from Malaysia to Mont Ventoux as an assistant director sportif. These days, he lives with his wife and son in Pennsylvania, spending his days serving as an assistant middle school principal and his nights playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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BREAKDOWN: Flanders Podium is Wide Open

Pre-flanders takeaways.

Seven Takeaways Before Flanders: Arguably the best race on the cycling calendar – The Tour of Flanders – is this Sunday. Spencer Martin gives us his ‘Seven Takeaways’ from Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Volta a Catalunya. Bring on de Ronde!

– This article is an excerpt from the Beyond the Peloton newsletter. Sign up here for full access. –

Watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free coverage of the Tour of Flanders 2022 on GCN+ . Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream original and exclusive cycling documentaries. Watch it all with GCN+ on any device.

The week between Gent-Wevelgem and the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) is always a sacred week in professional cycling, but this year it has seemed to sparkle more than usual due to the emergence of an African one-day classics star in Biniam Girmay, the unlikely return of Mathieu van der Poel, Jumbo-Visma’s uneven performance as a Classics superteam and the presence of the sport’s biggest grand tour star, Tadej Pogačar, at its biggest one-day races.

To sum up what we’ve learned over the last few cobbled classics (plus a one-week stage race) and recap before the big one on Sunday, I’ve laid out seven major takeaways from the past week.

Seven Takeaways

1) Biniam Girmay and Intermarché have crashed the gate

• Biniam Girmay, only 21-year-old, made history when he upset the favorites to win at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. This was a massive breakthrough for Black African riders and likely just the first in a long line of major victories for the young Eritrean star
• And the fact that his tiny Intermarché team was able to retain him for the relatively low sum of €300,000 per year has allowed the team to make a jump from the basement to the safety of the mid-table. This illustrates just how important, and transformational, finding up-and-coming talents that have been overlooked by the bigger squads can be for small setups, and will likely lead to more teams taking far more serious looks than they have in the past at up-and-coming stars from non-core cycling nations.
• And interestingly, despite having him locked down on a three-year deal at his current salary, the team is choosing to rip that up and sign a new long-term deal with triple his current pay. This shows the management team has a real vision for their near future and isn’t planning to go down the DSM route of finding talents and selling them mid-contract for quick cash before you have to re-sign them at a higher rate.

2) Specialized is having a great spring campaign… due to Team TotalEnergies

• While Quick-Step has made Specialized bikes synonyms with cobbled success in recent years, the Belgian superteam’s decline has meant that TotalEnergies, the formerly downtrodden second-division French team that has recently found its legs, is now flying the flag for the big S across the biggest one-day races (despite the struggles of star rider Peter Sagan).

3) Team UAE’s disorganization at Volta a Catalunya displayed fundamental changes in the sport

• The debacle stemming from the lack of teamwork between Juan Ayuso and Joāo Almeida at Volta Catalunya which led to Almeida losing the race lead to Sergio Higuita on the penultimate stage showed exactly why a team needs to pick a leader and just how much the recent youth movement has changed the sport.
• Instead of working for his teammate and race leader João Almeida to reel in Richard Carapaz and Sergio Higuita on their stage 6 raid, Ayuso sat in and then unsuccessfully attempted to attack and bridge up to the leaders in the final 20-kilometers of the race, thus sealing the win for Higuita and dooming his teammate Almeida.
• This type of refusal from a 19-year-old with zero professional victories is wild and would have been unthinkable in the past and shows that the recent empowerment of extremely young and unproven riders has fundamentally changed the sport and made it much more difficult to sell them on the idea of working for another rider who they don’t perceive to be as talented.

4) Mathieu van der Poel is back, what does this mean for Flanders and Roubaix?

• After rolling up to Milano-Sanremo last minute and getting a career-best third-place , Van der Poel bagged an impressive stage win at Coppi e Bartali and a dominant victory at the mid-week Flanders tuneup race Dwars door Vlaanderen.
• However, this is an incredibly unusual lead-in to Flanders. Since Gent-Wevelgem changed its date in 2010, only a single rider, Philippe Gilbert in 2017, has missed the race and won a week later in Flanders. Also, no rider has won both Dwars and Flanders in the same year since it was moved to the Wednesday prior to Flanders, and only a single rider since the year 2000, Nick Nuyens in 2011, has won both Dwars and Flanders in the same Spring.
• All of this tells us that Van der Poel’s unideal and unusual lead-in will prohibit him from getting his second-career Flanders title, but Van der Poel is a rider with highly unusual talents and is a rare rider capable of breaking all the rules of preparation and succeeding regardless.

5) Tom Pidcock is back, but will he be good enough for Sunday at Flanders?

• Tom Pidcock rode a great race to make the front group with quality riders like Victor Campenaerts, Tiesj Benoot, Stefan Küng, Nils Politt, and Kelland O’Brien, but the fact that Van der Poel was able to ride away from him and that group without a response in the final few kilometers to chase down Benoot should tell us a lot about Flanders.
• While this is an incredible turnaround for the talented young rider, we should ask ourselves that if Pidcock couldn’t follow the two strongest riders on a flat run-in, what chance does he have on the brutal finishing circuit at Flanders?

6) Tadej Pogačar might be a serious contender at Flanders

• The two-time Tour de France champion took part in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen to get a feel for the cobblestones in preparation for his maiden Tour of Flanders on Sunday and despite his full-time job being a featherweight grand tour winner, he looked right at home moonlighting on the cobblestones, which favor much heavier riders than the Slovenian.
• While his inexperience showed at points, the Flanders course will suit the absurdly strong rider more than the far shorter and flatter Dwars course.
• It would be truly shocking, and somewhat dispiriting if Pogačar were to win the Ronde on Sunday, but after watching him on the cobblestones, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
• But the fact that the Tour de France favorite is consistently lining up, and fighting for wins, at the biggest one-day races is incredibly exciting for the sport.

7) It is Time for Quick-Step to hit the panic button

• The former kings of the cobblestones are in the midst of a disaster of a Spring, and this point was driven home on Wednesday when they failed to get a single rider in the first two groups at Dwars.
• Underlining their issue is that their top-placed rider was Jannik Steimle. While this was a great ride for the 25-year-old German journeyman, it shows just how much their aging core of cobbled specialists has fallen off in recent years.
• This decline, while shocking, was predictable due to their incredibly risky transfer season strategy of choosing to allow their talent core to age and/or leave without signing young up-and-comers like Biniam Girmay.
• This Spring should make this decay painfully obvious to management, who should spend the next 12-months overturning every stone in search of its next big cobbled classics stars.

You can see the ‘PEZ Tour of Flanders Preview’ HERE , the ‘PEZ Race Report’ on Sunday and all the news in EUROTRASH Monday.

Spencer Martin authors the cycling-analysis newsletter Beyond the Peloton that breaks down the nuances of each race and attempts to bring a logic-based approach to cycling coverage. He is also a partner in cycling business publication The Outer Line, and in the past, has written for cycling outlets such as Velonews and CyclingTips. He has raced at a high-level in the past and still enjoys participating in a wide variety of races as well as riding in the mountains surrounding his residence in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @spencersoward.

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