E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021 start list

List of riders taking part in the 2021 edition of the E3 Saxo Bank Classic in Belgium on Friday, March 26

Here are the major talking points from the E3 BinckBank Classic (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Attention returns to the northern European cobbled Classics this weekend, with E3 Saxo Bank Classic (formally known as E3 Harelbeke) on Friday (March 26).

As one of the major pre-Tour of Flanders races as well as being a prestigious event in its own right, E3 Saxo Bank Classic often commands a star-studded start list. This year is no different, with all of the major spring Classics contenders in attendance.

Defending champion Zdeněk Štybar of Deceuninck - Quick-Step is down to ride along with the usual immensely strong Classics squad.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is down to ride with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) yet again as they continue their rivalry. Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Stuyvan (Trek-Segafredo) will lead a strong team.

Former world champion, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) - winner in 2014 - is currently racing the Volta a Catalunya as he continues to look for better condition before his main season goals. Sagan's team had to pull out of the race anyway due to a positive Covid-19 test for British rider Matthew Walls just hours before the race start.

With the race covering many of the same roads as the Tour of Flanders, there will be tough competition in the race for the title with the likes of Yves Lampaert and Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Greg Van Avermaet (Ag2r Citroën), Sep Vanmarke (Israel Start-Up Nation), Tom Pidcock and Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) and many more in a star-studded line-up.

E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021 start list

Deceuninck - Quick-Step

LAMPAERT Yves

BALLERINI Davide

DECLERCQ Tim

ASGREEN Kasper

SÉNÉCHAL Florian

ŠTYBAR Zdeněk

VAN LERBERGHE Bert

Total Direct Energie

TERPSTRA Niki

BOASSON HAGEN Edvald

MAITRE Florian

GAUDIN Damien

SOUPE Geoffrey

VAN GESTEL Dries

TURGIS Anthony

Lotto-Soudal

GILBERT Philippe

DEGENKOLB John

VAN MOER Brent

FRISON Frederik

OLDANI Stefano

DE BUYST Jasper

VERMEERSCH Florian

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

DE GENDT Aimé

KREDER Wesley

VAN DER HOORN Taco

VLIEGEN Loïc

DEVRIENDT Tom

DE WINTER Ludwig

VAN POPPEL Boy

AG2R Citroën Team

NAESEN Oliver

VAN AVERMAET Greg

DEWULF Stan

TOUZÉ Damien

DUVAL Julien

SCHÄR Michael

VAN HOECKE Gijs

Team Jumbo-Visma

VAN AERT Wout

DEKKER David

EENKHOORN Pascal

AFFINI Edoardo

ROOSEN Timo

VAN HOOYDONCK Nathan

WYNANTS Maarten

Movistar Team

CULLAIGH Gabriel

ERVITI Imanol

SERRANO Gonzalo

HOLLMANN Juri

CARCÍA CORTINA Iván

JACOBS Johan

MAS Lluís

Team BikeExchange

MATTHEWS Michael

PEÁK Barnabás

BAUER Jack

KONYCHEV Alexander

DURBRIDGE Luke

EDMONDSON Alexander

STANNARD Robert

Astana-Premier Tech

FEDOROV Yevgeniy

ZAKHAROV Artyom

MARTINELLI Davide

GIDICH Yevgeniy

GRUZDEV Dmitriy

HOULE Hugo

PERRY Benjamin

Bahrain Victorious

COLBRELLI Sonny

TEUNS Dylan

HALLER Marco

SIEBERG Marcel

HAUSSLER Heinrich

MILAN Jonathan

FENG Chun Kai

EF Education-Nippo

BETTIOL Alberto

SCULLY Tom

LANGEVELD Sebastian

BISSEGGER Stefan

KEUKELEIRE Jens

SCULLY Tom

BEPPU Fumiyuki

Groupama-FDJ

GENIETS Kevin

STEWART Jake

LIENHARD Fabian

KÜNG Stefan

LE GAC Olivier

BRUNEL Alexys

GUARNIERI Jacopo

Team Qhubeka-Assos

CAMPENAERTS Victor

CLAEYS Dimitri

GOGL Michael

VINJEBO Emil

HANSEN Lasse Norman

STOKBRO Andreas

CLARKE Simon

Israel Start-Up Nation

VANMARKE Sep

BIERMANS Jenthe

ZABEL Rick

GREIPEL André

RENARD Alexis

WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads

VAN ASBROECK Tom

Ineos Grenadiers

PIDCOCK Tom

BASSO Leonardo

DOULL Owain

VAN BAARLE Dylan

GOŁAŚ Michał

NARVÁEZ Jhonatan

WURF Cameron

Team DSM

BENOOT Tiesj

DENZ Nico

SÜTTERLIN Jasha

KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren

EEKHOFF Nils

NIEUWENHUIS Joris

SALMON Martin

Trek-Segafredo

STUYVEN Jasper

LIEPINŠ Emils

KIRSCH Alex

THEUNS Edward

PEDERSEN Mads

REIJNEN Kiel

SIMMONS Quinn

UAE Team Emirates

KRISTOFF Alexander

TRENTIN Matteo

GIBBONS Ryan

GAVIRIA Fernando

OLIVEIRA Ivo

OLIVEIRA Rui

BJERG Mikkel

Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise

BEULLENS Cédric

DE VYLDER Lindsay

COLMAN Alex

DE WILDE Filles

VANHOOF Ward

SPRENGERS Thomas

VAN POUCKE Aaron

Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles

LIVYNS Arjen

MENTEN Milan

WIRTGEN Luc

PAQUOT Tom

MERTZ Rémy

SUTER Joel

VANENDERT Jelle

Vini Zabù

DI RENZO Andrea

TORTOMASI Leonardo

VAN EMPEL Etienne

VAN ELZAKKER Wout

GONZÁLEZ Roberto Carlos

PETELIN Jan

SCHNEITER Joab

Cofidis, Solutions Crédits

WALLAYS Jelle

BOHLI Tom

DRUCKER Jempy

ALLEGAET Piet

CONSONNI Simone

CARVALHO Andre

SAJNOK Szymon

Alpecin-Fenix

VAN DER POEL Mathieu

MEURISSE Xandro

VAKOČ Petr

DE BONDT Dries

VERMEERSCH Gianni

VERGAERDE Otto

DE TIER Floris

Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

HVIDEBERG Jonas Iversby

HOELGAARD Markus

HALVORSEN Kristoffer

TILLER Rasmus

WÆRSTED Syver

RESELL Erik Nordsaeter

SKAARSETH Anders

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!


I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.


It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.


After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.


When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.


My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.