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
