'Flanders are you ready?' Remco Evenepoel set to make Tour of Flanders debut this weekend

Remco Evenepoel is to make his Tour of Flanders debut this weekend, after much rumour and conjecture.

"Flanders, are you ready?" he asks in the caption under a video on Instagram. "See you on Sunday"

The double Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner usually keeps his powder dry for the Ardennes races later in the month, and has yet to ever compete at Flanders, or in Paris-Roubaix.

This long-awaited debut in what is surely the quintessential Belgian race will no doubt delight his home fans, especially now it appears that suspicions of an elaborate April Fool's joke are unfounded. Perhaps that Belgian thought he'd have a little extra fun with the announcement by releasing it on 1 April.

Confirming the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider's participation, the Tour of Flanders itself posted on Instagram: "You thought it was an April Fool's joke, right? The Olympic champion is debuting in #RVV26 next Sunday!"

Exactly what has inspired the 26-year-old to ride the Tour of Flanders is not yet clear. Given the post-Volta a Catalunya denials published in Belgian media, it feels as though it could be a late decision.

A crash at the Spanish stage race last week blunted Evenepoel's edge for the remainder of the race, although he still managed to finish fifth behind winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). Perhaps a combination of feeling well recovered from that bump, and underlying good form, has led him to this latest decision. In all likelihood though, 'De Ronde' has been on his radar all season. Major riders suddenly deciding to ride major races is rarely as spontaneous as this looks.

It's unlikely we are about to see the Olympic champion suddenly turn into a hard-punching rouleur for the cobbled Classics. Hilly races like Liège and Il Lombardia (the only Monuments he has ridden up to now) play far closer to his strengths. On the right day with a following wind, however, he might just find that the Tour of Flanders is hilly enough to allow his climbing ability to shine through.

Both men's and women's Tour of Flanders take place this Sunday, with favourites for the men's race including Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) – and now Evenepoel too. In the women's event expect to see three-time winner Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) contesting the win, along with Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike).