E3 Saxo Classic: Belgium’s Mini-Tour of Flanders Preps Riders for Monumental Showdown
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Naming a bike race after a highway might be the most Belgian thing we’ve ever heard of. And that’s exactly what happened in the mid-1960s when a race called Harelbeke-Antwerp-Harelbeke adopted the name of the newly built E3 highway (now called the A14) that connected the two Belgian cities.
Taking place nine days before the Tour of Flanders, this important 210K event provides ideal training for the 270K Flemish Monument, as the race tackles many of the hills (known locally as bergs) that the racers will face the following weekend. As a result, many riders treat this event as their Tour of Flanders dress rehearsal, and nine have won the E3 Classic and then the Tour of Flanders a little over a week later.
Here’s everything you need to know about this mini-Tour of Flanders:
The Route
The E3 Saxo Classic begins and ends in Harelbeke, a small city near the heart of the Belgian Ardennes, a hilly region that’s home to the many steep, cobbled climbs that speckle the provinces of East and West Flanders.
The race begins about as gently as a cobbled Classic can begin, with just one climb and one cobbled sector in the first 80K of racing as the course takes a jagged loop east through Flanders. Along the way the race passes through some of the most famous towns in the history of the Tour of Flanders–places like Geraardsbergen and Brakel–but (sadly) skips the famous climbs that live there. But don’t get us wrong, there are still lots of climbs left on the menu–16 in fact–and they start coming in quick succession after the race passes through Flobecq, about 120K from the finish line.
The race usually explodes around this section of the course as riders and teams surge, attack, counter-attack, and cover the front of the race, looking to put their captains and teams in the best possible position for whatever important selections are about to be made. At this point the course map looks like something scribbled by a toddler, as the race wraps and loops back around itself several times as the race tries to cram in as many climbs as possible.
With a total of 17 climbs—as many as the Tour of Flanders—there’s not enough space to mention them all, but the Taaienberg (81K to go), the Stationberg, (59K to go), and the Paterberg (44K to go) most often play a role in determining the final outcome.
The Oude Kwaremont (41K to go), which the riders climb three times in the Tour of Flanders, comes quickly after the Paterberg, and depending on things like the weather, the wind direction, and the composition of the leading group, we could see important selections made here as well.
The final climb of the day, the Tiegemberg, comes about 20K from the finish line. In other races, that would be enough distance for an organized peloton to chase down any remaining escapees, but that rarely happens in the E3 Classic. By this point the strongest riders have most likely escaped, and the rest of the peloton is too tired to do anything about it.
How to Watch the E3 Saxo Classic
If you’re a Max subscriber, then you have free access to the streaming platform’s B/R Sports package, which is the only legal way to stream the race in the USA. With apps for smartphones, streaming devices, and smart TVs–and of course a terrific website–you should be able to watch the race from wherever you are.
Daylight Savings Time hasn’t started in Europe yet, so fans on the East Coast are just five hours behind the race’s local time. The live programming starts at 8:40 a.m. EDT, and we expect the race to take shape by 9:30 a.m. EDT—just as the riders approach the Taaienbergand with an estimated two hours left of racing.
If you can’t watch the race (it’s a weekday, after all), you can try to avoid any spoilers and then watch a replay later in the day. Max airs replays on demand, which is nice.
What Happened Last Year
Last year’s E3 Classic ended with a dream scenario for the organizers as a breakaway escaped with cycling’s three galacticos: Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
The trio escaped with about 57K left in the race, after a hard attack from van der Poel on the Stationberg. No one could follow them, and the three quickly made it across to a breakaway of six riders that had escaped about 15K earlier.
Pogačar attacked again on the Paterberg, and only van Aert, van der Poel, and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) were able to follow. Pogačar accelerated again on Oude Kwaremont, dropping Mohorič and putting van Aert into difficulty, but the Belgian managed to hang on.
The trio stayed together until the finish line, where van Aert won the sprint, defending his title from 2022. And while he didn’t win the race, Pogačar’s performance gave us all a preview of what was to come: the Slovenian won the Tour of Flanders nine days later.
Riders to Watch
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
The two-time defending champion, van Aert hasn’t raced since Belgium’s “Opening Weekend,” when he finished third in Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and won Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussels–Kuurne. He then went to Mount Teide in the Canary Islands to spend three weeks at altitude–instead of using Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo–to train for the cobbled Classics. He might have a bit of rust to kick-off at the E3 Classic, but that won’t matter much; he’s still one of the top two or three riders taking the start.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Speaking of kicking off some rust: Van der Poel waited until Milan-Sanremo to make his 2024 road debut and was still one of the race’s strongest riders. The only rider able to follow Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) when the Slovenian attacked on the Poggio, The Dutchman then worked for his teammate, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen, once he and Pogačar were caught. (And Philipsen won.) Van der Poel has never won the E3 Classic, but now that he’s broken the seal on his road season, he could finally add the race to his resume.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Pedersen and Lidl-Trek did everything they could to win Milan-Sanremo on Saturday, but still had to settle for fourth in the Italian Monument. One of the strongest riders in last year’s cobbled Classics, the Dane is hoping to prove that he’s more than just a top-5 finisher. Friday’s E3 Classic is his next chance to show everyone that he has the legs to challenge van Aert and van der Poel for the podium’s top step. And if he’s not up to it, his teammate, Belgium’s Jasper Stuyven, might be.
Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious)
Mohorič launched a late attack in Milan-Sanremo, trying to win the race for the second time in three years. He ultimately ended the day sixth, but proved that he’s ready for the rest of the spring. A proven Classics contender, the Slovenian finished seventh in last year’s E3 Classic, and has the form and the experience necessary to win it this year.
Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)
Bettiol won Milan-Torino last Wednesday, which foreshadowed his fifth-place finish in Milan-Sanremo three days later. A former winner of the Tour of Flanders, the Italian is clearly riding well and loves the cobbles. EF Education has never won the E3 Classic, but Bettiol could change that this year.
Other Riders to Watch
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers), and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates).
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