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

He's "Meerkatting" as Carlton Kirby says quite regularly. I think that means he's watching guard, or something like that? Anyway, he's on the back of the pack and clearly not burning any matches. Still no break. It's windy but nothing too bad - yet - and there are some damp patches on the road from overnight rain. But dry conditions despite the chill and absence of sunshine.

And it's that man Oier Lazkano, the Basque youngster who came runner-up at Dwars door Vlaanderen last week after an impressive ride in the break. The 23-year-old was caught alongside Alexander Kristoff with 5km remaining but battled back to take second place behind Christophe Laporte in a real coming-of-age ride. Can lightning strike twice today?

It's such a shame Tom Pidcock saw his spring derailed by concussion after that crash in Tirreno-Adriatico because the Strade Bianche champion was firing on all cylinders and could well have been a factor in Milano-San Remo. He's back in action now for an Ineos Grenadiers team that also includes fellow Brits Ben Turner, Luke Rowe and Connor Swift. Other British riders in the peloton today are: Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost), Dan McLay (Arkea Samsic), Lewis Askey and Samuel Watson (both Groupama-FDJ). Pidcock finished 14th last year and then 41st the year before in his debut Ronde.

There's been no lack of trying but no move has yet to stick. At things stand there's a lot of looking at each other and half-hearted digs - but no move to make a difference, or to worry those taking a back seat. Talking of which, Wout van Aert was just off the back of the peloton - either visiting his team car or answering a call of nature.

Jasper de Buyst (Lotto Dstny) showed some intent on the front until Ineos Grenadiers swamped the Belgian out. Still no big moves. Astana are also looking hungry but it's an ever changing roll call on the front.

The flag goes down and the 107th edition of the Tour of Flanders has started. It's a cagey beginning, mind, with no attacks coming in as yet, with the riders and teams preferring to hold their cards close to their chests and mark each other out.

Last year Tadej Pogacar went head to head with Mathieu van der Poel for the win - but his hesitation in the finale meant the two chasers (Dylan van Baarle and Valentin Madouas) got back into the fray and pushed the Slovenian down to fourth. A similar scenario played out in Milano-San Remo a few weeks ago when Pogacar was unable to make the podium despite arriving to the line alongside Van der Poel, Van Aert and Filippo Ganna. So, he'll be aware of this weakness in his armoury. He said this at the start:

"For sure I don't want it to come to a small group for a sprint - I'd prefer to come alone. But [doing] this thing in cycling is pretty hard. I just hope for good legs so I can try for the win. It already kicks off after 130km - from then all the way to the finish line it's going crazy. Maybe [the wind] is going to stress the bunch a little bit more but I don't think it will play a big role today."

It's almost time for the first cobbled monument of the season - the 2023 Ronde van Vlaanderen, or Tour of Flanders to you and me. The peloton has left Bruges and is making its way towards the official start. We will then have quite a long schlep before the first cobbles. Usually this is where a large break of around six to 10 riders goes clear to open up a large gap of around five minutes. Let's see...

It's a real beast of a race - starting in Bruges and ending in Oudenaard 273.4km later. There will be three ascents of the Oude Kwaremont cobbled sector - for the first time in isolation, and the next two times in combination with the Peterberg. The first section of cobbles comes after 114km or riding - Korte Est - and comes before that first ascent of the Kwaremont at 137km. After the first Kwaremont-Paterberg double we have the infamous Koppenberg climb at around 229km, then after the decisive combo we have a 13km run into the finish.

It's not going to be wet today but nor will it be a scorcher. The weather is currently slightly sunny but a cool 7 degrees in Bruges at the start, where Philippe Gilbert - on the motorbike today for Eurosport - says the moderate breeze is expected to get quite blustery today, so that could be a factor in the long run towards the first cobbled section, or in that stretch on exposed roads before the Koppenberg. The temperature may rise to double figures - but only just.

It’s been billed as the greatest ever in cycling and the rivalry between Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel – described a few years ago by the latter as “even bigger than the sport” – could write a fresh chapter today. Rivals in cyclocross and now on the road, the duo, who were born just four months apart, have traded blows throughout their careers – with over 200 match-ups so far and multiple appearances on the same podium.

If Van Aert has enjoyed more success on Grand Tours – most notably with multiple Tour de France stage wins, stints in yellow, and last year’s green jersey – then Van der Poel has the edge in this race, with two wins so far: most notably in 2020 when he outlasted Van Aert in a ding-dong sprint on the home straight. Both riders have won Milano-San Remo before, Van der Poel’s victory there just a few weeks ago.

It's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out. Jumbo-Visma clearly have the stronger team than Alpecin-Deceuninck – and Van Aert will be eager to pull the pendulum back in his favour. But Van der Poel is a monster who knows exactly that it takes to win the Ronde – having finished 1st, 2nd and 1st in the previous three editions. That could give him the edge.

There’s no shortage of pedigree riders involved today with Dutch double champion Van der Poel (2020, 2022), Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen (2021), Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (2019), Slovakia’s Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) and Norwegian veteran Alexander Kristoff (2015) all lining up. From those six former winners the smart money is on Van der Poel making it a hat-trick: after his Milano-San Remo triumph he really is the man of the moment.

It’s been an unprecedented five wins from five in the cobbled classics so far this spring for Jumbo-Visma with wins in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Dylan van Baarle), Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (Tiesj Benoot), E3 Saxo Classic (Wout van Aert), Gent-Wevelgem (Christophe Laporte) and Dwars door Vlaanderen (Laporte).

Van Aert will spearhead the Dutch team’s challenge alongside the in-form Laporte and Benoot – although Van Baarle has been ruled out following crashes in both Tirreno-Adriatico and E3. Such is their swashbuckling showing so far this spring, Jumbo-Visma will take some beating on the cobbles. But Mathieu van der Poel’s triumph on the via Roma showed that they can be beaten – and so much can happen in a race that involved multiple passes of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, not to mention the Koppenberg and Taaienberg.

It’s the second Monument of the season and the first of back-to-back cobblestone Monuments in the build up to Easter. Before next Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix it’s the small matter of the Tour of Flanders, with its leg-sapping succession of short and sharp cobbled bergs. Mathieu van der Poel won Milano-San Remo a few weeks ago and the Dutchman will be one of the favourites to do the double – securing what would be a third Ronde van Vlaanderen title.

But Van der Poel’s big rival Wout van Aert is also in tip-top form and the Belgian will fancy winning on home soil and breaking his Flanders duck. Throw in the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Julian Alaphilippe, Stefan Kung and Tom Pidcock, and we should be in for a thrilling ride around the farm tracks of Flanders.