Preview: Brabantse Pijl 2024 – hill specialists in action, but no absolute covers yet

Brabantse Pijl heralds a new part of spring on Wednesday. After Paris-Roubaix comes the Hill Classics, and the Flemish Brabant is the first race in this class. The real big names are missing, but that means we could be in for a very exciting race. Cycling Looking forward!

date

Latest ten Brabantse Beagle winners
2023: Dorian Godon
2022: Magnus Sheffield
2021: Tom Pidcock
2020: Julian Alaphilippe
2019: Matthew van der Poel
2018: Tim Wellens
2017: Sonny Colbrelli
2016: Peter Vakuk
2015: Ben Hermans
2014: Philip Gilbert

Latest edition

Brabantse beagle result 2023
1. Dorian Godon (AG2R Citroen)
2. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in the first minute
3. Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) at 21 years old
4. Remy Cavagna (Soudal Quick Step) in 24 seconds
5. Axel Zengel (Cofidis) at 25 years old

Effect

Brabantse Pijl traditionally starts in Leuven. The capital of Flemish Brabant welcomes the peloton to Ladeuzeplein. The start of the one-day race was held there several years ago. Compared to last year, the lead-up to the Overseas Access Site remained unchanged.

That means: a 195-kilometre race in Flemish and Walloon Brabant. After the start in Leuven, the peloton heads south. Riders will head towards the first obstacle of the day via Korbeek-Dijle, Neerijse, Sint-Agatha-Rode and others. This doesn't come until about 60 kilometers later, when Simberg He appears. This follows shortly after Sollenberg, Bruin Butte, Eigenbrakelsteenweg And the Rue de Neville.

The riders then cycle for the first time near the Overijse hill. Nearby, because the peloton is already passing through it. This is then followed by an even flatter stretch Avenue François Dubois (0.9 km, 3.9%). After this short climb the riders enter the local lap. This features cobblestones Hertstraat (0.7 km, 3.7%) Holstead (1 km at 5%), difficult cobblestones Moskistraat (0.5 km, 7%) and finally the famous S curve Climb (1.3 km at 3.7%), shortly before arriving in Brusselssteinweg.

A notable change to the local tour compared to last year is the removal of the short but powerful Hagaard climb from the start of the tour. Usually he would always wait right after he finished. The circuit is now about 2 km shorter. After the first pass at the finish, the riders still have to complete three local rounds in and around Overijse.

Wednesday 10 April 2024: Leuven – Overijsee (195.2 km)
Begins: 12.35 pm
He finishes: Between 5:05 pm and 5:35 pm

Favorite

Brabantse Pijl cannot match the field of participants in the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. So, don't look for the Van der Poels and Pogacars of this world, but this actually opens up opportunities for second row riders. There will be a total of eleven international teams present in Leuven, who base their selections mainly around hill riders.

Matthews rides a strong spring – Photo: Cor Vos

Most candidates chose the Tour of the Basque Country as their preparation, but… Michael Matthews It is the exception to the rule. The big Australian was at the Tour of Flanders last week. Just as was the case a few weeks ago in Milan-Sanremo, he appeared to be heading for the closest place of honor in Oudenaardi, but the jury thought differently. Matthews dropped to 11th due to erratic running, but if you look at his form in the recent Classics, this should be a huge boost for the experienced Jayco AlUla skipper. The slightly uphill finish of the Overijse suits him much better than the flatter finishes of the San Remo and Ronde.

28 years old Benoit Cosnefroy Meanwhile, the Brabantse Pijl team also deserves a place in its list of achievements. In terms of regularity, few riders perform better than on the local rides around the Oversea. In the last four editions, Kosnefroi has been on the podium three times, with his worst ever result in the Brabantse Beagle being eighth. He won last year with AG2R Citroën Dorian Godon Ben Healy was surprisingly silent. But of course the Frenchman also wants to win himself. With Godon and Dries de Bondt, the French world team fielded a strong line-up.

The team with the most competitors in this field has to be Israel-Premier Tech. Especially the guy in shape Dylan Tunes You should be able to go far on short climbs. Teuns suffered stomach problems after Strade Bianche, but made a fantastic recovery. Moreover, in the Tour of Flanders he was perhaps the strongest in the group after Mathieu van der Poel. Only in the last case was he caught again by a larger group, so he had to settle for eighth place. Tunes immediately spoke into our microphone about his ambitions for the Hill Classics. We rate him very highly, as do his teammates Steven Williams and the always quick Simon Clarke Corbin Strong.

What is Teune's penalty in the round – Photo: Cor Vos

The atmosphere in Alpecin-Deceuninck couldn't be better at the moment, after the team had its best spring ever. This is full credit to leaders Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, but the riders under them are also performing well. never Axel Lawrencewho rode a powerful Tour of Flanders while on duty. Quentin Hermans Impressed again with a big stage win in the Tour of the Basque Country. It was the biggest victory of Hermans' career. A few days later, he had to leave the Basque stage race due to a hip problem, but that was mainly a precaution.

The UAE offers a mix between riders who usually do well on cobblestones and true hill specialists. Tim Wellens is already enjoying his offseason, but Antonio Morgado and Nils Poulette will extend their spring break by another week. However, it seems that the biggest competitor on this team is us Mark Hershey He is. We'll have to wait a while for the powerful Swiss from last fall. But Hirschi has previously indicated that these mountain classics are his main target in the spring, so he should be hitting the top of his game now.

We haven't mentioned the biggest name at the beginning yet. This is about the Olympic champion Richard Carapaz. After several years of absence, the Ecuadorian will once again be interested in the hill classics. In theory, he should be able to handle it well, but his experience on Belgian roads is limited. Carapaz – who is focusing on the Tour this season – has also not played since Tirreno-Adriatico. Maybe young talent Archie Ryan can show something for EF Education-EasyPost. The 22-year-old Irishman has already shown great things at lower level, and could take the next step in his development here.

What can Carapaz do? – Photo: Cor Vos

We haven't mentioned any of the Belgian teams yet. Not because we have forgotten about them, but simply because the three world-class Belgian teams are in a corner to take a beating. In Soudal Quick-Step they send out a team Luke Lamberti and William Jr. Leserv, while Gino Berkmoz And Andreas Krohn managed to maintain this honor in Lotto Dstny. Berckmoes is also living on a cloud after his great film Coppi e Bartali. Intermarché-Wanty can expect something from Francesco Busatto.

Other strangers? Then we take a look at Andrea Pasqualone (Bahrain Victorious), Vincenzo Albanese (Arkia Hotels B&B), Warren Bargiel (DSM Team Firmenich Post NL), Gianluca Brambilla (Q36.5), former winner Ben Hermans (Cofidis) and Uno – The tenth duo: Tobias Haaland Johannisen-Andreas Lekensund.

Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Michael Matthews
*** Benoît Cosnefroy, Dylan Teunis
** Axel Lawrence, Quentin Hermans, Mark Hirschi
* Gino Berkmoz, Luke Lamberti, Corbin Strong, Richard Carapaz

Site organization

Weather and TV

Weatheronline Brabantse is expecting a very cute Beagle on Wednesday. In and around Overisse, temperatures can rise to 14°C, and the bright spring sun is expected to shine all day. The wind blows only 3 Beaufort from the southwest.

Brabantse Pijl can be followed live in Belgium and the Netherlands. Sporza on VRT1 The race will be broadcast from 3:30 p.m. Eurosport 1 The broadcast starts at the same time. You can also connect to the Internet via Eurosport.nl/Discovery+ To look at. For more information, you can always visit our Cycling on TV TV guide.