Mathieu van der Poel skips Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Mathieu van der Poel considered also participating in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday, but the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner will not start the classic tomorrow after all. His team Alpecin-Deceuninck is mainly relying on defending champion Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves.

"It's a shame we won't have him at the start of our race, but the field is strong enough to still make it an exciting competition," says Peter Debaveye, the race director of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, to Het Laatste Nieuws.

After the finish of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, participating in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was still on the table. "We'll decide on the bus," said the Dutch classics specialist in Sporza’s studio. Team director Christoph Roodhooft also mentioned that the scenario would still be discussed.

Philipsen or Groves?
Alpecin-Deceuninck still has plenty of contenders without Van der Poel. The main favorite for the win seems to be Jasper Philipsen. The strong sprinter won Kuurne last year, after an excellent lead-out from Kaden Groves, who will be back on Sunday and, with his fast sprint, is also a very dangerous threat for victory.

The two fast men can count on support from Sente Sentjes, Jonas Rickaert, Jonas Geens, Johan Price-Pejtersen, and Silvan Dillier on Sunday.