Impatient at the idea of being on Sunday, the Lion of Flanders agreed to lend itself to the game of forecasts by delivering the top 5 of its favorites to us.
1. And 2. Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert: “They are at the start to win”
The first names cited by Johan Museeuw are those of Remco Evenepoel (Sudal Quick-Step) and Wout Van Aert (Visma | Lease A Bike). “In this kind of race, it is to them that I think right away”he explains. The two runners, who come back from their internship in Tignes in order to prepare the Tour de France, are expected at the offensive. “”Whenever they are present at the start of a championship, it is not to hide. They have already been both Belgium, but being again is a goal for them. “
A late internship return, two championships and a quick jump at home: here is the agenda of Remco Evenepoel to the Tour de France
And it feels like it will be difficult to dissociate them this Sunday. When one accelerated, it is very likely that the other follow, as was the case at La Flèche Brabançonne, last April, won by R.EV in front of WVA. “Once they are going to put the gas, it will be difficult for everyonecontinues our consultant. Remco and Wout are used to opening the race early enough and they are part of the new generation, to whom it is not a problem to roll two or three hours thoroughly to make the difference. We know they are able to try one, two or three times. Until permanently out of a group. “
And that’s good: Binche’s route allows you to imagine this kind of scenario. “There are many places for them where it will be possible to place accelerations.”
3. Jasper Philipsen: “He will have an additional motivation”
If he did not wish to make a hierarchy between Evenepoel and Van Aert, Johan Museeuw is more decided with regard to the sprinters. He quotes, obviously, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Deceuninck). But he places the second a little more favorite than the first. “For me, Philipsen is a little more comfortable on the kind of difficult arrival like Binche and he has a greater resistance capacity when the race is long and difficult.”
Our analyst also points to another data: “Among the five favorites I quote, Jasper is the only one who has not yet been a Belgian champion, which is necessarily an additional motivation element for him and his team, which will be dedicated to his cause.”
Philipsen obtained what he had come to seek on the Tour of Belgium: confidence and a victory
4. Tim Merlier: “He is in great shape”
With 10 victories (already!) This season, including two on the Tour of Belgium, Tim Merlier (Sudal Quick-Step) arrives on the Belgian championship with enormous confidence. “He showed that he was ready and that he was really in great shape.” But in the event of a wear race, the final could be a little fatal.
Unconsciously, is it possible that Merlier does not take all the risks to win a third jersey of Belgian champion (after 2019 and 2022), a few days before a Tour de France where the yellow jersey seems to reach him in Lille? “I don’t thinkthe , the drought of Museeew. LEs Sprinters are riders apart and once we are in the heart of the matter, we don’t think about that. “
Tim Merlier targets a third title at the Belgian Championships: “The hardest race of the year”
5. Arnaud de Lie: “He has class and with him, anything is possible”
Taking the title following his victory in Zottegem last year, Arnaud de Lie (Lotto) advances to Binche in full reconstruction, after having lived the most complicated spring of his young career. But Lescheret’s bull seems to have digested this troubled period and found a more positive state of mind. His third place on the Brussels Cycling Classic and his Tour de Switzerland reassured. So much so that Johan Museeuw quotes it among the favorites.
“Arnaud de Lie, I believe in itsupports the lion of Flanders. He is always looking for the optimal condition and the good pace but a championship is a separate race. Even if I don’t place it as the big favorite, I want to quote it. Arnaud is a runner who has class. With him, anything is possible. He will be very motivated. “
Arnaud de Lie confides before putting his title of Belgian champion into play: “I went around in circles and I had my head that was running”
Especially since he finds roads he knows well. “The arrival, he knows it by heart since he won Binche-Chimay-Binche in 2024, with the way. It is an advantage. We also know that it is a runner who is not afraid to be offensive and to go in a blow if the situation arises. “
LIE, which will obviously carry the bib 1, can also count on an armada around him. Lotto will be the best represented team at the start, Sunday, with… 19 runners in the startlist. “Even if a championship is a difficult race to control, it is an advantage of being so numerous. We have seen in recent weeks that the Lotto team has found colors – With, for example, Berckmoes’ victory in Durbuy – After a complicated first part of the season. I imagine them very motivated at the idea of making a result. “
6. Outsiders: “Thibau Nys does not need much training to be in good shape”
The top 5 of Johan Museeuw may be well defined, our analyst does not exclude a surprise. “A championship is so specific that we can expect a lot of things. A runner like Thibau Nys (Lidl Trek) is clearly among the outsiders. His illness on the Tour of Belgium may have decreased it a little but he is a young runner (22 years old), so he does not need a lot of training to be in good shape. At his age, we can be ready in a few days and the arrival is well.” Museeuw takes the opportunity to slip him a piece of advice: “In its place, I would stay wisely in the wheels until arrival and I would wait for the final bump to make my big effort.”
A advice which can also apply to a certain Jordi Meeus (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), recent winner of the only stage for sprinters of the Tour de Switzerland and the Sprint of Copenhagen a few days later. “He gained a lot of confidence with these two victories and he will have to be held to the eye”ends Museeuw, who also points to a runner like Tiesj Benoot as a runner being able to “Start from afar and to drive until the arrival“.
In short, we may not be bored this Sunday in the city of Gille.
