Tour of Flanders 2025: the ten favourites of the race

Bologna, 5 April 2025 – Two great phenomena, plus many outsiders who will try to surprise. The Giro delle Fiandre 2025 will live on the great duel between Mathieu Van der Poel, three-time winner, and Tadej pogacar, winner in 2023. The others will try to exploit any possible tactics to try to outwit them, but it will be very difficult. The two dominators of cycling appear unbeatable when they engage high gears and this is especially true on the stern walls of Flanders. Italy plays the Pippo card Ganna being without Alberto Bettiol (2019 winner), stopped by a lung infection. Let's see ten possible protagonists of the Ronde.  

Mathieu van der Poel

He is the reigning champion. He won in 2024, 2020 and 2020 and above all in the last five editions he has never done worse than second place. He starts with the stripes of absolute favorite after having won the Sanremo and the E3 Saxo Classic. He also has the advantage, compared to Pogacar, of being able to win in a narrow sprint. He holds up on the climbs and goes strong in the sprint: you need to drop him.  

Tadej pogacar

He won in 2023 and said he feels he can beat Van der Poel. At Sanremo he was defeated in the sprint together with Pippo Ganna and his mission is to drop Vdp before Oudernaarde. Will he attack in the finale with Kwaremont and Paterberg or will he ride hard much earlier? The feeling is that he will have to unleash high watts to drop the Dutchman.  

Wout van aert

In normal conditions he would be the third favorite together with the other two, but he is not experiencing a brilliant moment of condition, hypothesis confirmed at Dwaars where Visma, three against one, was defeated by Neilson Powless. It is difficult that he can withstand the shock of a Pogacar attack and even in the sprint he does not have the legs of the best days.

Mads pedersen

He is looking for his first victory in a monument classic but he is up against a generation of phenomena that is difficult to beat. He started the season at a high level with a seventh place in Sanremo and above all a victory in Gand Wevelgem and a second place in the E3 Saxo Classic beaten only by Van der Poel. Allla Dwaars, the little Flanders, finished fifth. He is always there, but beating the phenomena is tough…  

Neilson Powless

He is a bit of a man who knows how to do everything well even if there is often someone who does it better. He surprisingly won at Dwaars beating the entire Visma team and he also wants to surprise at Ronde where he has a fifth place in 2023 in his CV. He can also be there for the podium.  

Filippo Gana

It is, in fact, the main blue card. Flanders is not exactly his race, and next Sunday's Roubaix is ​​certainly in his thoughts, but he has shown that he has good legs with the second place in Sanremo, the third in the E3 Saxo Classic and the podium in Tirreno-Adriatico. Perhaps the slopes of the Flanders walls are a bit too much for his characteristics, but he can try to do a good race.  

Matej Mohoric

He won a monument, the Sanremo 2022, breaking the balance with a downhill attack, but Flanders is not exactly his race with a twenty-first place in 2022 and then two consecutive retirements. The start of the season was not brilliant and in the one-day races he did not obtain great results, but when you least expect it he pops up. He is the captain of Bahrain and is dangerous for his unconventional and unscrupulous race tactics.  

Paul Magnier

The wolfpack does not have an absolute champion, but it can count on a compact team, with the Lampaert and Magnier cards to play. The Frenchman won a stage at the Etoile de Besseges and came second at the Omloop Niewsblad. He is young, still inexperienced on certain stages, but the engine is there considering the junior world title in 2022. He was born in 2004 and will surely blossom: he should be kept an eye on at Flanders.  

Matteo Jorgenson

Visma can play on different tables. If Wout Van Aert doesn't have the right legs, one could think of a green light for the American who won Paris-Nice, finished ninth at the E3 Saxo Classic and fourth, in sacrifice for Van Aert, at Dwaars. He hasn't yet achieved prestigious placings in the monuments, best ninth at Flanders in 2023, but at 26 years old it seems the time has come to take the reins as captain of Visma.  

Lennert Van Eetvelt

To prepare for the spring classics he did the UAE Tour and the Tour of Catalonia, while in the one-day races he took part in the Strade Bianche where he came in ninth. He is the captain of Lotto, ready for the leap in quality and definitive consecration at a certain level. Among the monument classics, for now, few things to report apart from a seventh in the Lombardy, but the young Belgian wants to send a signal. His skills as a rouleur-climber can be very useful in a tough and long race like Flanders.  

The other Italians

With Alberto's absence Bettiol, who won in 2019, the blue cards are significantly reduced. In addition to Pippo Ganna, the Italian team can count on Luca Severed, also second in the 2024 edition, even if the start of the season did not see him as a great protagonist (eleventh at De Panne and thirteenth at Kuurne). In the Tudor house the captain is Matteo Trentino given the absence of Julian Alaphilippe, while Davide is there for Astana Dancers, fresh from sixth place at Ghent Wevelgem.  

Where to see it on TV

The Tour of Flanders 2025 will be held on Sunday 6 April with a full live broadcast, starting at 9.45:1, on Eurosport 210, Sky channel XNUMX and streaming on Discovery Plus and Dazn. Commentary by Luca Gregorio and Riccardo Magrini. There will be no free-to-air live broadcast on Rai, which has not purchased the rights to the race.

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