From breakaway efforts to decisive attacks, the data behind the second Monument of the year shows why it’s one of the toughest one-day races in the WorldTour.
Cor Vos
The Tour of Flanders is the hillier of the two cobbled Monuments in pro cycling. Where Paris-Roubaix is defined by the sheer severity of the pavé sectors, Flanders swaps outright cobbled savagery for a combination of cobbles and gradients that leave even the best pros nowhere to hide.
The 278.5 km route started in Antwerp this year, close to the Belgian coast, heading southwest for the opening 130 km before arriving at the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont, which acts as the introduction to the Flandrien hellingen.
As is the case every year, the early break is an opportunity for any rider outside the main contenders to get up the road, allowing them to tackle a portion of the climbing before the favourites inevitably ignite proceedings and bring them back. This strategy may cost more energy in the race’s early hours, but that is the paradox of Flanders: the break works harder early, but has a chance to hang on later.
When the race reaches the cobbles, it is defined by the repetitive nature of the profile, steadily accumulating anaerobic fatigue. Even the longest climb, the 2.2 km Oude Kwaremont, is typically dispatched in around three to four minutes. Still, each of the 16 climbs pushes riders over their threshold, with only a handful of minutes to recover before the next effort begins.
Flanders has to be ridden to be understood; the gradients, the distances between the climbs, and the run-ins to each climb can’t simply be displayed as numbers and tell the full story. But the numbers can offer some indication of what it takes to compete in one of the most attritional races of the season.
The battle for the breakaway
Heading out from Antwerp, it was only a matter of time before the early attacks started flying. However, compared to previous years, the battle for break formation was relatively conservative. For example, in 2025, this phase of the race took close to an hour of repeated attacks before the day’s move finally established itself, with Connor Swift (Ineos) pushing a normalised power of 371 W during that period.
Did we do a good job with this story?