Gent-Wevelgem 2024 - Prediction

Sunday March 24th: Ieper - Wevelgem (253.1 km)

Who will win Gent-Wevelgem 2024 according to the computer? The race will start in Ieper and finishes after 253.1 km, 9 hills and 3 cobbled sectors in Wevelgem. 100km into the race, the riders will enter 'De Moeren', a phase of the race where the wind will have impact. The predicted cross-tailwind will be quite strong. Crosswinds will be possible. At 100km of the finish the riders will enter the hill-zone which ends at 35km before the finish at the final climb of Kemmelberg. 

📺Eurosport 1 (14.15u), Sporza (13.30u)
⏰10.40 u
🏁16.35 u
⛅️Cloudy, strong wind, 9 degrees

Stats- Gent-Wevelgem

Roger De Vlaeminck and Johan Museeuw are the big names not present at the honour roll of Gent-Wevelgem. De Vlaeminck finished 4 times 2nd 4 keer and once third in 11 starts. Museeuw finished top-3 in three editions. Tom Boonen missed out on Omloop, Gilbert lacks a victory in Milano-Sanremo and De Vlaemincks big rival Eddy Merckx was not victorious in the E3-Classic.  nooit te zegevieren in de E3-Prijs.

King Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan is the King of Gent-Wevelgem; 6 podiums and three victories by Sagan. The Australian Matthew Hayman has most starts to his name: 17 starts. He finished 15 out of 17 starts, just as many as Hincapie and Museeuw. Three riders won both E3-Classic and Gent-Wevelgem in the samen season: Cipollini won both, Boonen did it twice and Van Avermaet is the most recent rider with double-victory.

To sprint or not to sprint?

The big difference between E3-Classic and Gent-Wevelgem is reflected in the way the winner wins the race. In Gent-Wevelgem a large group regularly sprints for the win, in E3 someone often wins solo or after a sprint in a small group. Will a large group return to the front of the race after the last ascent of the Kemmelberg? Since 1980, only 3 times has a rider managed to win solo, recently it was often a group of 4 to 10 riders. 2015 was the last edition someone arrived in Wevelgem after a solo. Luca Paolini became the oldest winner in a classic since the 1990s after a day of wind and rain, with only 39 riders reaching the finish. It was a real group sprint in 2019, when Alexander Kristoff triumphed. Last year, Laporte and Van Aert managed to stay ahead together.

Startlist 2024

The startlist quality of Gent-Wevelgem 2024 is lower than last year, but still higher than in many previous editions. 2 riders from the best 10 in the world (Phiilpsen and Pedersen) and 12 of the best 50 riders are at the start. The SQ is also slightly higher this year in Gent-Wevelgem than in the E3 Classic, mainly due to the width of the starting field with many strong sprinters. The startlist is also the youngest on average since 2009. The sprinters on the startlist are in good sahpe and already scored many points. In the past 4 weeks it were Philipsen, Merlier, Kooij and Matthews who scored most points.

First after Sagan?

If Van der Poel wins, he will be the third reigning World Champion to win Gent-Wevelgem after Sagan and Van Looy. Sagan even managed to triumph twice in the rainbow jersey: 2016 and 2018.

Merckx, Cipollini and... Philipsen?

If Jasper Philipsen manages to take advantage of his strong team, and mainly teammate Mathieu van der Poel, he can write history by winning Milan-Sanremo and Gent-Wevelgem in the same season. Two tough races where sprinters have limited chances at victory. It would be the first time since Mario Cipollini in 2002. Eddy Merckx also won both races in one season in 1967 at the age of 22, in the first years of a glorious career.