In its 66th edition, the E3 Saxo Classic is the only one of the big Classics to not be run by either Flanders Classics or ASO. As a result, it’s notorious for its controversial publicity, and only has a men’s event, but away from that, it is a thrilling race.
Effectively, it is a miniature Tour of Flanders, featuring the likes of the Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont and the Taainberg across its 208km, although it has a fairly flat run in, ending seemingly in a residential street. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) has won the last two editions.
You might be more familiar with the race’s former name, E3 Harelbeke, but the title of the event is also famous for being inspired by the name of a local motorway, which isn’t even called that anymore. It’s all very cycling.
The race often finishes in a sprint between a small group of favourites, as happened last year, when Van Aert outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in Harelbeke, after the group had gone clear with 40km to go.
Other winners in recent years have been heavyweight one-day riders, like Kasper Asgreen, Greg van Avermaet, and Niki Terpstra. Asgreen was the last rider to take the win at E3 and then double up at Flanders just over a week later.
Van Aert and Van der Poel are back on the start list for this year, but there is no Pogačar, who is on a different schedule in 2024. Aiming to upset the duo’s rivalry will be Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dsnty) among others.
E3 Saxo Classic 2024 key information
Date: Friday, 22 March
Location: Harelbeke, Belgium
2023 winner: Wout van Aert
TV: Discovery+/Eurosport
Distance: 207.6km
E3 Saxo Classic 2024 route
The ‘mini Flanders’ takes in 17 bergs in the Flemish Ardennes, along with nine cobbled sectors, of which some are also climbs. The Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont are the key ones, although they are raced in reverse to how they fall in the Tour of Flanders.
The Kwaremont is often the launching point for decisive attacks at E3, but the last opportunity comes at the Tiegemberg, just over 20km from the finish in Harelbeke. However, the race is often broken up much earlier than this, thanks to the repetition of the “bergs” throughout the race’s 207.6km. It is brutal.
E3 Saxo Classic 2024 riders to watch
Wout van Aert
Visma-Lease a Bike
*****
Van Aert leads the favourites for E3 thanks to being the winner of the last two editions. Last year, he outfoxed Van der Poel and Pogačar in the finale, while in 2022 he broke away with Christophe Laporte at a similar point, with 42.3km to go. The Belgian hasn’t raced since winning Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the end of February, instead training at altitude. His teammates Matteo Jorgenson and Laporte could also play a key part in the race.
Mathieu van der Poel
Alpecin-Deceuninck
*****
The world champion had a sparkling 2023, but his exact form this season is unknown yet. He looked the part at Milan-San Remo last Saturday, his first race of the year, setting up teammate Jasper Philipsen for the win, but will he be able to turn it on on the cobbles? Van der Poel has won Flanders twice but only managed to podium at E3.
Mads Pedersen
Lidl-Trek
****
Also making his cobbled debut for 2024 will be Lidl-Trek’s Pedersen. The Dane had a stunning start to this season, winning six races at the beginning of February, but missed out on wins narrowly at Paris-Nice. He then failed to make the podium at Milan-San Remo, but the fact he was in that leading group of 12 proves his form.
Arnaud De Lie
Lotto Dsnty
****
Belgium’s next great hope has won 19 races over the past two seasons, and will be itching to get something on the board in 2024. De Lie finished fourth at the GP de Denain and fifth at the Bredene Koksijde Classic last week, but can his team get him to a place where he can challenge the above contenders?
Stefan Küng
Groupama-FDJ
***
The Frenchman is a reliable bet for the top five at this race, having regularly made the top 10 at the biggest one-day races in recent years. If he can time his attack right, the rouleur has more than enough power to solo to the finish.
Matej Mohorič
Bahrain-Victorious
***
In the absence of Tadej Pogačar, Mohorič is the top Slovenian at E3. The former Milan-San Remo winner has already won this season, at Valenciana, and has looked impressive at both Strade Bianche and San Remo. Another solo win specialist.
E3 Saxo Classic 2024 start list
Visma-Lease a Bike
VAN AERT Wout
BENOOT Tiesj
JORGENSON Matteo
AFFINI Edoardo
TRATNIK Jan
VAN BAARLE Dylan
Alpecin-Deceuninck
VAN DER POEL Mathieu
GOGL Michael
HOLLMANN Juri
KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren
MEURISSE Xandro
RIESEBEEK Oscar
VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio
Intermarché-Wanty
GIRMAY Biniam
BRAET Vito
DE POOTER Dries
HERREGODTS Rune
PAGE Hugo
SMITH Dion
ZIMMERMANN Georg
Soudal Quick-Step
ALAPHILIPPE Julian
ASGREEN Kasper
ČERNÝ Josef
LAMPAERT Yves
MOSCON Gianni
PEDERSEN Casper
SVRČEK Martin
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
ALBANESE Vincenzo
GRONDIN Donavan
LE BERRE Mathis
LOUVEL Matis
OWSIAN Łukasz
MOZZATO Luca
Astana Qazaqstan
BRUSSENSKIY Gleb
FEDOROV Yevgeniy
GAZZOLI Michele
GIDICH Yevgeniy
GRUZDEV Dmitriy
SELIG Rüdiger
SYRITSA Gleb
Bahrain-Victorious
MOHORIČ Matej
BRUTTOMESSO Alberto
WRIGHT Fred
MIHOLJEVIĆ Fran
PASQUALON Andrea
SCOTT Cameron
WIŚNIOWSKI Łukasz
Bora-Hansgrohe
VAN POPPEL Danny
HERZOG Emil
DENZ Nico
LÜHRS Luis-Joe
MACIEJUK Filip
MULLEN Ryan
HALLER Marco
Cofidis
DE GENDT Aimé
GOUGEARD Alexis
MAHOUDO Nolann
NOPPE Christophe
RENARD Alexis
ROBEET Ludovic
ZINGLE Axel
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
NAESEN Oliver
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
DE BONDT Dries
DE PESTEL Sander
LABROSSE Jordan
RETAILLEAU Valentin
TRONCHON Bastien
dsm-firmenich PostNL
EDDY Patrick
EDMONDSON Alex
LEIJNSE Enzo
MÄRKL Niklas
VAN UDEN Casper
WELTEN Bram
EF Education-EasyPost
BETTIOL Alberto
BISSEGGER Stefan
DOULL Owain
HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich
ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack
RUTSCH Jonas
VALGREN Michael
Groupama-FDJ
KÜNG Stefan
ASKEY Lewis
BYSTRØM Sven Erik
LE GAC Olivier
LIENHARD Fabian
MADOUAS Valentin
RUSSO Clément
Ineos Grenadiers
NARVÁEZ Jhonatan
RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
SHEFFIELD Magnus
SWIFT Ben
SWIFT Connor
TARLING Joshua
Jayco-AlUla
MATTHEWS Michael
DURBRIDGE Luke
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl
O’BRIEN Kelland
QUICK Blake
REINDERS Elmar
Lidl-Trek
PEDERSEN Mads
GIBBONS Ryan
KIRSCH Alex
STUYVEN Jasper
VACEK Mathias
VERGAERDE Otto
HOOLE Daan
Movistar
LAZKANO Oier
CANAL Carlos
CAVAGNA Rémi
JACOBS Johan
NORSGAARD Mathias
MORO Manlio
RANGEL Vinicius
UAE Team Emirates
WELLENS Tim
OLIVEIRA Ru
COVI Alessandr
VINK Michael
BJERG Mikke
HIRSCHI Marc
POLITT Nils
Lotto Dsnty
DE LIE Arnaud
CAMPENAERTS Victor
DE BUYST Jasper
EENKHOORN Pascal
GUARNIERI Jacopo
VAN MOER Brent
Israel-Premier Tech
FUGLSANG Jakob
HOULE Hugo
NEILANDS Krists
SHEEHAN Riley
STEWART Jake
VAN ASBROECK Tom
Q36.5 Pro Cycling
NIZZOLO Giacomo
DEVRIENDT Tom
FRISON Frederik
PARISINI Nicolò
STEIMLE Jannik
TOWNSEND Rory
ZUKOWSKY Nickolas
Tudor Pro Cycling
TRENTIN Matteo
BOHLI Tom
BRUN Nils
ERIKSSON Jacob
KRIEGER Alexander
MAYRHOFER Marius
PLUIMERS Rick
Uno-X Mobility
TILLER Rasmus
ABRAHAMSEN Jonas
BENDIXEN Louis
HOELGAARD Markus
LARSEN Niklas
BLUME LEVY William
RESELL Erik Nordsæter
Flanders-Baloise
BONNEU Kamiel
CLYNHENS Toon
CRAPS Lars
DEJAEGHER Jasper
MARIS Elias
VANDENSTORME Dylan
VERCOUILLIE Victor
Bingoal WB
BLOUWE Louis
DESAL Ceriel
PERSICO Davide
PEYSKENS Dimitr
VAN ROOY Kenneth
WEEMAES Sasha