Gent - Wevelgem 2023: Favourites

Like most races in Flanders, the weather is hugely a important factor in Gent-Wevelgem and it does not look nice for this edition. Strong winds often cause havoc and that’s exactly what the weather forecast promises.

The first part of the race takes place on flat en and exposed roads before the riders enter a section with a series of hills and three unpaved roads within 63 kilometres. The last 34 kilometres are played out on exposed roads again, where crosswinds and echelons are imminent.

Attackers are a perfect target in the flat run-in to Wevelgem. On the other hand, if the attackers are powerful enough – and the race has been hard enough – a chase does not always pay off. Which has been the case in most recent editions.

Seven participants in the 2023-edition of Gent-Wevelgem are familiar with the sensation of winning the race – Boasson Hagen (2009), Degenkolb (2014), Van Avermaet (2017), Sagan (2018, 2016, 2013), Kristoff (2019), Pedersen (2020), Van Aert (2021), and Girmay (2022).

The Flemish classics of this season were won by Van Baarle (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad), Benoot (Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne), Philipsen (Brugge-De Panne) and Van Aert (E3 Saxo Classic).

Favourites 2023 Gent-Wevelgem

***** Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen
**** Biniam Girmay, Filippo Ganna, Søren Kragh Andersen
*** Christophe Laporte, Tim Merlier, Arnaud De Lie, Matej Mohoric
** Fabio Jakobsen, Jasper Stuyven, Arnaud Démare, Greg Van Avermaet, Tim Wellens
* Dylan Groenewegen, Caleb Ewan, Fernando Gaviria, Alexander Kristoff, Stefan Küng