Almost a month after Opening Weekend, cobbled Classics season is back and in full swing following Classic Brugge-De Panne and E3 Saxo Classic earlier this week.
Gent-Wevelgem, which runs on Sunday, is next on the calendar of major Classics. The race ranks among the most prestigious cobbled meets on the calendar, barring the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
The men’s Gent-Wevelgem route tackles a 250km course from Ypres to Wevelgem, while the women will race a 169km course. Key climbs such as the Scherpenberg, Monteberg, and the famous cobbled Kemmelberg, as well as possible rain and crosswinds, will prove decisive as the race hosts its annual battle between sprinters and attackers.
Past winners including Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) all feature on the lineups, while a host of other Classics superstars will join them in the battle for the title – the 88th for the men and 14th for the women.
Read on for our 10 contenders to watch at Gent-Wevelgem and Gent-Wevelgem Women.
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Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
Reigning women’s champion Lorena Wiebes returns to the race as the top favourite for success once again with the number one dossard on her back.
Boasting a near-unbeaten record so far in 2025, the Dutchwoman leads an SD Worx squad, which includes Lotte Kopecky, Nokere Koerse winner Marta Lach, and Mischa Bredewold, into the race. At the season-opening UAE Tour, she racked up three sprint wins from three, while she also triumphed on the cobbles at La Samyn earlier this month.
Wiebes’ biggest win to date – the biggest of her career so far – came last weekend at Milan-San Remo, where Kopecky did the chase-down work before she sped through to edge out Marianne Vos in the sprint.
At this early stage of the year, she looks like the clear top sprinter in the world, meaning that her prospective rivals will have to work hard in the ‘hill zone’ – including those two ascents of the Kemmelberg – to ensure she’s not in the lead group at the finish. (DO)
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
In the absence of teammate and Milan-San Remo winner Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen will take up a clear leadership role for Alpecin-Deceuninck as the spring Classics continue across Belgium at Gent-Wevelgem.
Already third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and winner at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Philipsen will undoubtedly want to continue his success in the more sprinter-friendly one-day races.
His form was a question mark after a crash at Nokere Koerse, but he started San Remo and the Classic-Brugge De Panne, though he could not contest the finals in either race. Philipsen has won De Panne twice before but was one of many disrupted by multiple crashes late on, so he couldn’t give an indication of his form ahead of the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem.
The Belgian sprinter hasn’t yet won Gent-Wevelgem, but he played a key role in last year’s final. There, he took second in the bunch sprint for fourth place, while his teammate Van der Poel finished second to the day’s winner, Mads Pedersen.
Watch for Philipsen to be among the sprint contenders going for the victory should the race come down to a bunch kick to the line. (KF)
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep)
With six sprint wins already under his belt in 2025, including two at Paris-Nice, European champion Tim Merlier has proven himself as the top sprinter of the season so far – even if he’s 2-2 in the head-to-head battle against the other claimant to that title, Jonathan Milan.
As such, the Belgian certainly ranks among those riders to watch at Gent-Wevelgem, even if he has yet to finish among the winning group in five participations at the sprinter-friendly but volatile race.
In recent years, small groups of hardy riders with quick finishers have gone to the line, with Merlier typically in the next large group on the road. He’s proven he can triumph at less prestigious races such as Scheldeprijs, Le Samyn, and Nokere Koerse, but he will need to show something more to do the same here.
His involvement in a late crash at the Classic Brugge-De Panne left him with a knee wound requiring stitches, so his ability to challenge this weekend is now under question. In any case, his team can look to Yves Lampaert and rising star Paul Magnier in a spring Classics squad that can once again boast several number-one options. (DO)
Chiara Consonni (Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto)
Wearing the colour of her new team Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto, Chiara Consonni lines up with a new role as the team’s sprinter for the Spring Classics.
The Italian has always been a contender in the faster, sprint-friendly races, but her team has rarely had a key sprint contender in the Classics, mainly choosing to focus on the hillier affairs like the Tour of Flanders.
Consonni has had a promising start to the season, with a few shining moments at the Challenge Mallorca, UAE Tour Women and GP Oetingen, but she hasn’t had that big win yet in 2025. However, she does have the experience, with previous wins at Dwars door Vlaanderen and three stages of the Giro.
With a roster that also includes Soraya Paladin and Zoe Bäckstedt, who are capable of top performances at Gent-Wevelgem, too, it will be interesting to see how cohesive the team will be in supporting a sprinter like Consonni should there be a bunch sprint. (KF)
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)
Filippo Ganna’s focus on the cobbled Classics is a relatively recent phenomenon for the Italian champion. This year’s outing at Gent-Wevelgem is only his second appearance at the race in five years.
His record, consisting of three non-finishes and a 43rd place, isn’t much to shout about, but his form and proven ability on the cobbles means he’s certainly a contender this time.
He heads to Belgium off the back of a pair of second places, both career bests, at Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo. His focus in the coming weeks will be Paris-Roubaix, where he finished sixth last year, but Gent-Wevelgem will be a vital tune-up before the Queen of the Classics.
Despite his eminence as a time triallist, Ganna has also shown that he has a fast finishing kick in the sprints. He’ll be facing off against a host of stronger sprinters on Sunday, though, which means that a win will likely come off the back of that time trial ability. (DO)
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Elisa Balsamo is one of the most consistent early-season performers, and this year is no different, with wins at Setmana Valenciana and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The Italian sprinter also finished seventh at the revived Milan-San Remo last weekend.
She is a contender for most of the major one-day races and became known for her golden week during the spring Classics in 2022, where she won Binda, the Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem, all while wearing the rainbow jersey of the world champion.
She has had some unfortunate crashes in the last two seasons, but she has clearly recovered and bounced back to winning form this spring, so watch for her to contest the sprint at Gent-Wevelgem. Lucinda Brand, Clara Copponi, and Emma Norsgaard will line up in support for Lidl-Trek on Sunday. (KF)
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)
One of the most memorable moments in cycling was Biniam Girmay’s victory at Gent-Wevelgem in 2022, the same year he also won a stage at the Giro d’Italia, and again making history after winning three stages at the Tour de France and taking home the points jersey last year.
All eyes are on Girmay for another strong Classics season, and he is slowly building his form with multiple top-10 finishes, even if he hasn’t won yet. He rolled across the line in 14th among the main chase group at Milan-San Remo last weekend.
A perfect course for a rider like Girmay, with sharp climbs and cobbled terrain, Gent-Wevelgem is technical and challenging but still caters to the fastest in the peloton, so expect him to be up there contending for another top result
He lines up with an opportunistic team that includes Jonas Rutsch, Arne Marit, and Laurenz Rex, all capable of finishing in the front group and supporting Girmay to another victory in Wevelgem. (KF)
Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
Italian veteran Elisa Longo Borghini is preparing to take on her first cobbled campaign away from Lidl-Trek in seven seasons after moving to UAE Team ADQ in the winter. Gent-Wevelgem will be her first cobbled race with her new team.
Last spring, she added a second Tour of Flanders win to her palmarès, though she has yet to taste success at Gent-Wevelgem. Her best result in eight participations is a 10th-place finish in 2020.
Still, she’s in fine form after Milan-San Remo, a race she was only prevented from winning thanks to Lotte Kopecky’s work chasing down her late attack. With four of the last five editions of Gent-Wevelgem resulting in mass or reduced sprints, though, it may be tough to pull off a similar solo move.
Longo Borghini can rely upon a strong support squad on Sunday, in any case. She’ll bring Elynor Bäckstedt, Sofia Bertizzolo, and Karlijn Swinkels along for the ride. (DO)
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
A post-Paris-Nice illness may have prevented Mads Pedersen from being in top form at Milan-San Remo last week, reported Lidl-Trek manager Kim Andersen. However, he should be back to his best for the cobbled Classics.
He won Gent-Wevelgem for the second time last year and is a perennial contender at the race, having finished fifth and seventh in recent editions. With a perfect blend of endurance, ability on the cobblestones, and his finishing sprint, it’s no surprise to see him among the top favourites again.
Pedersen has wins at the Tour de la Provence and at Paris-Nice, where he showed off his climbing super-domestique chops on several occasions, to his name in 2025. However, the coming weeks, culminating in another tilt at Paris-Roubaix, are his main focus of this first third of the season.
He’ll be backed up by several strong options this weekend, with Classic Brugge-De Panne winner Jonathan Milan a favourite in his own right if he survives the Kemmelberg. Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns – who recently scored his first win in four years at the Bredene Koksijde Classic – are also in the Lidl-Trek selection. (DO)
Lotta Henttala (EF Education-Oatly)
Another former winner of Gent-Wevelgem, Lotta Henttala, lines up as EF Education-Oatly’s sprinter for the flatter Spring Classics. She has ample experience in the one-day races and will likely also be the team’s on-road captain.
She is in her second year with EF Education-Oatly and will lead a team that includes Nina Berton, Letizia Borghesi, Nina Kessler, Sarah Roy and Babette van der Wolf, who are all one-day race specialists capable of supporting Henttala in a final at the major races.
In addition to her victory at Gent-Wevelgem in 2017, the Finnish rider has also won some of the biggest one-day races at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Vårgårda and a stage at the Giro.
She opened her season with a win at the Challenge Mallorca and has not competed in any of the Spring Classics yet, but this could be where she has chosen to start her European campaign, selecting fewer races to have a greater impact. (KF)
Honourable mentions
Despite having the world’s top sprinter as a teammate at SD Worx-Protime, Lotte Kopecky is always a contender. She showed at Milan-San Remo that she’s more than happy to work for Lorena Wiebes, but if the Dutchwoman doesn’t make it over the hills, she’ll take over the reins.
San Remo was Kopecky’s first race day of the season. She took ninth after working on the Via Roma but expect her to be approaching top form at Gent-Wevelgem as she heads towards Monumental appointments on home ground at the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
There’ll be no Wout van Aert (or Tadej Pogačar or Mathieu van der Poel, for that matter) at Gent-Wevelgem, but Visma-Lease A Bike boast a top contender in Olav Kooij, nonetheless. The young Dutchman heads up a squad also missing the ill Christophe Laporte, but he can count on Victor Campenaerts, Tiesj Benoot, and Dylan van Baarle.
He has two top-10 finishes to his name in two previous starts, and he’s in good form, with a win at Tirreno-Adriatico, a podium at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and an eighth place at San Remo on his recent palmarès.
Michael Matthews again missed out on the big result at one of his spring goals, Milan-San Remo, last weekend. The Australian can take heart from the fact that he finished best of the rest from the chasing pack behind ‘the big three’, however.
His favourite races, the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race, will be his main goals later in the spring. He’ll have a real chance on Sunday, though, providing the race is hard enough to drop some of the quicker finishers before the final.
With no wins yet in the bag outside of Juliana Lodoño’s Colombian national title, Picnic-PostNL will hope Charlotte Kool can speed to glory on Sunday. The Dutch sprinter has emerged as one of the fastest women in the world in recent seasons, but she hasn’t yet scored a big spring Classics victory.
Kool was closer than ever before last year, going 2-4-2 at De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem, and Scheldeprijs. Could this weekend see her breakthrough and hit the finish line first? She’ll need better luck than at the recent GP Oetingen, where she crashed out of contention in the closing kilometres.
Finally, Jordi Meeus is perhaps an overlooked option, having scored the final podium spot from the peloton last year. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter isn’t ranked among the very top favourites, but he can’t be counted out, even if he’s had a lengthy break from racing after Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. (DO)
