Tour of Flanders: Betting tips, race preview, analysis and predictions

TV: Eurosport 1, from 9.15am Sunday

For the next two Sundays, two key races of the cycling calendar will be played out not just on the tarmac of northern Europe but also its cobbles.

Next weekend the hardest men on two wheels face a day in hell in the infamous of all the one-day races, Paris-Roubaix. This week they take on the prestigious Tour of Flanders, the year's second Monument.

The first of the five flagship one-day races, Milan-San Remo, was for the sprinters but De Ronde, as Sunday's race is known, is all about the all-rounders of the peloton.

The short, sharp hills, known as bergs, of the Flemish Ardennes are the battleground for the race and when cobbles are added into the mix, as they are on the famous Oude Kwaremont and Koppenberg ascents, the race has the potential to be blown wide open.

Bike-handling skills are paramount so it is perhaps no surprise that three of the first four in the betting are either former or current cyclocross racers.

Zdenek Stybar has focused on the road for some time now and heads into the race as number one option for all-conquering classics unit QuickStep.

The Czech rider has been in fine form, notching up wins at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and E3 Harelbeke as well as finishing fourth at Strade Bianche. De Ronde could be his moment to win a first Monument.

Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are multiple world champions in cyclo-cross and have made a seamless transition to the road.

Dutch national champion Mathieu Van Der Poel is a sensational talentCredit: Getty Images

De Ronde will be Dutch national champion Van der Poel's first start in a Monument yet he is second favourite after winning Wednesday's edition of Across Flanders. Both are supreme talents but this could come a year too soon.

If Stybar doesn't win for QuickStep then his teammate Yves Lampaert is an outsider with a chance. The Belgian has had a strong classics campaign with a number of top-ten finishes and the course should suit him.

Classics stars Greg van Avermaet and Peter Sagan should never be underestimated but they haven't sparkled yet this season. Sky Bet and BoyleSports are offering four places to each-way punters, while most firms pay out on only the first three.

Recommendations
Z Stybar
2pts each-way 7-1 Sky Bet
Y Lampaert
0.5pt each-way 25-1 Sky Bet

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