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In Flanders Fields Preview: Crosswinds Could Decide Wevelgem
Preview: Crosswinds predicted ahead of In Flanders Fields
By Kristina, Lead Editor at CyclingTrend.com
Belgium has that special ability to make bike racing feel simultaneously timeless and newly dangerous. One week you’re watching riders bounce over cobbles in sunshine, the next you’re seeing them hunch into sleet, white-knuckling narrow farm roads as fields blur sideways in the wind. That’s the mood heading into In Flanders Fields-In Wevelgem, the newly rebranded race that still carries the old Gent-Wevelgem DNA: a course that invites sprinters, tempts opportunists, and punishes anyone who treats the wind like background noise.
This is exactly why the race fascinates me. It’s not “just” a sprint classic, and it’s not “just” a cobbled test. It is a tactical stress test: teams must decide whether they’re here to control and deliver, or here to disrupt and improvise. When crosswinds are predicted, those choices get made earlier, louder, and with sharper consequences.
Why crosswinds change everything
Crosswinds don’t merely make the race harder; they rewrite it. Unlike steep climbs—where everyone knows the pain is coming and the best legs usually surface—wind creates chaos through positioning, timing, and collective intent. A strong team doesn’t need a mountain to split the peloton; it needs a narrow road, a diagonal gust, and enough commitment to ride the front like it’s a pursuit.
That’s why Wevelgem and its surrounding roads are so treacherous in a forecast like this. The race can appear calm for an hour, then suddenly: a right-hand bend, an exposed section, a surge, and you’re watching a peloton fracture into echelons. The riders who “missed it by five wheels” don’t just lose five wheels—they can lose the race.
If you’re watching from home, it’s worth being ready for that moment. The splits often happen when it doesn’t look dramatic on TV. If you want a simple ritual: when the camera shows riders riding diagonally across the road and the group is stretched into a ribbon, you’re in the danger zone. And if you’re new to the concept, it’s genuinely useful to have a good wind-layer in your own kit bag—because once you’ve ridden in proper crosswinds, you’ll never underestimate them again.
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The sprinter story still starts with Wiebes
There’s no responsible preview of this race that doesn’t begin with Lorena Wiebes. Even when a course has multiple pathways to victory, the existence of the dominant finisher changes everyone’s risk appetite. If you believe Wiebes will still be there in the final kilometer, then the question becomes: can you beat her in a straight fight? And if you suspect the answer is “no,” then you must try to win the race before the sprint exists.
That’s why the most interesting development around Wiebes isn’t her speed (we’ve already seen it) but the increasing boldness of teams willing to provoke chaos earlier. We’re watching a small tactical arms race: how to isolate the best sprinter without sacrificing your own chance to win. In years where the wind is a factor, that game becomes even sharper, because the strongest collective—rather than the fastest individual—can decide which riders even get a shot.
Wiebes’ team knows this too. The best sprint squads don’t merely “control”; they anticipate the moments where control is impossible and they position their leader like a protected asset. If crosswinds bite hard, it may not be about delivering Wiebes to the final 200 meters; it may be about delivering her to the front split with enough teammates to keep the race from becoming a rolling ambush.
Who benefits if the race explodes?
If crosswinds and cobbled sectors thin the group and disrupt lead-outs, the “pure sprinter” label starts to matter less than the ability to survive a messy middle hour. This is where riders who can sprint after stress—sprinters with punch, endurance, and savvy—suddenly look like co-favorites rather than “best of the rest.”
Elisa Balsamo has that ability to win when the sprint is imperfect. Ally Wollaston can thrive when the race becomes attritional. Charlotte Kool is always a looming danger if the group is big enough and the lead-out stays intact. Meanwhile, riders like Elisa Longo Borghini and other aggressive, resilient classics specialists will be perfectly happy if the race stops being “about the finish” and becomes “about the selection.”
The hidden tension: teams with sprint ambitions often need to help chase, but chasing in crosswinds can be self-defeating. The harder you pull, the more you expose your own riders. The opportunists know this. If the front group is cooperating and the peloton behind is disorganized, the gap can become stubbornly large even on flat roads.
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The tactical fork: control the sprint or weaponize the wind
Here’s the editorial truth I keep coming back to: this race isn’t won by the strongest legs alone; it’s won by the clearest team identity.
If your plan is to sprint, you must be ruthless about position and calm about losing the “nice-to-have” moments. You don’t chase every move. You chase the moves that matter, and you protect your leader at the moments when the peloton is most likely to split. Your success depends on preserving order in an environment designed to destroy it.
If your plan is to attack, you must commit early enough that it feels reckless. Opportunistic racing often gets described as “sneaky,” but the best opportunists aren’t sneaky—they’re decisive. They choose a moment that aligns with wind direction, road width, and fatigue, and then they go with enough force that the sprinters’ teams have to panic, not calculate.
From a fan perspective, this is why crosswind classics are the most watchable races on the calendar. They force honesty. A hesitant peloton invites a coup. A complacent lead-out train becomes a victim. And even the strongest rider can be made irrelevant by a split they never saw coming.
How I’m watching on Sunday
I’ll be watching less for the final kilometer and more for the moments that usually decide whether the final kilometer matters at all: positioning into exposed sections, which teams keep two or three riders around their leader, and whether anyone is willing to light up the race when it feels “too early.”
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Prediction: a sprinter wins, but not comfortably
If the wind truly hits as predicted, I expect the day to be decided by selection rather than pure sprint organization. That doesn’t rule out a sprint winner—far from it. It simply means the sprint, if it happens, will likely be from a reduced group with imperfect trains and tired legs. In that scenario, the strongest finisher still matters most, which again points toward Wiebes. But the margin of safety shrinks dramatically if she ever gets caught on the wrong side of a split.
So yes: the sprinters can still have their day. But in Belgium, the wind always gets a vote—and it rarely votes for predictability.
FAQ: In Flanders Fields-In Wevelgem
What makes this race different from a typical sprinter’s classic?
The combination of cobbled climbs, exposed roads, and frequent wind creates a race where positioning and team strength can matter as much as top speed. It can finish in a bunch sprint, but it can also end with a small group or late solo move.
What are echelons, and why do they matter?
Echelons are diagonal formations riders use to shelter from crosswinds. When the road isn’t wide enough to fit everyone in the protected line, the group splits—often permanently.
Does a headwind or crosswind make attacks more likely?
Crosswinds tend to create splits and encourage aggressive racing. Strong headwinds can discourage solo attacks (because the energy cost is high), but they can still produce decisive moves if teams use the wind to force echelons.
Can a dominant sprinter still win if the race fractures?
Yes—if they make the front split or have teammates to bring them back. The danger is that one missed split can turn a favorite into a spectator.
What should viewers watch for to know the race is about to blow apart?
Look for exposed sections, a sudden increase in speed on the front, riders fanning across the road, and teams massing at the front before a turn. Those are classic signs that an echelon move is coming.
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