Van Baarle back in Belgium after training miles with Ferrand-Prévot and Gesink as Steels weighs in on revamped E3 route

Stuyven was forced to skip Opening Weekend through illness, but his performances in Paris-Nice — where he finished third and eighth on stages — and his seventh place at Milan-Sanremo showed he has fully recovered. The Belgian was runner-up in E3 two years ago and finished seventh in the race last season, which underlines why Soudal Quick-Step are looking to him as one of their main cards for Harelbeke.

Van Baarle, meanwhile, has not raced since his strong outings in the Volta ao Algarve and Opening Weekend, having opted for an altitude camp in Andorra instead. His partner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was also there, while the Dutchman also logged plenty of kilometres with former teammates, including Koen Bouwman and Andorra resident Robert Gesink. IDL Pro Cycling had already reported in February that Van Baarle planned to return to racing at E3 after a second altitude block together with Ferrand-Prévot.

Steels also addressed the changed route, and in this case the original quote is available in English from Soudal Quick-Step’s team website. “The course has changed a bit and it will be interesting to see how things will look with the double ascent of the Kwaremont. Aside from that, there are also some intermediate parts where the race could kick off or restart. We have a strong team, with Jasper and Dylan as our leaders.”

He then ran through the rest of the line-up. Pepijn Reinderink comes in after a solid Milano-Sanremo, while Casper Pedersen had already shown last year how strong he can be in these races. Jonathan Vervenne and Warre Vangheluwe are expected to provide support, and Dries Van Gestel could prove an important road captain in the finale. Laurenz Rex and Paul Magnier are not part of the E3 selection, with both riders instead set to race In Flanders Fields on Sunday.

▸ Casper Pedersen

▸ Pepijn Reinderink

▸ Jasper Stuyven

▸ Dylan van Baarle

▸ Dries Van Gestel

▸ Warre Vangheluwe

▸ Jonathan Vervenne