Storms and a hard day of racing are expected for the 2023 edition of the E3 Saxo Classic, with winds forecast up to 75 kmh this afternoon and a mixture of hail and rain showers set to batter the peloton.
Local weather forecasts this morning for Belgium said that “Today is a stormy day on the program with a lot of wind from the southwest. Wind gusts can reach 75 km/h with some thunderstorms in the afternoon. The wind gusts can then become even stronger.”
Maximum temperatures were set to reach a maximum of 13 degrees Celsius.
The forecast was not be welcomed by the peloton particularly after poor weather affected the Classic Brugge-De Panne on Wednesday, which was affected by strong winds and torrential rain, creating echelons and shattering the bunch.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won from a lead group of four but was left covered in rain and mud.
Race organiser Jacques Coussens told Het Laatste Nieuws that “we have done everything we can to make the course extra safe for the riders. We re-fixed the banners and flats last night. We also went over the entire course with a road sweeper.”
The sun shone briefly during the team presentation but the rain quickly returned. There was also a stiff breeze.
"I think it’s going to be like this all day, some showers and wind," Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) said before signing on.
"I think that’s going to make the race more interesting."
"Today with the wind and some showers, it will be very nervous from the beginning. There might already be splits in the opening kilometres," Zydnek Stybar (Jayco-AIUIa), the winner of E3 in 2019 and second in 2015, told Cyclingnews.
It remains to be seen if Belgium's notoriously unpredictable weather conditions change during the 200-kilometre, five-hour race over the cobbles and hills of north-west Belgium.
As Sporza.be cheerfully put it this morning, "it will be a typical Belgian day with very fickle weather gods."
