2022 E3 Harelbeke Winner Odds Favor Van Aert in Strong Field

By: Eniko

Posted: March 24, 2022

Updated: March 24, 2022

The 2022 E3 Harelbeke is held this Friday, 25th of March
It is the first event of the four Flemish one-day cobbled classics
Kasper Asgreen is the defending champion and one of the top favorites again

The first cobbled classics in Flanders this season, the 2022 E3 Saxo Bank Classic is held this Friday, on the 25th of March. Danish Kasper Asgreen won the race last year and will try to defend his title now. But the 2022 E3 Harelbeke winner odds mention the Belgian star, Wout Van Aert as the biggest favorite ahead of the other one-day specialists. The 2022 E3 Saxo Bank Classic also known as the E3 Harelbeke will be the 64th edition of the Flandrian one-day race. The route will start and finish in the city of Harelbeke, covering 204 km. The riders have to tackle seventeen hills during this distance along with five cobbled sections. The race which is also called “The little Tour of Flanders” signs the beginning of the Flemish week. Which also includes Gent-Wevelgem, Dewars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. So it’s not surprising that some of the biggest riders have been taking part in the event in the last few years. Danish Kasper Asgreen won the race last year and will be here again to defend his title. Just like the 2019 winner, Zdenek Stybar, and the 2014 champion, Peter Sagan.

Van Aert leads the 2022 E3 Harelbeke Winner Odds

In spite of the strong field, Wout Van Aert leads the 2022 E3 Harelbeke winner odds with a big gap. As online sportsbooks in Belgium offer the odds of 3.75 for his victory. Van Aert will lead the Jumbo-Visma team and aim for his second victory of the season. The Belgian won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February and the points classification in this year’s Paris-Nice. He only finished 8th in the Milan-San Remo last weekend, which shows he is beatable. But it will be a very tough task based on his form and previous results. Van Aert was close to victory here in 2019, but he finished behind Stybar then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzc9CPSfbRE The Czech will be here as well but he has only the odds of 41.00 to win the race again. His teammate and last year’s winner, Kasper Asgreen has a much better chance and the odds of 7.00 to defend his title. The Quick-Step cyclist was third in this year’s Strade Bianche. While he also won the 2021 Tour of Flanders by defeating Mathieu van der Poel in the sprint finish. To do the same would be even harder against Van Aert who can be very fast at the end. His team is very strong though with riders like Stybar, Yves Lampaert and Florian Senechal. They might help Asgreen to get away during the race and win it that way.

Pedersen, Laporte, and Senechal in Other Favorites

Another Danish rider, Mads Pedersen can also do well in the race. He is in good form as well after winning a stage in the 2022 Paris-Nice and finishing sixth in the Milan-San Remo. Pedersen has also won other one-day classics before. Like the 2020 Gent-Wevelgem and the 2021 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuorne. He hasn’t been too lucky with the E3 Harelbeke though as he had to give up the race on the previous three occasions. Now the Trek-Segafredo rider’s odds to finish ahead of everyone are 8.00 on bet365. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YppIb0uhgo8 Online gambling sites in Belgium also mention one of the rising stars of the sport. Anthony Turgis in the favorites with the odds of 13.00. The French cyclist was second in this year’s Milan-San Remo. While he also has a second-place finish from last year’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. He will ride along with one of the biggest names of cycling, Peter Sagan as a member of team TotalEnergies. His compatriots, Christophe Laporte and Florian Senechal follow him with the odds of 15.00. Laporte won the first stage at this year’s Paris-Nice when Jumbo managed to sweep the podium. While Senechal was the runner-up in last year’s E3 Harelbeke and in the 2020 Gent-Wevelgem too.