God's Medicine Cycling: Tour of Flanders Preview

Covering the course, podium contenders, and wildcards, God's Medicine takes on Tour of Flanders 2026. 

Transcript

Godsmedicinecycling 0:01

hello and welcome to God's Medicine, your favorite opinion podcast about road cycling. I'm your host, Lauren here with my co-host, Hannah. Welcome to our flash preview. I'm so excited for the 2026 edition of Tour of Flanders.

hanah 0:18

Ish. Holy week is here baby. Let's go. I'll be celebrating for seven full days, ending with Perry Rube. Don't call, don't text.

Godsmedicinecycling 0:28

I couldn't have said it better myself. Um, we are going to go over the root. We are going to go over quick and dirty. Our top riders, there's a lot of 'em chopping it up in here. We're going to go over podium guesses, and then when I tell you we have some wild card banter coming, we have some wild card banter coming as per usual. Hannah, take us away. What are we gonna see in the Rhonda?

Tour of Flanders Route Preview

hanah 0:54

2026. The Rhonda is 278.2 kilometers long with 16 short hills mostly coming through. Confess in the second half of the race, many of them are the same cobbled climbs that those of us watching the classics have already seen. There's a twisty little circuit at the end with the end game seeing riders hit the aqua and the burg within three kilometers of one another. And of course, we're in Flanders, so some of these climbs are cobbled and there will be six cobbled sectors in the race. We are starting this year in Antwerp, uh, at the start and end points flip every year. So this year we start in Antwerp, which I believe is the year. That has

Rundown of Major Players

hanah 1:31

at the start, that has less chance of, uh, wind.

Godsmedicinecycling 1:34

Start list. We're recording this pretty late, so we actually, I think, should have a relatively solidified start list. Of course, you guys can always go over the whole things yourself, but we're gonna do highlights, top contenders and I mean, we have to start out with VanderPol. He's won this rates three times. I mean, he is looked good this year. He said he had a bit of fatigue in his legs, but he's been racing a lot. Um, and he's certainly switched on, so you can't count it out.

hanah 2:02

Yeah, I think the only potential roadblock for MVDP is his, uh, crash. Uh, it seemed to have hurt his wrist a little bit. Milano San Rama. But as long as all things are good on that front, he is always a top contender here. Next on our list, I mean, what, what is there to say about pae? Pcia? You know, there's so much to say about Tae, but what, what can we get into here? Really, he is in ripping form. Uh, he loves this race. He's won it before. To count him out is a fool's errand.

Godsmedicinecycling 2:33

Couldn't have said it better myself.

hanah 2:34

He is wearing the all white and he's got the blonde hair, so he is out for blood.

Godsmedicinecycling 2:41

Remco Remco, AV Napole confirmed. Okay. This was big news. It happened on April Fulay, which I genuinely was like, he's, he's being. You know, a slightly, he's toying with us. No, he's actually riding the race. Um, and then he released a video on his YouTube channel where he was like riding around in all black, like in December being like, tv. I'm praying for jda. Okay. Remco changes any race that he's in. What I'm interested in here is, I mean, I think he certainly has a chance of. Getting on the podium. The thing for me is when we see some of these top guys outside of Remco, we know they will ride together. Just, you know, in this last week, we've seen WOW and MVDP riding together. We know Todd will ride together, but what is the benefit for W Van Art if Remco, even pool takes a pole. Okay. It's like having an ant in front of a semi-truck, like it doesn't. You know, it, it changes that dynamic of if these top guys get this breakaway together, you know what happens then? Because Remco will work. And then he always gets mad at people that don't wanna work. And I'm like, but you literally are giving no benefit. Like anyway. So we will talk a little bit

hanah 4:02

the.

Godsmedicinecycling 4:04

We'll continue to talk about this in the podium, but yeah, REMCOs gonna be there. So everybody buckle your seatbelt. Uh, he's decided he wants to do the, the hardcore classics and not just CR Tech.

hanah 4:16

next on our list is Mads Patterson, who is, as we all know, be coming back from an early season injury, pretty bad injury. he's straight upset in an interview. If he's in a race, the team is riding for him, which is a baller thing to say and do, and to have the team around him like that. Trek has a good classic squad, so. If he is healthy, you know, it's hard to count him out. It's hard to say what his climbing form has been this year, just because we didn't get him in the one week races the way that we did last year, where we could see that his climbing form was sick. He was a little bit, under the weather. I think he was sick. He had some sort of a bug, last week. So his Dewars. I think was not great. Um, presuming that he's better in the teams around him, Matt Peterson for Flanders. Why not?

Godsmedicinecycling 5:08

Why not? I listen, I like the guy. I don't wanna bet against him. And then we of course have big dog. Wow. Van Art Wow. Is on a mission. He is in good shape and the guy is making moves. I love what we're seeing from wow van art right now, even though some of his races recently have. Hand out exactly in the way he would've liked. But I think he is basically just going out there and saying, life's a risk. I may as well like crunch my fist and just start punching. Okay. I like it. Think whether or not that will benefit him in terms of getting the win, I feel like. In this group of people in this race, it does to have a really aggressive mindset and to be able to follow things does matter. Because we can see with these guys, any of these guys, they get 15 seconds. They may as well have a minute. So you have to be ready to rumble and sometimes you're the one who's making the call on when that is and sometimes you're not. but wow is ready to rumble.

hanah 6:15

Wow has been rumbling. Next coming in Hot Gianni Vermeers, eighth and E three and fifth in strata this year. He was 15th in Flinders last year. He seems to be in good form. He's a former gravel world champ. Is that right? so let's go boy. I think, I think he's, he is been looking kid this season. I think he could, I think he could really make something happen.

Godsmedicinecycling 6:36

And then we have Paul Manay. Listen, he basically doesn't have a track record, but the kid's got wheels and I think he seems like a rider who's willing to take a big swing just because he's gaining experience and you know, obviously there is a lot of pressure on him in some ways, but in other ways not having. If he had podium this race before or something, that would be a different narrative. And for him to come in and just kind of be allowed to see what happens, um, with the type of form we know he can have. See what happens sometimes means that something big happens.

hanah 7:15

It sure does. I think he's also, and I could be totally wrong about this, I think he's trying to avoid gaining a reputation as just a not out sprinter. So a result in Flanders would be great towards that goal. Um, next up, Jasper Sen, the perennial Classics pick, I mean, this

Godsmedicinecycling 7:32

Thank you.

hanah 7:34

Thank you Jasper. We, we love to see it. he is, he is been in good shape. He was seventh in MSR. He got third in the stage of Perise 10th in Flinders Fields. Uh, he was fifth in the Rhonda last year. He's very wily, he's very experienced To count him out during the spring. Classics is at your own peril. I'm, I'm right. He's also on a new team, right? He is on Udall this year. He was

Godsmedicinecycling 8:02

Yep. Yep.

hanah 8:03

year, so, you know, I can imagine he is wanting to prove himself and, and get a result for his new team.

Godsmedicinecycling 8:10

Udall also has Van Bar, so they've got options. I mean, YE is also on Udall. So I mean, they've gone back to this sort of classics team, uh, at their core. And I think that, you know, I mean Storm was always riding the classics and always doing that, but. This year, I think they will have more energy for the classics. Then we have Paris Gen Hanu. Listen to me, look me in the eyes. He's in shape and he is part of the trio that blew it in E three. And if you were part of that trio that blew it in E three. You have any latitude with your team to try again in another race? When I tell you I believe that this man may be out for revenge, I believe this man may be out for revenge, and that goes for all of those people. Thank you. That's my case.

hanah 9:08

another SMA writer on our list, Christophe LaPorte. He really was, we didn't see much from him last year. He had a very protracted illness. he has been looking good this year. I think the only thing kind of standing in the way of the SMA guys is if the team orders are to ride for. Wow. But I mean, LaPorte was third in Flanders field. He topped 10 D three. He was seventh in Dard, he was 16th in Milan on Ramo fourth and on loop. Like he's clearly in ripping shape. He is chomping at the bit the man knows how to win a bike race. So we're off, you know, is, is this the new bma, Trident?

Godsmedicinecycling 9:47

Oh my God. The other thing about Laport is. He can be hidden in the pack for a long time. Like sometimes you're like, is he even in this race? And then all of a sudden you're like, Chris. I, I mean, I think like it will depend some of this on, we have three SMA guys on this list, in part because they have a great team and we, could talk even more about the other guys that they're sending. So part of it is gonna be who's in the right place at the right time? How do they wanna play things? You know, what, what ends up happening in the race as a whole? And I'm sure there are gonna be some people out there who are thinking, well, obviously it's gonna be, you know, wow, whatever. Yeah. We would like to think, wow, is it going to, you know, be white hot, but like. First of all, you can take a teammate. Second of all, you never know when someone has a mechanical. You never know, like the, that's what the Cobo Classics give you is a lot of chaos and uncertainty. And then we have Jonas Abrahamson, who I think was also part of that E three group. He's looked like he's in really good shape this year. Um, UNO X released a video where they basically slandered all of their. Riders, by showing none of them being able to go up the hills of the tour standards,

hanah 11:09

That was I think they said like recon notes, walkable, legend, like legend.

Godsmedicinecycling 11:14

They have great social media, but, I'm gonna say probably Abrahamson can get over these and, um. You know, he's also somebody that, that will work in the group. He is like, he's got some weight to throw around, so I'm happy for it.

hanah 11:28

Yeah, and he, he was, I just confirmed he was in that E three group,

Godsmedicinecycling 11:33

Yeah.

hanah 11:34

the Revenge

Godsmedicinecycling 11:35

Well, well, well, and I think Florian Vermeers was there as well, but he is gonna be, I mean, the whole UAE team is gonna be running for Taday, so.

hanah 11:47

Let's get onto the

Podium Predictions

hanah 11:48

podium.

Godsmedicinecycling 11:49

I had such a hard time with this. I was ripping my hair out.

hanah 11:56

Same. And for the record, we don't know each other's podium, so we're about to do the reveal in real time.

Godsmedicinecycling 12:03

Ready. 1, 2, 3. Todd, A-M-V-D-P. Wow. Okay. All right. Okay, so we're in agreement.

hanah 12:18

I think MVDP could do, I honestly, I went back and forth switching MVDP and POG a couple of times, and when Remco announced, I really thought about putting him on that third step, even though it is baby's first coupled classic, I think. Um. I really like Remco can make stuff happen and there's a lot of flat between some of the early climbs and depending on how the race goes, he can rip it up. I don't know. I really, really thought about it, but Wow has just looked so good.

Godsmedicinecycling 12:51

Yeah, I agree. I agree. I mean, we know Remco can ride on the cobbles, like that's not a problem. But yeah, I thought about MVDP or pog, MVDP or pog. My why I leaned POG is because he is done fewer race days in this lead up. And I think he might just have a little bit fresher legs than Vanderpool, especially 'cause Vanderpool did make a comment about fatigue. Um, and maybe part of that is because he was dealing with that, uh, wrist or hand injury. Um, and we did also see him with a, a bandage on his hand. And he, he said it was bothering him. So maybe that's part of it. Um, I mean, wow has looked so good. I just feel like. He is riding like a man on a mission and yes, some of his moves have not worked out, but, well, one, I mean, I think something we're seeing right now, which we should talk about is less group two syndrome. I know, I know we just talked about this group that blew it in E three, but basically. They got vanderpool and when have we seen that? Um, you know, wow is dragged back in, uh, dwarfs by the group.. It's also, that's something that I think is, does make things slightly different, and if there also is any maybe disadvantage for Remco. Additionally, he does get frustrated. He does get frustrated and sometimes I think like Vanderpool, he knows when to cut his losses, go back in the group, wait for another move. Remco spends a lot of energy. Being unhappy about things, which, okay, you know, I've done it. Okay, we've all done it. But I think there's some ways where wow and Mattu have a little bit more of that. You know what I can call it actually, and I can go back and see what happens. Whereas I think Remco tends to wanna push.

hanah 14:49

I did also consider with Remco. got burned in AMT still last year, by one, one scale mos in, in an, in an example of, of a chasing group that was working right. He, Remco was doing a lot of work to bring Pog back in that race, and then he got out kicked at the end. And so part of me up not putting him on the podium in addition to Wow, looking great, and to all of the things that you just said. the thought that if Remco finds himself in a chasing situation hunting any of these guys down, maybe he's gonna have that in the back of his head and not wanna pull as much. Because you know, Remco has a decent kick, I think, but he is, doesn't have a BDP kick or ick, you know, he doesn't wanna go to a sprint with those guys.

Godsmedicinecycling 15:42

Yeah, but it's like a point of pride for him that you're in a bike race, you're in the lead. You should try and stay in the lead. I mean, we just saw. Him Reaming, Jonni, Tigo, which I personally found very satisfying, you know, and Jonni is sitting there saying, well, it's a race. I'm allowed to have tactics. And Remco is like, this is a matter of principle. So yeah, I think he does approach things that way as well. Um,

Wildcard Discussion

Godsmedicinecycling 16:07

so we get onto the wild cards and a reminder, the wild cards is not necessarily somebody we think. It's going to, you know, place really highly or end up with, you know, an accolade, although they might, but somebody that's going to mix things up during the race, make a big move, or just kind of be in the mix at a key moment. Or even just somebody that we know is really gonna try and make something happen, even if it doesn't work, because we respect that. Okay,

hanah 16:35

We do

Godsmedicinecycling 16:37

Valentin mad. He has a great track record of one day races. He often gets into the teens, which means he's in it in the end group. And I think he is somebody that has a lot of latitude and the guy just likes to ride. Um, so I put, I put Madam Us. Yeah.

hanah 16:56

He is Wiley. He is unpredictable. I like it. My first wild card is my boy Roman Greg, um, who, for the record, Lauren wanted him in the main draw, so I'm just stating that, I think the haters will come at me and say he's better suited to the Arden. I will say, why not? Also the tour of Flanders. I think the, he can ride the Cobbles. I think he'll, he'll be just fine. He was fourth in strata. He was 18th in, in MSR. He dropped off a bit in E three, but see him having targeted this race. He's, I I, I'm not sure if he's on the start list for Rube, but I think this is much better suited to him. So if he wants one of the big cobble classics, this is gonna be the one. And yeah, I think he'll try something if nothing else. Kind of similar to mad, but Palma has nothing to lose here, so I think whichever of them or both feels good, could, could try to make a move.

Godsmedicinecycling 17:53

Yeah. Speaking of teams that have nothing to lose, I have Stan, a Wolf from Decathlon. He just had a ripped. Ripping E three. And if he is recovered, he's in great form. And this team, I think like they're trying to send people out and shake things up and see what happens and they can afford to go for it. And we've already seen him go for it and he wrote a really, really good race in E three. Maybe he'll do it again. I just think sometimes you have a good season, you know, and maybe Stan is having a good season.

hanah 18:26

Yeah, it's certainly possible. Okay, hear me out. Florian Vermeers, obviously he's

Godsmedicinecycling 18:31

Oh

hanah 18:32

for p. Not to say that it's like a hot take that he's gonna be good in the Kapo classics. 'cause obviously it's not. That's why UAE signed him. He's going to be riding for pog, but he's in ripping shape. I could see a race situation where if P goes quite early and has a buffer, Vermeers has latitude to ride for his own podium.

Godsmedicinecycling 18:54

Yeah.

hanah 18:55

also see a situation where if pog, for whatever reason, knock on wood, I love the guy. If he's not feeling it, if it's not happening on the day, like ultimately UAE does want a result. If, if Vermeers has the legs and it's, it's abundantly clear that it's not for POG on the day, I don't see why they wouldn't let him go. Um, I think he's a very experienced writer. I think he's really good at positioning. I think that will be his main job for pog. That will also deposit him in good position if a move goes that he has the legs for, I could see him, you know, making it happen. So my, my inclusion of him as a wild card again, is not because it's a hot take that he's got on the cobbles, it's because we all know that he's here as pogs, right hand man in this particular race. But I still think there's a chance that he could ride for a very good result on his own.

Godsmedicinecycling 19:48

Yeah, when I was talking about him earlier, were you evilly laughing and rubbing your fly hands together? Like I'm about to bring this man back up.

hanah 19:56

I sure was.

Godsmedicinecycling 19:58

Um, I have, I'm just gonna do these two together. I have Casper as Green and I also have Luke Lamberty. They're both on EF Education. If education is known for basically letting guys just send a flyer. So Casper as Grant needs to get in the right move. He is a good rider. He can dig really deep, but he needs to in the right move. And Luke Lamper, he seems like he is. In good, shape this season. He won a stage of perise and I think that EF I mean, their whole team will, will try and do, something if they're in the right place at the right time. But I feel like those two might be, names the team has circled for this.

hanah 20:41

I can see it. Um, I've got Mateo, entine, reliable, um, I think, I mean, he's looked quite good this spring. I like. Tudor Pro, just kind of in general. I think they, they're good at letting their guys go when they're feeling it. Trent's results in the classics so far this season. He was 15th and envelope. He was third in Kerne. He was ninth in Milan, San Ram, 10th and E three and sixth in Flinders Field. Like he is clearly in great shape. He has the legs, he has the race experience, and he's good. He's good at positioning and he's good at knowing

Godsmedicinecycling 21:20

Yeah.

hanah 21:20

is the right move. and I think especially with so many. Like big names and like big riders here. Knowing which move to kind of pick and commit yourself to is gonna be a big part of the battle and the strategy. And I think he just, he like has that killer instinct of like, this is the one to go in. Um,

Godsmedicinecycling 21:42

Yeah.

hanah 21:43

I would love a result for Mateo Trent here, and I think he has legs to, to back it up this year if he's, if he's in

Godsmedicinecycling 21:49

Yeah. Yeah. Just in terms of moves, I also wanna say like, I think in this race there's gonna be three moves that matter. There's gonna be, some people are gonna go in a breakaway because. That's basically how it always is. That's, and we've seen in the classic so far, sometimes those people are ending up in the top 10. Okay. So that could be a result for somebody. There's going to be at some point. P-M-D-D-P. Wow. Remco, one of these big boys is going to, and we know it's gonna be on a punchy climb. Stop me. We've heard this one before. And they're gonna try and pull away. That is going to be a move. There might be a group that tries to anticipate, and if there's not, after that group goes, then at some point there will be a group that comes off. This will be the third move that is trying to. Basically vacuum up the rest of the top 10 spots. Or maybe if things have really fallen apart at the front, be in the mix for a podium. So there's a lot of choice that's gonna be happening here. And when we talk about the right move, I think it's easy to say, well, when Vanderpool goes, that's the right move. And if you're not there, you're not gonna win. Okay. Yeah, genius. If I could go with Vanderpool, I would, someone like Trenton, obviously, if he can follow it, he will follow it, but he understands there's. Probably two other significant moves, maybe three, that are going to be the map of this race. And that's also what we talk about in terms of race sense. It's not just the obvious move, it's when a lot of guys are being chaotic off the front and people are trying to get a chase going, who are the people that are actually gonna be the chase? Um, I had on my wildcard list before Remco, uh, signed up, or I guess after, we just didn't know. It is, uh, Tim Van Dyke. He is really, he is really been going well this classic season. He's been making a lot of moves. You know, I think. Probably his race is gonna be tying up in whatever Remco is doing now. But, uh, you know, I just wanted to shout him out, I guess because he is been really doing a lot with his latitude from Red Bull.

hanah 24:08

I think similarly I would put as a late inclusion on my wild cards, Lauren Pithy, who just got a, I think a pretty good result in DVARs. and I'd been

Godsmedicinecycling 24:18

It was a.

hanah 24:19

like, sorry.

Godsmedicinecycling 24:22

It was 11th and Flanders last year as well.

hanah 24:24

Yeah. Um, I think he will, you know, repo's there, the team's gonna be right. You don't do that kind of like announcement if you're not the team leader, I think, for the race. Um, so he, I, I had toyed with taking him off my wild cards just because of that. But I think again. If the situation arises where it's clear that it's not remco. He is got legs right now and he's a good classics writer, so I would, I would toss pithy in the mix for the same reason.

Godsmedicinecycling 24:52

Yeah. I just wanna shout out the entire, uh, rockets team also, I think, uh, probably there's gonna be like three of them in the breakaway. Okay.

hanah 25:03

Hell yeah,

Godsmedicinecycling 25:04

Um, uh, Lucas Kubish has been doing really, really well this season. I don't know how much of a climber he is. Um, but you know, they're all gonna be trying. I mean. I don't even think they know. I think they just try. I think a significant portion of their strategy is yes, they have some riders that are maybe better positioned than others, but if somebody is there like ef, they'll say, go for it. Go for it. So, and they'll try and be, they'll try and be somewhere, but I really think we'll see them. I think you'll see three of them in the.

hanah 25:44

Uh, my last of the wild cards that I'll go through is, uh, Magna Sheffield. From Iios, when we were chatting before recording, we were both in agreement that Iios is just, they're gonna do something, somebody's gonna do something. Um, chef is a little bit of a hot take because he's crashy. He cr the boy crashes a lot. I like him a lot, I really do. But he falls off the bike a lot he can stay upright. I don't see why he couldn't get a good result here. He was 12th in E three. Who, who dropped off in Duar? He was like 44th or something. had a decent toreno, this year and you know, he is a, he's a solid one day racer. When he can stay on the bike, it easy to stay on the bike in the cobble? You know, that's the hesitation. I think that's why he's a real wild card, but I think he will try something.

Godsmedicinecycling 26:37

Yeah, I like Sheffield and I wanna see him succeed.

hanah 26:41

Yeah. is on the upper tier of our Americans with non-American names ranking.

Godsmedicinecycling 26:48

Yeah,

hanah 26:49

Charlie?

Godsmedicinecycling 26:49

You know, uh, it's tough. Can, how much climbing can he handle? He has such a big engine. It's a little nuts. He has no problems with the cobbles. I mean, he was flying a arve last year. I do think Iios, their whole team looks like they're in really good shape. Unfortunately, Pana has, has been dragging, dragging the peloton forward with him, or fortunately, if you're a Pana fan. I'm really bullish on Tarling. I don't know if this is his year. I don't know if this is his race, but you know, I think he has it. Whatever it is. I think he has it, and I don't see why he wouldn't be out there trying.

hanah 27:36

Yeah, fair enough.

Godsmedicinecycling 27:38

Yeah. Well there's only one way to find out and find out we will later this tomorrow. So. We'll be back here tomorrow. Probably you'll be listening to, uh, to us maybe Monday. Um, but we will do a race recap and we will let you know how badly we bungled our predictions. Just kidding. I'm pretty confident about the, our podium guys being in the mix as we went with the easiest and most obvious choices.

hanah 28:09

What a plot twist it would be if both of our identical podiums know where to be seen.

Godsmedicinecycling 28:15

Mads Petterson wins a furious remco. Even Nicole comes in second and then, uh, Jasper story in third.

hanah 28:25

Genuinely, I would love to see it. You know, and our listeners are about to, I want nothing more than Matt's Patterson Monument,

Godsmedicinecycling 28:34

Yeah, we all do.

hanah 28:35

Matt Peterson Monument. Let's go.

Godsmedicinecycling 28:39

2K 26. Are we still doing that?

hanah 28:43

We are ly.

Godsmedicinecycling 28:47

Thank you guys so much for listening to the God's Medicine Cycling Podcast. We will hear you all. Listen to you all. Speak with you all soon.