Cyclist
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: Route, TV times, and all you need to know
While the road racing season got underway Down Under in early January, many will consider the true start of the season Opening Weekend in Belgium with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Classics on 24th and 25th February. (No rider has ever won both on the same weekend, but we’d like to see someone try.)
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne’s route is slightly flatter than Omloop with a straighter finish and only four brief cobbled interludes, making it more of a sprinters’ race – evident from its honour roll, which includes Mark Cavendish, Dylan Groenewegen, and Fabio Jakobsen in recent years. Unlike Omloop there is no women’s race.
The race (rather confusingly) doesn’t actually get to Brussels, although it used to in its early days, and isn’t an exact loop to and from Kuurne.
First raced in 1946, it used to run between the small West Flanders town and the capital and back, but cut its losses in the late ‘60s as Brussels was increasingly hard to incorporate into a race route. After a forgettable rebrand to Omloop der beide Vlaanderen, the name returned to Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 1979.
Last year Jumbo-Visma swept the smaller cobbled Classics, winning all of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, KBK, E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem with four different riders.
Tiesj Benoot took the crown in Kuurne, bringing glory home to Belgium after a few years of Danish and Dutch dominance, just ahead of now-retired teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck and Matej Mohorič.
Unsurprisingly Belgium has enjoyed the most success here, winning 53 editions (the Netherlands is second, on a measly 10). Classics legend Tom Boonen holds the most wins with three.
A UCI ProSeries race rather than top-level WorldTour, it still attracts a high calibre of riders, with Arnaud Démare, Matej Mohorič, Matteo Jorgensen, Christophe Laporte, and Wout van Aert on the start list for 2024 – the latter for the first time in his career.
A junior version of the race has run since 2000, producing such illustrious winners as Geraint Thomas (2003) and Remco Evenepoel (2018) as well as big names to watch in Ethan Hayter (2016) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (2020).
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: Key information
- Date: Sunday 25th February 2024
- Start: Kortrijk, Flanders
- Finish: Kuurne, Flanders
- Distance: 196.4km
- UK television coverage: Discovery+, Eurosport
- Most wins: Three – Tom Boonen
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: Route
Starting in Kortrijk the 7km neutralised start meanders briefly through Kuurne before the racing proper begins near Harelbeke, home of the E3 Saxo Classic. The Tiegemberg is the first climb to be scaled, 17.5km into the race, before Volkegemberg, which includes some cobbles for added jeopardy, and then Lepelstraat just after the 50km mark.
The 13 hellingen (hills) are short, the longest being Lepelstraat at 2.1km. The toughest section is likely to be as the race reaches the halfway point as it takes on three sharp climbs: the Hameu des Papin reaches a gradient of 16.2%, followed not even 10km later by another punchy climb at Le Bourliquet (1.3km reaching 15.3%) and Mont Saint-Laurent another 5km later which hits extremes of 17%.
The final climb, the Kluisberg, reaches max 11% gradient and comes 61km out from the finish, giving the riders a long, flattish run in to the final sprint.
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: How to watch
Racing starts at 12:05pm local time and will finish at 16:50. UK viewers will be able to watch from 13:30-16:00 UK time on Discovery+. It should also be available in full on Eurosport.
If it’s not being shown in your country, you may be able to watch coverage using a VPN – Virtual Private Network – which allows users to mask their IP address and watch geo-blocked content, provided they don’t need to pay for a subscription. This is also helpful for watching paid-for coverage while travelling abroad in countries without access.
One such example is ExpressVPN, which is very well reviewed, helps users to find way to watch cycling without having to pay for broadcasters services, and costs £5.36 per month with three-months free.
- Read more: How to watch cycling post-GCN+
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: Start lists
Names will be added to the list once they’re confirmed by the teams.
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
The post Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024: Route, TV times, and all you need to know appeared first on Cyclist.