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E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: Route, how to watch and everything you need to know
The E3 Saxo Bank Classic will take place on 22nd March 2024. Formerly known as E3 Harelbeke, it is regarded as ‘the little Tour of Flanders’ due to its cobbles and sharing climbs with the Ronde van Vlaanderen route, such as the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont.
The cobbled Classic held its first edition in 1958. Tom Boonen has won the race a historic four consecutive times, with a fifth victory (and his final one) coming in 2012 for Omega Pharma-Quick-Step. Leiedal Koerse, the women’s edition, has been cancelled in 2024 after running for two years.
The race has faced its share of controversy in the past. Race posters featured naked women lying on one another to form a frog as an advertisement and a recent cartoon was based on the LGBTQ+ community being ‘enthusiastic’ in regards to Wout van Aert losing his saddle.
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) has won the past two editions of the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. In 2023, he beat Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) to the line.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: Key information
Date: Friday 22nd March 2024
Start: Harelbeke, Belgium
Finish: Harelbeke, Belgium
Distance: 207.6km
UK TV coverage: Discovery+, Eurosport 2
2023 winner: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: The route
The E3 Saxo Bank Classic covers 17 bergs and plenty of cobblestones over 207.6km. It heads over climbs that the Tour of Flanders peloton will encounter too, such as the Oude Kruisberg and Taaienberg.
But while those at Flanders will scale the Oude Kwaremont then the Paterberg, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic reverses this; riders will reach the Paterberg before the Oude Kwaremont in the final 45km.
The last climb of the Tiegemberg comes in with 20km remaining.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: How to watch
The E3 Saxo Bank Classic will be available to watch in the UK on Discovery+ for £6.99 per month with the basic package, which includes cycling and all other Eurosport programmes. It will also be shown on the TV channel Eurosport 2 in the UK. In the United States, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic will be broadcast on Max and FloBikes.
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. Other options include NordVPN, Surfshark and Kapersky.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic TV times
All times GMT and subject to change by the broadcasters
Discovery+: 13:00 – 16:00
Eurosport 2: 14:00 – 16:30
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: Start list
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2024: Previous winners
2023: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
2022: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
2021: Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
2020: No race (COVID pandemic)
2019: Zdenek Štybar (Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
2018: Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors)
2017: Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
2016: Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
2015: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
2014: Peter Sagan (Cannondale)
2013: Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard)
2012: Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step)
2011: Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek)
2010: Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank)
2009: Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha)
2008: Kurt Asle Arvesen (Team CSC)
2007: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2006: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2005: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic)
2004: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Davitamon)
2003: Steven de Jongh (Rabobank)
2002: Dario Pieri (Alessio)
2001: Andrei Tchmil (Lotto-Adecco)
2000: Sergei Ivanov (Farm Frites)
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