Tom Boonen is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the U.S. Postal Service and Quick-Step Floors teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Boonen won the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships, and was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the Overall title of the Tour of Qatar 4 times.
E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kilometres, mainly in the Flemish Ardennes.
Greg Van Avermaet is a retired Belgian professional cyclist. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet was a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also won stages and the general classification in stage races, particularly when run on a hilly terrain, such as the 2016 Tirreno–Adriatico, and the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire. His strong sprint finish enabled him to win sprints of small lead groups, but he has also won races after solo breakaways.
Niki Terpstra is a Dutch former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2022 for six different teams. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Mike Terpstra. He is the third Dutch cyclist to have won both of the cobbled Monument spring classics, Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, after Jan Raas and Hennie Kuiper.
Zdeněk Štybar is a former Czech professional cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. While best known as a cyclo-cross racer, in 2011 Štybar began his professional road career while continuing to race cyclo-cross.
The 2012 E3 Harelbeke was the 55th running of the E3 Harelbeke single-day cycling race. It was held on 23 March over a distance of 203 kilometres and was the sixth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season. E3 Harelbeke was held as a UCI World Tour event for the first time, after previously being held as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour. As well as its promotion to the World Tour, the race moved to a Friday running from a Saturday; the move was in order to give riders a day's break prior to the following World Tour event, Gent–Wevelgem.
The 2014 E3 Harelbeke was the 57th running of the E3 Harelbeke single-day cycling race. It was held on 28 March 2014, over a distance of 212 kilometres and was the sixth race of the 2014 UCI World Tour season. The race is often seen as a preparation race for the Tour of Flanders. The race was won by Peter Sagan in a four-man sprint finish.
Jasper Stuyven is a Belgian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek. He is considered to be a classics specialist, and has won several major races including the 2021 Milan–San Remo, one of cycling's monuments, the 2020 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the 2016 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. He has also had success in stage races, winning the overall classification of the 2019 Deutschland Tour as well as a stage of the 2015 Vuelta a España. Stuyven has also competed in six editions of the Tour de France, finishing on the podium several times on different stages.
Michael Valgren Hundahl is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost. In 2018, Valgren won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race.
Stefan Küng is a Swiss cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Groupama–FDJ. He is also a citizen of Liechtenstein.
The 2015 E3 Harelbeke was the 58th edition of the E3 Harelbeke cycling race, which took place on 27 March and was the sixth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo), who won the 2014 edition in a four-man sprint. The race, while important in its own right as part of the spring classics season, was seen as an important part of riders' preparation for the 2015 Tour of Flanders, one of the cycling monuments that took place on many of the same roads the following week.
The 2015 Gent–Wevelgem was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Belgium and France on 29 March 2015. It was the 77th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race, and was the seventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was John Degenkolb, who had won the 2014 edition in a bunch sprint.
The 2015 Tour of Flanders was the 99th edition of the Tour of Flanders one-day cycling race. It took place on 5 April and was the eighth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race was one of the cobbled classics and was the second of the cycling monuments on the 2015 calendar. The 2014 champion was Fabian Cancellara; he was not able to defend his title after breaking two vertebrae in a crash at E3 Harelbeke.
Oliver Naesen is a Belgian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale. Considered a specialist of the one-day classics, he won the 2017 Belgian National Road Race Championships, as well as the Bretagne Classic in 2016 and 2018. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Lawrence Naesen.
The 2016 E3 Harelbeke was a one-day cycling classic that took place on Friday 25 March 2016. It was the 59th edition of the E3 Harelbeke; it was the second one-day race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the first of the cobbled classics.
The 2017 Record Bank E3 Harelbeke was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 24 March. It was the 60th edition of the E3 Harelbeke and was the eleventh event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.
The 2018 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2018 men's cycling season. It was the tenth and final edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition began with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 16 January and concluded with the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi on 21 October. Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet was the defending champion.
The 2018 E3 Harelbeke was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 23 March 2018 in Belgium. It was the 61st edition of the E3 Harelbeke and the tenth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour. The race was won by Niki Terpstra, who stayed 20 seconds clear of an elite group, led home by his teammate Philippe Gilbert, with BMC Racing Team's Greg Van Avermaet completing the podium.
The 103rd edition of the Tour of Flanders was held on 7 April 2019 in Belgium. It was the 14th event of the 2019 UCI World Tour and the second monument classic of the season, following Milan–San Remo. The race was won by Italian rider Alberto Bettiol.
The 2020 UCI World Tour was a series of races that was scheduled to include thirty-six road cycling events throughout the 2020 cycling season. However, some of races were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour started with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 21 January, and concluded with the final stage of the Vuelta a España on 8 November.
