Christophe Laporte has a chance to win the Tour of Flanders with teammate Wout van Aert likely to miss the race ©Getty Images

After winning both the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Wout van Aert and his team Jumbo-Visma have been the stars of the season so far.

Van Aert’s teammates Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot have also started well with Laporte finishing second at E3 SaxoBank Classic while Benoot managed the same at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

This is why Van Aert's illness is a huge blow for Jumbo-Visma and Belgium, who have not managed to win the Tour of Flanders in the last five editions.

However, Jumbo-Visma will start as favourites at the Tour of Flanders scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the women’s race will see another bunch sprint finish.

World champion Elisa Balsamo of Trek-Segafredo won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem in groups of at least 20, to establish herself as runaway leader in the WorldTour.

However, it has to be said that Tour of Flanders has not seen a bunch sprint finish since American Coryn Labecki won in 2017.

DSM’s leader Lorena Wiebes will look to challenge Balsamo as she is one of the only riders to have beaten Balsamo in a sprint finish so far this season.

Defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten, Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon-SRAM, and the FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope trio of Grace Brown, Marta Cavalli and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig are the other contenders.

A total of 175 riders will attempt to conquer the cobbles of Flanders, which is the biggest race in Belgium.

The 272km ride from Antwerp to Oudenaarde will feature seven men who have previously finished on the podium, including five past winners.