Another way to look at it is to arrange the teams in order of strength.
- Elegant - Quick-Step: They don't have the individual top favourite, but they are likely to have the numerical advantage in the final. Declercq and Devenyns are pure helpers; the other five might still be around in the final. They can attack in turns in the tactical zone 35 to 20 km before the finish. Their best chance might be Asgreen. If he attacks after the Taaienberg he might be strong enough to stay away.
- EF Education First: With last year's winner Bettiol and eternal hope Sep Vanmarcke they have two specialists in good shape. Langeveld and Keukeleire will provide quality support.
- Trek - Segafredo: Mads Pedersen won G-W; Stuyven won the Omloop. Theuns and Skujins are strong helpers.
- Sunweb: Kragh Andersen, Benoot, C. Pedersen
- Jumbo-Visma: Van Aert, Teunissen, Wynants
- Ineos: Kwiatkowski, Van Baarle, Rowe
- AG2R: Naesen, Vandenbergh, Bardet, Dillier
- Lotto - Soudal: Wellens, Degenkolb, Wallays
- Alpecin - Fenix: Van der Poel
- Groupama - FdJ: Küng
one correction: Devenyns isn't in the team on Sunday, but he was riding along in the recon
A bit like Vincent Kompany being on the Belgian soccer team without playing, but still valuable.
About the other teams: Alpecin has De Bondt, Rickaert, Vakoc, Vermeersch. Vermeersch should have been in the finale in GW but crashed in a stupid way after Kemmel (not paying attention). Rickaert flatted at a bad moment. So both of them have the ability to last until the last Kwaremont ascent. Vakoc was looking better than ever this year (and last). De Bondt is a bit underestimated, but I don't know his current shape.
I would say Alpecin has as good a team as e.g. Jumbo for this.
In AG2R there is also Gougeard, and in Sunweb, I wonder how Joris Nieuwenhuis will do (as he has CX pedigree, something that elevates road potential immediately these days!
)
Bahrain has Colbrelli, Garcia Cortina (if he doesn't have any setbacks crashing in Scheldeprijs), Teuns and maybe Haussler.
Last, I hope Niki Terpstra is back in the mix. He worked superhard for his comeback, and if it doesn't show on Sunday, I wonder how much he can still charge himself for next season.