Scheldeprijs is coming up on Wednesday, back in its regular midweek spot between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, only the race now marks the end of the spring cobbled season following the latter race's postponement.
As ever, the race will be one tailored for the sprinters rather than the cobble specialists, with a pan-flat course and only one cobbled sector along the way – repeated four times for the men and women.
Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) heads into the men's race as the major favourite, though the Irishman will face stern competition from Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), among others.
In the first-ever women's Scheldeprijs, Marta Bastianelli (Alé Ljubljana BTC) and Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) will be among the favourites.
Cyclingnews will be bringing you live coverage during Scheldeprijs. We will also be bringing you full reports, results, news, interviews, and analysis throughout the race. Read on to find out how to watch the Scheldeprijs via live stream, no matter your location, with ExpressVPN.
There's plenty of talent spread across the two races, with Elia Viviani (Cofidis) also looking to challenge Bennett in the men's race. Reigning champion Caleb Ewan isn't there, but John Degenkolb leads Lotto Soudal in his place.
Three-time winner Mark Cavendish will ride alongside Bennett, while former winner Alexander Kristoff leads UAE Team Emirates. European champion Giacomo Nizzolo heads up Qhubeka Assos, while Alpecin-Fenix bring two threats in Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen.
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Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) continues to race while the UCI investigates him for his sprint at Cholet-Pays de la Loire, while his countrymen Marc Sarreau (AG2R Citroën), Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) and Rudy Barbier (Israel Start-Up Nation) will also be in contention.
In the women's race, Bastianelli and Wiebes will face competition from Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), Chloe Hosking (Trek-Segafredo), Sanne Cant (Plantur-Pura), and Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit-WNT).
They will tackle a 135-kilometre course from Schoten to Schoten with four laps of a finishing circuit – including the Broekestraat cobbles – to finish. The men, meanwhile, will face much the same only stretched to a 194-kilometre course starting in Terneuzen.
Men's start: 1:34 p.m. CET Men's finish: approximately 5:25 p.m. CET Women's finish: approximately 2:50 p.m. CET Live broadcast starts: 11:45 a.m. CET (women), 3:15 p.m. CET (men)
Read on for all the information on how to watch the Scheldeprijs 2021.
Scheldeprijs live stream
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The men's Scheldeprijs will be broadcast around Europe on Eurosport with the women exclusively via livestream online. A subscription to Eurosport Player costs £6.99 for a single month, £4.99 for a year-long monthly pass, or £39.99 for a 12-month pass.
The races will be aired in the United Kingdom and in select other territories around Europe on GCN+ . A year’s subscription to GCN+ will set you back £39.99 / €39.99 / $49.99. No live coverage or highlights are available to GCN+ subscribers in the USA, Australia or Canada, however.
Flobikes will air the races in Australia, Canada and the USA, with plans starting from $12.50 per month or $150 per year.
In Belgium, Sporza and RTBF will air the races, while L'Equipe will air them in France.
If you live outside a broadcast zone or are on holiday outside your country and find that the live streams to be geo-restricted, you can get around this by getting access to them by simulating being back in your home country via a 'virtual private network', or VPN, for your laptop, tablet or mobile.
Our sister site TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number-one VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
