Van der Poel, Pogačar, Van Aert – start line quotes from the Tour of Flanders

Mathieu van der Poel at the start of the 2025 Tour of Flanders in Bruges
Mathieu van der Poel at the start of the 2025 Tour of Flanders in Bruges (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Tour of Flanders is underway, with the men's peloton racing from Bruges to Oudenaarde over 269km of Flanders' toughest hills and cobbles to decide the victory of the season's second Monument.

The build-up races are done, and now, so is the talking as the Classics stars of the peloton made the media rounds in Bruges at the team presentation ahead of the race start.

Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.

Season highlights from 2024 include reporting from Paris-Roubaix –  'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.

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