Tour of Flanders 2023: Fred Wright and his quest to prove he belongs at the front with Mathieu van der Poel

Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) is hoping he won’t be “hanging on for dear life” again when he bids for a maiden Classics victory at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

Wright will start as an outsider on the Flemish cobbles with a host of big names on the start list, but is hoping to build on his seventh-place finish in 2022.

The 23-year-old earned a legion of new fans with a spree of daring attacks and emotive post-race interviews in his breakout season last year. He came within a whisker of a maiden Grand Tour victory, finishing in the top five on five occasions at La Vuelta, just a month after lighting up the Tour de France.

Although his first two outings in Flanders were underwhelming – a DNF in 2020, 112th in 2021 – he was part of a five-strong front group containing eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) last year until fading late on, to hint he is starting to master the cobbles.

“In my first year at Flanders I was at the foot of the Koppenberg and I was like ‘nope, I’m out of the race!’ I went back to the bus, that was me done,” Wright recalled to Eurosport GCN Cycling, in an interview available to watch on April 4.

“And then years later I was in the first two guys onto the Koppenberg, so that’s already an improvement. I’ve built on the base from last year so I like to think my legs won’t be falling off quite as much as they did last year in the last time up the Kwaremont and the Paterberg.”

The Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg are three of Flanders’ most infamous cobblestone climbs, with the latter two climbs usually deciding the outcome of the race.

“Putting myself in the same positions as last year is the goal,” Wright continued.

“I like to think I will have the legs to do more than just hang on for dear life like I was last year. This year I’m definitely going to try and prove I wasn’t there last year by chance. I’ve got confidence I can be there.

“It’s all about knowing the roads. It all becomes a wealth of knowledge and I’m only getting more knowledge the more I do.”

Van der Poel, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) will all feature on Sunday, leaving Wright with an unenviable task to muscle in.

Wright, who admits “Flanders or Paris-Roubaix is the ultimate goal”, also spoke about what makes the cobbled Classics so special.

“I love them, I really do. Every year I learn the roads better, it’s the best time of the year, these two weeks,” he said.

“The excitement, it’s a different style of racing, every day you race you’ve got to be so concentrated.

“You don’t get a thrill in racing quite like the Classics I would say. The adrenaline, everything, makes other races seem boring! They are stressful in a good way.”

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