Prior to the Oude Kwaremont at km 136, there are no early hills, though two cobbles sectors, the Lippenhovestraat and Paddestraat of previous Ronde lore, are returning after having been left out last year.
As for the first half of the climbs, returning are the Kappelleberg and Nieuwe Kruisberg, while the Korte Ast, Korte keer, Eikenberg and Kanarieberg are all left out this time. Ronse gets two downtown passages, with the parallel Nieuwe and Oude Kruisbergs each getting a turn. But it’s not unusual for the race to shuffle the deck a bit prior to climb 10, the second appearance of the Oude Kwaremont with 55km to go, and the hardest work of the Wolvenberg-Molenberg-Marlboroughstraat-Berendries-Valkenberg string of climbs is still there.
The last notable change is that after the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg sequence, the race heads for the Koppenberg, as usual, but not via the tiny farm roads that they usually stick to, twisting and turning at sharp angles until suddenly they are headed up the climb. Rather, the race drifts northward on Neerhofstraat and the Hevelweg until it hits the N8 route to Melden, giving the riders a chance to get their thoughts together just prior to the fearsome Koppenberg.
From there, de Ronde will play out as it always does, taking the N60 to Mariaborrestraat for the Steenbekdries/Stationsberg/Taaienberg sequence, then back to Ronse for the Oude Kruisberg/Hotond sequence leading to the final Kwaremont/Paterberg ascents and the finish