PARIS — The grueling Tour of Flanders on Sunday starts without a clear favorite to etch his name on the second monument of the cycling season.

The Ronde is the cruel culmination of Flemish Cycling Week. It is a 266-kilometer slog from Antwerp to Oudenarde over a route that takes in 24 sharp climbs, many cobbled.

"It is, without question, the hardest one-day bike race ever created," the American cyclist George Hincapie, who finished a record 17 times, wrote in his biography.

"What seems like a million corners, combined with twenty to thirty steep pitches and narrow roads, none of which go the same direction for more than a mile, all mixed together to make it war on a bike."

This year's field lacks a clear pre-race favorite. Peter Sagan, the imposing Slovak, who won in 2017, should, as usual, be a contender.

The Belgian Deceuninck-Quickstep team has dominated the spring races but without a clear No. 1 rider.

They have not entered Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who won the first monument, Milan-San Remo, but their team includes Bob Jungels of Luxembourg, Czech Zdenek Stybar and Belgian Philippe Gilbert who all have wins this season, as well as Belgian one-day specialist Yves Lampaert.

Gilbert dropped out of the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday with a stomach upset, but said he was primed for Sunday. "Full focus on the Tour of Flanders!" he tweeted on Thursday.

Alexander Kristoff, a Norwegian with UAE Emirates, the winner in 2015, showed he is in form when he sprinted to victory in the Gent-Wevelgem last Sunday.

"I feel my condition is improving and it's a good signal ahead of the Tour of Flanders," Kristoff told the team website.

The field will also include world champion Alejandro Valverde who is making his debut in the race at 38. The race is iconic for Belgians.

"In my head I've already won Flanders a thousand times," one of the contenders, Oliver Naesen of AG2R-Le Mondiale, said recently. "When you're training on those roads, or riding alone and seeing yourself alone in front, or even when you're just at home sitting on the sofa, you're thinking, 'What will it be like to win the Tour of Flanders?'"

One Belgian who knows is Tom Boonen, one of six cyclists to have won the race three times.

He listed Wout van Aert of Jumbo Visma, Mathieu van der Poel and Stybar when asked who were his favourites by a local radio station before concluding: "But I think Bob Jungels is going to win."

The race will mark one of the last appearances in a monument of the Sky livery. They will become Team Ineos at the start of May.

The team have made their name in the three major tours but have twice won one of the five most celebrated one-day classics, but neither Wout Pouls, who won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2016, nor Michal Kwiatkowski, who won Milan-San Remo in 2017, is in their team.

Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas and rising star Egan Bernal are also missing from a solid team that shows Sky's strength in depth.

Dylan van Baarle suffered a broken hand on March 2 but returned faster than expected last week aiming to race in Flanders.

"Of course it's also good to be fresh for this period but breaking something doesn't help your condition," he told the team website. "I just want to get that Belgian feeling again."

Briton Kennaugh takes break

due to mental health issues

Former Olympic gold medalist Peter Kennaugh is taking a break from professional cycling as a result of mental health issues, the rider and his Bora-Hansgrohe team said on Friday.

"Peter will be taking an indefinite break from professional cycling due to ongoing mental health issues," Bora-Hansgrohe said in a statement.

"The Team supports Peter in his decision and have agreed that this is the best course of action to ensure he can return to full health in the near future."

The 2014 and 2015 British road racing champion was a member of the Team Sky who helped Chris Froome win two of his four Tour de France titles in 2013 and 2015.

The 29-year-old, who won the team pursuit gold medal at the London Olympics with Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas and Steven Burke, left the British outfit for Bora-Hansgrohe last year.

"I would like to thank everyone at Bora-Hansgrohe for their support and understanding to allow me to recover away from the sport. I wish the team the best of luck for the rest of the season," Kennaugh said. — Agencies