Oliver Naessen (AG2R La Mondiale) expressed disappointment that the 2020 Tour of Flanders has been shortened by about 26 km due to a change of date to October 18.

The 2020 Ronde was originally planned to be 267 km long, as was the 2019 race won by Albert Bettiol, but Tembosse and Mur van Geraardsbergen were removed from the changed route, which was confirmed on Friday. The new route is 241 km long, including Valkenberg.

"It's a shame," Nyssen told Sporza (open in new tab). 'In a 260-km race you have to do your best to finish at the front. A long race like this is the only thing I can do well."

Nyssen said that the race was "a great challenge for me.

Three of Naessen's five professional wins have come at events over 200 km, including the 2016 and 2018 Bretagne Classics and the 2017 Belgian Championships, and his endurance also led him to second place at Milan-San Remo in 2019. Naessen argues that the longer distance will make a big difference in the Monument's list of competitors.

"The best rider at 200km will not necessarily win the 260km race; the rider next to you on the 198km climb may be stopped 4km later."

"For me, this race is about survival of the fittest. So I might say something different at the end of October, but I think it's a shame"

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In addition to reducing the Tour de Flanders to 241 km, the Flanders Classic also reduced the Ghent-Wevelgem distance to 238 km, the De Brabanthe Pile to 184 km, and the Sherepuri to 183 km.

Some changes, such as the elimination of the French border crossing at Ghent-Wevelgem, were introduced in light of the coronavirus pandemic that forced the postponement of the Classic from the spring. On Friday, the Flanders Classic said in a statement that it also took into account the compressed nature of the reorganized fall calendar. [Flanders Classic decided, in consultation with the teams, to slightly shorten the race distances in order to provide teams and athletes with ample opportunity for rest between the consecutive races in October.