Mathieu Van der Pol's chances for a third Tour de Flanders win were undoubtedly boosted by Wout Van Aert's (Wisma-Ries A-Bike) big crash this week at Doire de Flanderen. But the Dutchman expressed sympathy for both his Belgian rival and Lidl Trek, which lost Jasper Steiven to a broken collarbone.

"This crash is particularly unfortunate for the Tour de Flanders, but even more so for Wout and Jasper. They have lived for months for these two important races and now they will have to miss them just a few days ago. In pre-race comments sent to the media from Alpecin de Seuninck, van der Pol said.

"I have never publicly stated that I wanted to race with all the top riders at the start. 'I cannot predict in advance whether Wout's and Jasper's absences will affect me or not. I can't predict in advance whether Wout and Jasper's absences will affect me or not.

Van der Pol was not scheduled to compete in the Dwar de Vlaanderen after winning the E3 Saxo Classic and finishing second behind Mads Pedersen in Ghent-Wevelgem.

"Because winning the E3 and Ghent-Wevelgem double was already hard enough. And I don't know if I would have been involved in the crash.

Alpecin Deceuninck also announced on Friday that Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Philipsen will not compete in the Tour of Flanders. He will be replaced by Gianni Vermersch.

"Due to an agreement between team management and performance, Jasper will change his program slightly and will compete in Wednesday's Scheldeprijs, which takes place before Paris-Roubaix, as he did last year.

Also in the Alpecin-Desseuninck lineup are Søren Clark Andersen, Sylvain Dillier, under-23 world champion Axel Laurens, Xandro Moelis, and Oscar Riesebeek.

Preliminary Van der Pol comments did not mention any roster changes that would take a bit of firepower away from the support at the Tour of Flanders.

Visma Lease-a-Bike and Riddle Trek lost key members, but van der Pol said that "even without Van Aert and Steuben, respectively, they remain two super-powerful blocks." Jorgensen, Benoot, Pedersen, Milan, etc.

"At least as far as I'm concerned, the focus remains the same. I just do my own thing. Winning the Tour of Flanders is never easy and Sunday will be no different."

"I can't say much in advance about 'how I will tackle it'. It depends on how the race unfolds and the situation. Of course I will take responsibility, but in my opinion, Visma Lease-a-Bike and Lidl Trek remain super strong opponents."