“I am really looking forward to Sunday,” Kasper said. “Racing Flanders is always special. It’s the culmination of several weeks of racing here in Belgium that come to an end with one last big bang.”

The SRAM RED XPLR AXS derailleur that Kasper will use at De Ronde bolts straight on to the frame of his Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO. By eliminating the hanger, the technology, which was originally developed for mountain-biking and gravel racing, creates a much stiffer joint between the derailleur and the frame. That makes for fast, precise shifting under load, when the bike is bouncing and flexing over cobblestones. Built for wide-range cassettes like Kasper’s 10-46, the SRAM RED XPLR AXS derailleur features a spring clutch to keep chain tension constant over the roughest roads in Flanders, so he doesn’t lose power on the cobbles.

Kasper is going to rock a single 56-tooth front chainring with his 10-46 cassette over the stones at De Ronde van Vlaanderen. He will have all of the gears he will need to sprint out of the gutter in the fastest crosswind sections and attack the steepest bergs. When he drops his chain into the 10, Kasper will push a gear equal to a 62-11. On a brutally steep climb like the Koppenberg, Kasper’s 46 will give him a gear equal to a 39-32.

Kasper’s SRAM RED XPLR AXS cassette features a 10-11-12-13-15-17-19-21-24-28-32-38-46 cog progression. The bottom cogs are super tight, so he will be able to adjust to high-speed changes of pace, while maintaining his most efficient cadence. The center of the block ascends smoothly from the 15 through the 21, while the upper range gives Kasper all of the gears he could need on the Flemish bergs.

The key climbs at De Ronde are narrow and steep, so every rider wants to be at the front. That creates bottlenecks that often force the peloton to slow on the toughest sections and then accelerate on slippery, bumpy cobblestones. If you are overgeared, those accelerations require a huge amount of torque which can cause your wheels to slip and sap power from your legs. Having a 46 on the back will allow Kasper to save his strength, so he can attack later in the race.

“It is just simpler,” Kasper said. “We have the chain catcher there, so there is no chance that the chain will come off. That gives us a nice bit of security. At a race like Flanders, you only need the one chain ring. There are aero and weight advantages as well.”

Kasper will pilot De Ronde from his uberlight, aero-optimised SystemBar Road cockpit. His 5th gen LAB71 SuperSix EVO is Cannondale’s lightest, most-aerodynamic race bike. Constructed from ultralight Series 0 carbon with a nano-resin layup for outstanding tensile and compressive strength, its tube shapes were refined in the windtunnel to reduce drag with geometry optimized for responsive handling and rapid accelerations.

He will use Vision Metron 60 RS wheels with 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tires, fitted with Air-Liners, to roll fast over the cobbles. His tires’ supple, grippy rubber will absorb blows from the stones at speed and provide excellent traction in muddy, dusty corners. On asphalt, his tires are extremely fast. Vision’s all-carbon Metron 60 Racing Series wheels are ultra-aerodynamic and stable. The new Helical Clutch ratchet with 72 teeth improves power transfer under load. Their 23-mm internal diameter improves aerodynamics and rolling resistance when paired with 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tires.

He will push power through his Wahoo SPEEDPLAY AERO pedals and track data with his new Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT 3.

Kasper rides a Fizik ARGO R1 Adaptive saddle so he can ride comfortably and efficiently across the 278.6 kilometers of cobbles and bergs at De Ronde.

The Tour of Flanders is his favorite race and the former winner can’t wait to throw himself into the action on Sunday.

Check out the full specs of Kasper’s race bike for De Ronde.