Twenty-five teams were invited to the race, which included all nineteen UCI WorldTour teams and six UCI Professional Continental teams.[4][5] Each team started with seven riders for a total of 175 riders; of these, only 69 riders finished.[3]
Mathieu van der Poel was the favourite to win, but was forced to withdraw through illness.[6] The 2016 and 2017 winner, Greg Van Avermaet, was the subsequent favourite for victory. The 2019 winner, Zdeněk Štybar, also returned to defend his title.[7]