Alvaro Hodeg, Fabio Jakobsen, Yves Lampaert or Zdenek Stybar will all be in action at the end of the week.
This weekend schedules two one-day races, in Belgium and France, respectively. First appointment will be the Brussels Cycling Classic, which runs its 98th edition over 200.2 kilometers that pack 13 hills. With the last one coming around 40 kilometers from the finish, the sprinters' teams will be hoping to control the breakaway and bring everything back together for a bunch finish. Same goes for Sunday's Grand Prix de Fourmies (205 kilometers), where the attackers will use the rolling terrain as springboard to a potential victory, while the peloton will try to keep them in check.
Rémi Cavagna, Fabio Jakobsen, Yves Lampaert, Davide Martinelli and Florian Sénéchal will go to Brussels, while Alvaro Hodeg will replace Jakobsen as Quick-Step Floors' designated sprinter twenty-four hours later, when Zdenek Stybar will step in for Martinelli. Joining them on both races will be Circuit de Wallonie winner Mikkel Frølich Honoré (21 years) and Hungarian Road Race and ITT Champion Barnabás Peák (19 years), the team's two stagiaires for the remaining of the season.
"Brussels Classic and GP de Fourmies usually conclude in a bunch gallop, however, if a strong group escapes the peloton it can be hard to catch them, so we need to keep our eyes open and be well-positioned to close it down or jump aboard. Fabio Jakobsen and Alvaro Hodeg, our two neo-pros who already have eight victories in total to their name this season, have another good shot to go for the win on Saturday and Sunday, respectively", said Tom Steels.
Quick-Step Floors' sport director was quick to underline that the team will have more than one card to play, while also welcoming the two trainees to the Wolfpack.
"Many good sprinters will be at the start in the weekend, but we will be motivated to continue our run of success, even though we know it won't be an easy task. Also guys like Yves, Rémi and Stybar have a shot in these races, but it depends on what happens and how things unfold, especially on the hills, where a selection can take place. It will be good to finally meet our two stagiaires – Mikkel and Barnabás – properly and see them in action to learn more about their race intelligence, mentality and type as riders and to see what they can do. They will race without pressure from the team but of course they will be motivated to do well and prove themselves."
Photo credit: ©Mark Van Hecke/ Getty Images
