Our two stagiaires will make their first appearance for the squad at the 164.9km-long race.
On Thursday we are back in Belgium for Izegem Koers, a kermesse created in 1968 and dominated since by the home riders, who took the victory on 41 occasions. On the winners’ list there’s also Yves Lampaert, who will be at the start of the 49th edition, just four days after finishing the Deutschland Tour an impressive third overall.
Joining the 2014 champion will be Dries Devenyns, Alvaro Hodeg – the Colombian who has won six races this season – Iljo Keisse, Pieter Serry, but also the two Deceuninck – Quick-Step stagiaires, who will don the team jersey for the first time this autumn: double U23 World Mountain Bike Champion Samuel Gaze and Oberösterreichrundfahrt victor Jannik Steimle.
Sports director Geert Van Bondt gave us a preview of the race: “It doesn’t matter it’s a kermesse, we go there with the same motivation and determination, keen on featuring in the final. Most of the riders we’ll have at the start will race also Brussels Cycling Classic in the weekend, so it will be a good preparation for them. Of course, we are curious to see how our trainees will perform on their debut for the team, so we’re really looking forward to the race.”
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski/ Getty Images
