A team capable of adapting to different scenarios will take on the event created in 1893.
The 99th edition of the Brussels Cycling Classic – a race won in the past by the likes of Octave Lapize, Briek Schotte, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx or Tom Boonen – will start this Saturday from Sint-Pieters-Woluwe and conclude in the center of the Belgian capital, after 190.5 nervous kilometers which will include no less than 12 hills and several cobblestone segments that could very well wreak havoc in the peloton and favour the attackers.
If this won’t happen and the race will come down to a bunch sprint, as was the case in the past decade, our team will look to get in the mix with 22-year-old Alvaro Hodeg, a winner of six races so far this season. The Colombian will be supported by a strong squad comprising Dries Devenyns, Iljo Keisse, Yves Lampaert – recently victorious in Izegem Koers – Florian Sénéchal and stagiaires Samuel Gaze and Jannik Steimle, who’ll make their first outing for Deceuninck – Quick-Step in a UCI race.
“We’re expecting a tough race, the combination of hills and cobbles having what it takes to shatter the peloton and force a selection 70 kilometers from the finish. Yves and Florian are the kind of riders that can be there and get involved in the fight for victory, whilst Alvaro will be our guy if it comes back together and ends in a mass gallop. We have on the team also the two trainees, Samuel and Jannik, and it’s always exciting to see what they can do in such hard races, so we’re really looking forward to Saturday”, explained sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Chris Graythen/ Getty Images
Yves Lampaert