The sprinters will be in the spotlight at the eighth edition.
Named in the honour of Jean-Pierre Monseré, the Belgian who in 1970 defeated Leif Mortensen and Felice Gimondi in Leicester, en route to winning the prized rainbow jersey, Sunday’s 196.8km-long race takes place between Hooglede and Roeselare, where the peloton will cover ten times a fast local circuit which despite the presence of a short hill and the cobblestone sector of Gitsbergstraat, is expected to come down to a bunch gallop.
One of the strongest sprinters in the field in this first part of the season, Dutch Champion Fabio Jakobsen will be one of our team’s options for the Belgian race, where our pack of wolves will rely also on the likes of Shane Archbold – making his first outing in Europe since becoming New Zealand National Champion – Ian Garrison, Alvaro Hodeg, Florian Sénéchal, Stijn Steels and neo-pro Jannik Steimle.
“We can expect a fast race, which many teams will be interested in controlling, as a bunch sprint should be in the cards at the finish in Roeselare. Our squad has many fast guys, so we’ll be one of the teams working at the front in order to keep the breakaway in check and make sure it’s all back together for the final kilometers”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.