Sam Bennett and Mark Cavendish will be in action this week at Flanders’ oldest race.
Starting in Terneuzen and finishing in Schoten, the 194.2km Scheldeprijs will run its 109th edition on Wednesday, when despite the flat course, the race is very likely to witness fireworks long before the finish. That’s because the peloton will navigate some exposed roads where the crosswinds could make an appearance and whip across the flat landscape, preventing the race from coming down to a bunch sprint.
The most successful sprinter of the season so far, with five World Tour victories to his name, Sam Bennett will continue his spring campaign at the Belgian one-day race, which the Wolfpack has won on six occasions. The 30-year-old Irishman will be part of a strong Deceuninck – Quick-Step team that will include also Shane Archbold, three-time Scheldeprijs winner Mark Cavendish, Iljo Keisse, Michael Mørkøv, Florian Sénéchal and Bert Van Lerberghe.
“There’s a forecast of bad weather for Wednesday, so we expect a very hard race. Echelons are likely to happen before the local circuit and we’ll also take on some very narrow roads, which means we must stay attentive and close to the front at all times. In Sam and Mark we have two very strong guys who are capable of featuring in the finale and this makes us confident we can be there and come out of the race with a good result”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
Bert Van Lerberghe