Sunday will see our team race in France, at a race we won in 2008 and 2016.
Held in northern France, the Grand Prix de Fourmies is a race that could go either to an attacker or a sprinter, such is the nature of the event that this year will run its 88th edition. Almost 200 kilometers in length, Sunday’s course has plenty of hills, but the gradient isn’t a punishing one, meaning that depending on the speed and intentions of the peloton, there is a chance to have the fast men fight for victory, as was the case at the previous four editions.
Shane Archbold, French Champion Rémi Cavagna – a stage winner this season at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Pologne – the experienced Dries Devenyns, Ian Garrison, Alvaro Hodeg, stagiaire Jason Osborne, who will make his first appearance for the team in a UCI race, and Pieter Serry will all pin on a number for one of the last races of the season on French soil.
“We know the parcours, consisting of the big lap followed by a couple of local laps around Fourmies, on an up-and-down course, with almost no meter of flat. There have been a few fast men who won this race in the past, which shows there’s a chance to have a bunch sprint, in which case we’ll put all our hopes in Alvaro. It’s also possible to have plenty of attacks to foil the sprinters’ plans, and if this will happen and the peloton will be split to pieces, we will still look to get a good result”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Rik Van Slycke.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
Pieter Serry