Three more sleeps until the first World Tour one-day race of the season.
The Classics – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s bread and butter – are back this weekend and the excitement is already bubbling up. Once again, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will open the show with a 204.2km course between Gent and Ninove. Containing 13 climbs and seven cobblestone sectors, Omloop remains one of the most important and prestigious one-day races out there and the perfect appetizer for what promises to be another exciting Classics campaign. Once again, the demanding Muur-Kapelmuur and Bosberg combo, which until a decade ago used to be Ronde van Vlaanderen’s salt and pepper, is expected to weigh heavily in the outcome of the race.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl will come to the start Saturday morning with a team consisting of Ronde van Vlaanderen champion Kasper Asgreen – who will make his third consecutive Omloop Het Nieuwsblad appearance – Czech ITT Champion Josef Cerny, Iljo Keisse, 2020 runner-up Yves Lampaert, Florian Sénéchal, 2019 winner Zdenek Stybar and Bert Van Lerberghe.
One day later, Fabio Jakobsen – who so far this season has won four races – and Jannik Steimle will replace Kasper Asgreen and Josef Cerny for Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, a 195.1km event which takes in more than a dozen climbs, including Mont Saint-Laurent, Kruisberg and Kluisberg. As the last of these is topped 52 kilometers from the finish, a regrouping is very likely, which would give the sprinters a chance to fight for victory.
“As a Belgian team, the Opening Weekend is always very exciting. The riders are looking forward to it, especially as it will be a good test for their condition. We have a lot of guys – Kasper, Yves, Florian and Zdenek – who can be there in the finale and fight for a good result in Omloop, but also one day later, when Fabio will be part of the team together with Jannik. In Josef, we have a new guy who maybe lacks some experience in this kind of races, but has a lot of horsepower and will be guided by Iljo, while Bert knows how to put our leaders in a good position before the crucial points on the course”, said Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Tom Steels.
Tim Declercq won’t be at the start this weekend as he’s currently recovering from pericarditis.
Photo credit: ©Jered Grubber
