The Wolfpack goes into the weekend with several cards to play.
A total of 17 climbs in the space of just 155 kilometers will make for a race of attrition at the 64th E3 Saxo Bank Classic, one of the hardest one-day races out there. Taaienberg, Eikenberg, Stationberg, Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont and Tiegemberg are just some of the 203.9km route’s highlights – all strategic points for blowing the peloton to pieces or launching what in the end could turn out to be the winning move.
Last season, clad in the beautiful Danish Champion jersey, Kasper Asgreen attacked from the distance, got caught on the outskirts of Harelbeke and still had enough left in the tank for one more acceleration that saw him power away from a select group and take what at that point was the biggest victory of his career. Asgreen will now return at the start with bib number one on his back, part of a team that will go into the race with several options.
Joining him are Davide Ballerini, Mikkel Honoré, Florian Sénéchal, Stijn Steels, Jannik Steimle and Zdenek Stybar, who won the race in 2019 the same year he triumphed in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
“E3 Harelbeke is usually a good test ahead of next week’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. Harelbeke is also one of the hardest one-day races out there and we go there with last year’s winner in our ranks. Kasper has a good team around him, I think Florian proved in Milano-Sanremo he also has the condition he needs for this time of the year. We are curious to see how Zdenek is after his illness and what he is capable of doing. The rest of the guys, including Mikkel who will start for the first time at a Flemish Classic, will bring a lot of support, while Davide can also play an important role”, said Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Tom Steels.
On Sunday, Gent-Wevelgem will bring down the curtain over an action-packed weekend with course between Ypres and Wevelgem, that despite the presence of plugstreets, will again revolve around the Kemmerberg and its steep cobbles, where a group can kick clear of the bunch and hold it off if it will have enough firepower. At 248.8 kilometers, Gent-Wevelgem will be one of the season’s longest one-day races and a scintillating appetizer before the two cobbled Monuments of this spring.
Even in the rare occasions the race has come down to a bunch sprint in the past ten years, the group that ended up fighting for victory never counted more than 30 riders, and the main reason for this was the Kemmelberg and its gruelling cobbled slopes, followed by a short and technical descent. From the top of the last ascent, only 33 kilometers remain until the finish, and history has proven that a small group that gets away, if strong enough, can hold off an entire peloton.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s team for the 84th edition of Gent-Wevelgem will comprise Kasper Asgreen, Davide Ballerini, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne winner Fabio Jakobsen, Iljo Keisse, Yves Lampaert, Florian Sénéchal and Bert Van Lerberghe.
“We have a very good team for Sunday, a team capable of being there in the mix regardless of the scenario. We can ride an offensive race on and around the Kemmelberg, but we can also be present in the bunch sprint with Fabio if the race comes back together on the flat roads after the last climb. We are confident and very motivated”, added Tom Steels, a winner of Gent-Wevelgem in 1996 and 1999.
Photo credit: ©Jered Gruber
