Ethan Vernon returns to the World Tour squad after a successful week in Africa with the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team.
Grand Prix Criquielion and Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré are two of The Wolfpack’s four races this weekend, and our team – who sits on ten victories, four of which came at World Tour level, after an excellent month of February – will look to be again in the mix.
One of the squad’s most in-form riders this season, with three victories to his name – Trofeo Palma and two stages at the Tour du Rwanda – Ethan Vernon will be the Wolfpack’s sprinter for the Belgian races. The team for Saturday and Sunday will also include Josef Cerny, Jannik Steimle, Martin Svrcek, and Stan Van Tricht.
These five will be joined by two riders from the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team: Gil Gelders, who was runner-up at the GP Criquielion last year, and Jordi Warlop, who came close to victory at the Muscat Classic in February.
“GP Criquielion and GP Monseré are two typical Belgian races. We’ll have some local laps, a few climbs and cobbles, and our plan is to control the races and help Ethan in the bunch sprint, as he’s our main card after the solid display he has had since the start of the season. But at the same time, we are aware that the script can easily change, so we also have riders who can take advantage of this kind of situation. We go to the start with a lot of confidence and we hope to be up there in the finale”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Iljo Keisse.
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