A strong seven-man squad featuring Julian Alaphilippe and Tim Merlier will be at the start of the month’s last World Tour race.
Wednesday schedules another cobbled Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, which takes place over a 183.7km course between Roeselare and Waregem. On the menu, eight pavé sectors and eleven climbs, among which Hotond, Kanarieberg, Knokteberg, or the famous Nokereberg – the penultimate difficulty of the day, coming with just twenty kilometers to go.
Soudal Quick-Step will tackle the 77th edition of the race with a solid and motivated team consisting of Julian Alaphilippe – making his second appearance here after the one of 2021 – Davide Ballerini, Belgian Champion Tim Merlier, Casper Pedersen, Jannik Steimle, Bert Van Lerberghe and Stan Van Tricht.
“The race should have a quiet start, but once we hit the hills, everything will come to life. It won’t be easy to control and you really have to be there. We hope that Julian is recovered after his problems in Harelbeke and finds his legs again to be up there. Davide is also coming in fresh, while Tim and Bert did a very good race on Sunday and they can go for their chance if everything comes back together. Julian and Tim are our leaders for Wednesday and we will try to get the maximum out of this race”, said sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
