Tim Merlier and Ilan Van Wilder will both be in action for our team next week.
Our squad returns at the start of the UAE Tour as the one of the reigning champion, after Remco Evenepoel capped off Soudal Quick-Step’s excellent week last year by bringing the overall victory home. It was the cherry on the cake for the team, who in the process also took three stage wins, two of which were scored by Tim Merlier.
One of the most successful sprinters of last season, the Belgian – who had a perfect start to the season, taking two victories and the points jersey at the Saudi Tour – will be again in action there, part of a strong Soudal Quick-Step that includes also Ayco Bastiaens, Tour of Oman runner-up Jan Hirt, Bert Van Lerberghe, Deutschland Tour winner Ilan Van Wilder, Mauri Vansevenant and Jordi Warlop.
The route comes without any surprises: the fast men will get four opportunities, while the climbers will have the summit finishes of Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet to make the difference. Squeezed in between there’s a 12.1km individual time trial, on the second day of the race, which remains to be seen what impact will have on the fight for the general classification.
“We travel with a versatile squad and a lot of confidence to the UAE Tour. Our goal is to get a stage win, and on our quest for that we’ll have Tim, who can count on Bert and Jordi for a strong lead-out. But we can also try and go for a good general classification: Jan is in a solid condition, as shown by his result in Oman, while Mauri and Ilan – who packs a good time trial – can also do something nice. The wind is going to play an important role, especially in the first days, so we will need to pay attention to that and see how it can influence the race”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt.
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