Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert will all pin a number for the two Classics.
It’s still February, but spring is already here, and the main reason for this is that we’re just a couple of days away from one of the best weekends of the season and the start of six weeks of exciting and spectacular racing on the cobbles.
Starting from Gent and finishing in Ninove, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad kicks things off with a 202.2km course featuring plenty of pavé sections and a dozen hills, including Muur-Kapelmuur and the Bosberg. The iconic combo that once was synonymous with the Ronde van Vlaanderen should be decisive on Saturday, especially as the top of the last climb is separated from the finish by just 12 kilometers. One day later, the riders will tackle Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, where despite the final real difficulty of the day coming with more than 60 kilometers remaining, the attackers have their chances of prevailing, as shown by Kasper Asgreen in 2020.
The powerful Dane will start his seventh pro season at the Opening Weekend, where he is set to compete in both events. Another Monument winner at the start will be Julian Alaphilippe, the double World Champion who put in a solid display last month at the Tour Down Under and who returns to racing after a block of training at altitude. Also in action for Soudal Quick-Step at the end of the week will be Josef Cerny, Yves Lampaert, neo-pro Luke Lamperti – who made quite the impression in his first races with the team – Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, Martin Svrcek and Warre Vangheluwe.
“We are excited about the upcoming weekend, at the start of which we’ll go with a strong squad and a lot of confidence and determination. Most of the guys did a good altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada and will now resume competition, and five of our guys will do both races. We can’t say these races have any more secrets, it will be mostly about finding out where we are at this moment. For Omloop we have a couple of riders who could get a good result, while for Kuurne, if it comes down to a bunch sprint, we’ll be curious to see what Luke can do”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
