Two-time Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Yves Lampaert will lead the squad this Thursday.
Who doesn’t love a mini-Paris-Roubaix, especially when it’s scheduled just three weeks before the “Queen of the Classics”? Grand Prix de Denain is just that and this year promises a great fight between the cobbles specialists, who will take on twelve sectors spread over the 196.2kilometers of the French race.
The most important of these are the five-star St-Vaast-en-Cambrésis a Quievy and Quérénaing a Maing, but even Avesnes-le-Sec a Hordain could end up playing a key role despite being only 800 meters in length, as it will be the final hurdle on the route, set to be tackled inside the closing 15 kilometers of this 65th edition.
Ayco Bastiaens, Gil Gelders, Yves Lampaert – a top-three finisher in Paris-Roubaix a couple of years ago – Pepijn Reinderink, Warre Vangheluwe, Bert Van Lerberghe and Jordi Warlop are the seven Soudal Quick-Step riders who will be this Thursday at the start of the race.
“It’s the first time that we do this race and it will be a useful way to test our material ahead of Paris-Roubaix. The race can be split in two: a first part consisting of three big loops where we have to pay attention to the road furniture, and a second one comprising twelve cobblestone sectors, many of which feature also in Roubaix, but from the opposite direction”, said sports director Iljo Keisse. “We went on a recon this week, and the sectors are very dirty, wet and muddy, so with the weather here it’s likely it will be the same on Thursday. We expect a very tough race, but at the same time, we are confident we can be in the mix for a good result.”
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