Julian Alaphilippe is ready to lead the squad in Slovakia.
Soudal Quick-Step returns to the start of the Okolo Slovenska this week, less than a year after dominating the previous edition, where our team won the GC, all five stages and two other classifications. It was a feat not seen before in the modern history of the race held in the country of our sponsor, Janom, what made everything even more remarkable being the fact that four of our riders put their names on the stage winners list.
For the first time since he triumphed there in 2018, Julian Alaphilippe will be at the start of Okolo Slovenska – his first stage race since the Giro d’Italia, where he took a memorable victory and the super combativity award. The two-time World Champion will be joined by Gil Gelders, GiroNextGen points jersey winner Paul Magnier, Pepijn Reinderink, home rider Martin Svrcek, Warre Vangheluwe, and Andrea Raccagni, who recently became Italian U23 National ITT Champion in the jersey of the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team.
The 68th edition of Okolo Slovenska gets underway on Wednesday, with a 28.8km team time trial held on the flat roads around Dunajska Streda and continues with two days for the sprinters. Decisive for the general classification will be the Ruzomberok and the Štrbské Pleso stages, the latter concluding at an altitude of more than 1200 meters, after an 8km climb averaging 5%.
“We have a very young team at the start, a motivated team who will be guided by Julian Alaphilippe. The parcours is an interesting one, with that team time trial to get things started, the hard uphill finish on the last stage and in between opportunities for the sprinters and the puncheurs. We’re looking forward to racing in the country of Janom and hopefully getting some nice results there”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
