Our team will race with a special jersey on Wednesday.
Nokere Koerse celebrates its 79th edition with a significant change. The peloton will tackle a dozen climbs, half of which are cobbled, but instead of the classic descent through the Nokere village in the final kilometer before the last ascent, they will now go onto a straight, uphill stretch on a different side of the famous Nokereberg.
Our team has won the race six times – most recently last year, when Tim Merlier left everyone behind with a ferocious attack at the base of the final climb – and will look to be again among the protagonists, this time with a unique jersey on our shoulders, highlighting Ekopak’s work in reducing and optimising water consumption.
Gil Gelders, Luke Lamperti, who makes his debut this season, neo-pro Andrea Raccagni, Bert Van Lerberghe and Warre Vangheluwe will be joined by Devo Team’s Gauthier Servranckx and Lars Vanden Heede on the Soudal Quick-Step roster in Deinze, at the start of the 188.2km one-day race.
“We have a different jersey for this race and we want to show it and make proud our sponsors from Ekopak, who will celebrate the opening of their new facility in Deinze later this month. On the menu there will be cobblestones, climbs, and some intense local laps before a new final. The last ten kilometers are the ones that are different than in the past, the finish line being now on a 900m straight averaging 4%, so it remains to be seen how things will look there. We have a young team, and although we know that we aren’t the top favourites on Wednesday, we are motivated to show ourselves and do our best while trying to get a good result”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Iljo Keisse.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
