A balanced squad will be at the start in Brugge Sunday morning.
The second Monument of the season is scheduled to take place this weekend, and the course it puts on the table will once again be a hard and relentless once which could lead so several selections happening long before the finish in Oudenaarde, which gets to see the winner getting crowned there for the 14th year in a row.
A total of 268 kilometer, 17 climbs, many of them featuring double-digit gradients – including the Molenberg, Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg – and seven cobblestone sectors are the many ingredients of the 109th edition, which will get underway early in the morning from the beautiful historic center of Brugge, home to one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe.
Soudal Quick-Step will be at the start of De Ronde with a motivated seven-man team consisting of Pascal Eenkhoorn, former Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert – a top-five finisher in 2020 – Luke Lamperti, Paul Magnier, Casper Pedersen, who concluded a strong and impressive fourth at last week’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic after almost 100 kilometers in the break, Pepijn Reinderink and Bert Van Lerberghe.
“De Ronde is the same long and hard race that we know with some difficult roads and tough climbs. On top of that, the wind could play an important role on Sunday and in the way things will unfold, especially between the climbs. We have a nice and motivated team, featuring both experienced and young riders. For the latter, it will be a good occasion to take on these iconic roads, to discover De Ronde and gain valuable experience for the future. We hope to do a strong race, have a bit of luck on our side this time, and be in the mix for a good result at the end of the day”, said sports director Tom Steels at the press conference that took place at the headquarters of our sponsor Safety Jogger, where our line-up was revealed.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
