Friday and Saturday schedule two events on home soil for our team.
The last Belgian to have won Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, Tim Merlier is ready to lead the team at the 110th edition of the Belgian race which usually comes down to a bunch sprint. One of the fastest riders in the world and a triple stage victor at this year’s Tour de France, the former European Champion will be supported by a strong Soudal Quick-Step team consisting of Ayco Bastiaens, Laurenz Rex, Bert Van Lerberghe, as well as three Devo riders: Joeri Schaper, Lars Vanden Heede, and Matijs Van Strijthem.
One day later, Flandrien 0.0 Classic - the new name of the Super 8 Classic - puts on the table a completely different parcours. Up and down the entire time and featuring numerous short hills that are sure to fragment the peloton, the 199.4km race finishing in Haacht could see a small group fighting for victory, but also a solo win is possible, as the finish line comes less than 20 kilometers from the top of the last climb.
For Saturday, Alberto Dainese - making his first outing since La Vuelta - Pascal Eenkhoorn, Viktor Soenens and Stan Van Tricht will join Merlier, Rex and Van Lerberghe at the start in Brakel.
“Koolskamp is a sprinters’ race and we have one of the best guys in the business, so Tim will naturally be our leader and we’ll do our best to have a mass gallop at the end of the day. In the second race we go with a team comprising several riders who can fight for a good result, on a more demanding parcours where some teams will try to drop the sprinters. We’ll see how things go there and how we need to adapt, but one thing that is certain is that we have a lot of motivation to be in the mix”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Sep Vanmarcke.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
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