Our youngsters are ready to take on four hard days of racing in France.
It’s no surprise that Bretagne and cycling are inextricably linked, with the former being one of the sport’s heartlands. Huge riders - who ended up winning Grand Tours, Monuments and World Championships - and legendary races are both connected to France’s northwesternmost region, where our Devo riders will be in action between 31 July-3 August.
Created in 2000, Kreiz Breizh Elites gets underway with a 12.8km team time trial in Grâces and continues with three hilly stages that are perfect for the attackers and those determined to make up time after the opening day, especially as there won’t be any bonus seconds in play.
Soudal Quick-Step Devo, who sits on 12 victories since the start of the season, will take on the four-day race with a six-man team consisting of Boucle de l’Artois winner Cériel Desal, Luc Royer, Joeri Schaper, Lars Vanden Heede, Matijs Van Strijthem - who recently finished third at the Kemmel Koerse - and Marc Zafra
We are going there with a nice team, and we are motivated to start with a strong result in the team time trial.
“It would be great to be up there in the general classification after that day. Depending on that result, we’ll see what our approach will be for the next stages, but we have the confidence and strength to go for good results with this solid roster”, said Soudal Quick-Step Devo sports director Eliot Lietaer.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
