A total of twelve riders will be in action in East Flanders.
Heusden Koers, one of the summer’s most important kermesses, awaits with an 8.15km course that the riders will cover 21 times, for a total of 171 kilometers. Created almost one century ago, the race gives plenty of opportunities to the attackers to split the peloton and take a solo victory or from a reduced group, but as some of the most recent editions have shown, the sprinters too have their chance of triumphing.
Soudal Quick-Step will be at the start with a strong mix of World Tour and Devo riders: Gil Gelders, Laurenz Rex - who makes his return to competition for the first time since the end of March - Belgian Nationals bronze medalist Fabio Van den Bossche, Matthijs De Clercq, Naud De Clercq, Boucle de l’Artois winner Cériel Desal, Luc Royer, Joeri Schaper, Gauthier Servranckx, Matijs Van Strijthem, Kemmel Koerse victor Stan Van Tricht, and Lars Vanden Heede.
It’s a completely flat race, but with a lot of corners, so it’s going to be fast and full gas the whole time.
- Soudal Quick-Step sports director Iljo Keisse
“We’re happy to have Laurenz back after all these months, it will be a good race for him to make his comeback without any pressure. Fabio is motivated as well, as it’s his local race, and he is really looking forward to it and to fighting for a good result. We also have many young guys, who are all ready to support the team, so we are confident in our chances of being up there on Tuesday”, said sports director Iljo Keisse.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
