The weekend brings the only World Tour one-day race of the month.
One of the most successful sprinters of recent years, Tim Merlier is pinning a number again this Sunday for the second edition of the Copenhagen Sprint. Starting from Roskilde and finishing in the country’s capital, the host of the 2011 World Championships, the Copenhagen Sprint is a race for the sprinters, and Tim Merlier will start as one of the favorites.
The course is flat and without any major challenges. After 170 kilometers, the peloton will enter on a local circuit in Copenhagen, where the fast men’s teams shouldn’t have any problems in controlling the peloton. Soudal Quick-Step will be one of the squads aiming for a bunch sprint, and for that reason it will come to the start with a strong roster - consisting of Ayco Bastiaens, Yves Lampaert, Casper Pedersen, Fabio Van den Bossche, Dries Van Gestel, and Bert Van Lerberghe - ready to support the former European Champion.
There will be a lot of strong sprinters there, a quite impressive startlist for such a young race.
“Still, we are confident in our chances, because we have one of the fastest guys in the business and he will rely again on a solid team. It should be a nice day of racing, with those local laps right though the city center, where many fans will come to watch the peloton, and we are motivated to do our best and get a good result at our first participation there”, said sports director Niki Terpstra.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
