Yves Lampaert, Laurenz Rex and Dries Van Gestel will all be in action Wednesday afternoon.
Formerly known as the Classic Brugge-De Panne, the Ronde Van Brugge is one of the flattest races on the World Tour calendar, having an elevation gain of just 400 meters. Three cobblestone stretches are the only difficulties on the course, which the sprinters’ teams will try to control as they’ll aim to bring the breakaway back and position their leaders for a mass gallop in Bruges, one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities.
On the other hand, there’s a strong chance for the weather to fragment the peloton on Wednesday and make it an attritional day on the bike, and our squad is prepared to be in the thick of the action, seize any opportunity and get the most out of the race.
Soudal Quick-Step will take on this tenth World Tour appointment of the season with a strong and balanced team consisting of former Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert – victorious in this race six years ago – Samyn Classic runner-up Laurenz Rex, Fabio Van den Bossche, Dries Van Gestel, Bert Van Lerberghe, Warre Vangheluwe, and neo-pro Jonathan Vervenne.
It’s going to be a tough day on the bike if we’ll have bad weather, and at the moment, this looks to be the case.
“On the other hand, these conditions should suit our team, as our riders are all used to them. We shouldn’t have the usual bunch sprint, but if it comes down to a fast finish, we can provide a strong lead-out to Laurenz, who has shown some impressive stuff in the sprints this year”, said sports director Niki Terpstra.
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