Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle spearhead our six-man squad.
One of the two stage races where our team will be in action this week, the Tour de Luxembourg kicks off Wednesday afternoon. The five-day event has a demanding parcours that won’t give a moment of respite. And the reason for that is that the four road stages are all up and down the entire time, featuring short but steep climbs that can easily whittle down the peloton before the business end of the route, where an uphill finish will make the fight for victory even more exciting to watch.
In addition to that, an individual time trial scheduled on the penultimate day promises to have a significant impact on the general classification, as the 20.4km undulating route around Ettelbruck can create substantial gaps between the yellow jersey contenders and completely reshuffle the standings.
Soudal Quick-Step will be at the start with a balanced team capable of going for a good result in the five stages of the race, but also of being in the mix in the GC fight. Gil Gelders, Andrea Raccagni, Pepijn Reinderink - who won the KOM jersey here two years ago - Jasper Stuyven, third overall at the Tour of Britain at the beginning of the month, Dylan van Baarle, and Gauthier Servranckx, coming from our Devo squad, will be the six riders for this 86th edition.
We go to this race with a lot of motivation.
“The season is nearing its conclusion, but we have the same determination to fight for a stage win and be up there in the general classification. It will be a hard race, with lots of challenges, but we are ready to give our best in order to achieve the goals we have”, said sports director Wilfried Peeters.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
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