Our squad aims for stage wins at the five-day race, which starts on Wednesday.
For the first time in his career, Tim Merlier will compete in the Tour of Britain, a race where our team has won a total of 27 stages at the previous participations. The best sprinter of this year’s Tour de France, the Belgian will be hoping to add to his impressive season tally with the support of an incredibly strong Soudal Quick-Step squad.
Pascal Eenkhoorn, who recently extended his contract with the team, Laurenz Rex, Jasper Stuyven, Dylan Van Baarle - winner of the GC here in 2014 - and Ilan Van Wilder, making his first outing since the Le Tour, are the five riders who will join Merlier in Lincoln, from where the 22nd edition gets underway.
The parcours gives plenty of opportunities to the sprinters, but the fight for the overall victory should be an affair between the climbers and the puncheurs, in the final two days of the event.
We have a strong and experienced team for this week’s race.
- Soudal Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt -
“Tim will be our leader for the flat stages, and there will be a couple of nice opportunities for him. He can count on a solid team and we are confident in his chances of taking a stage win. We are also happy to have Ilan back, for the first time since the Tour de France.”
“The weather conditions can be a bit tricky, with wind and rain, so we need to stay attentive the entire time. We’ll see what we can do in the general classification on the fourth stage, which is the hardest of the race, but that won’t be the only complicated day of the week, that’s why we must stay focused all the time”, said sports director Geert Van Bondt.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
