Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM closes its European cycling season at Paris-Tours on Sunday, where Jos van Emden plans to end his year with a high. 

“I’m still full of morale,” said Belkin’s van Emden. “I couldn’t race for a month because of an elbow fracture, but in Binche on Tuesday, things went quite well. My level was fine.” The Dutchman finished in 13th in Wallonia. 

“I’ve liked Paris-Tours since I was a child. It is a kind of like Milano-Sanremo, where you think, ‘Will the break make it or not?’ That’s always the question. 

“The race is heavily dependent on the weather, but if the race gets hard, I certainly would like to get in the mix. I love to race and fight, that’s how I won the Münsterland Giro last year. As I said, I’m still full of morale after my forced break, while a large part of the pack may already be thinking about vacation. That is in my favour.” 

Erik Dekker is confident after Binche Binche-Chimay and hopes his men can show themselves again on Sunday. “We start Paris-Tours with the same eight men as in Binche, where they did well,” said the sports director of Sep Vanmarcke’s fifth place on Tuesday. 

“Sunday can go either way, that’s what Paris-Tours is famous for. Last year, we made our presence felt in the final with Jetse Bol, who came close to victory with a solo attack. We want to stir things up again this year. If we want to achieve something, we cannot wait.” 

Belkin Pro Cycling line-up : Jetse Bol, Lars Boom, Jos van Emden, Rick Flens, Jonathan Hivert, Maarten Tjallingii, Sep Vanmarcke and Robert Wagner. 

Sports Director : Erik Dekker.