Tinkoff-Saxo is set to take on l’Eurométropole, the former Circuit Franco-Belge. The team starts the five-stage race with a strategy not yet set in stone, as the outcome of the opening 7.7km prologue will determine the final approach in search of a stage win as well as a top 5 GC result. DS Lars Michaelsen draws attention to late season motivation.
 
Tinkoff-Saxo fields Manuele Boaro, Michael Mørkøv, Matteo Tosatto, Nikolay Trusov, Jay McCarthy, Pavel Brutt and stagiaires Michael Gogl and Antwan Tolhoek.
 
According to sports director Lars Michaelsen, the opening prologue consisting of 7.7 intense kilometers with an uphill finish will prove decisive.
 
“The race starts with a prologue. It’s very demanding and it’ll be a matter of going flat-out from the start while keeping the momentum on the final steep kilometer. It will undoubtedly become a pivotal stage and decide our strategy for the next stages. We hope that Manuele Boaro can put in a strong performance. We know that he’s very capable on such a parcours, when he is at his best and he should be motivated. He went to the Worlds TTT with ambitions but his ambitions were hampered after just 1k, when he suffered a mechanical. So I reckon that he is focused and ready”, says Lars Michaelsen and adds:
 
“We hope that Antwan Tolhoek, our young stagiaire, can do a good time trial as well, since his ability to climb will present him with some opportunities later in the race. After the TT we will evaluate the situation and see who we’ll support in the GC and from there make our strategic plan day by day in order to play our cards in the best possible way. Other than that, we got strong experienced riders in road captain Michael Mørkøv and Matteo Tosatto, while Trusov proved with his 2nd place in Koolskamp that he can do well in the sprints. Brutt is equally going well – we saw that in the Worlds Road Race”.

Tour de l’Eurométropole consists of five days of racing mainly in Belgium. After the opening prologue, the riders will face open terrain with possible crosswinds and adverse weather conditions, while stage 2 and 4 feature an undulating parcours. However, Lars Michaelsen underlines that the level of motivation this late in the season will be the deciding factor.
 
“It’s difficult to predict both the weather conditions and outcome but everything at this late stage comes down to the motivation that each riders brings. It doesn’t matter whether it’s flat, uphill or if we have crosswind – if a rider is a few percent more motivated than his rival, it will create the difference. The motivation and will to dig deep is naturally crucial during the race but it has been at least as important during the period of preparation building up to the race”, notes Michaelsen before finishing:

“We have some riders coming directly from the US and the Worlds in Richmond so they will have to fight the jetlag. We must respect that and if they are affected, we hope that they will be ready during the second part of the race”.