A few familiar faces will be missing on the Flemish roads next weekend. Lars Boom and Sebastian Langeveld have decided to skip the Belgian opening weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. As they are now riding for foreign teams, they will have a different preparation for the biggest classics.

After years at Rabobank, Blanco and Belkin, Boom has joined Astana while Langeveld is now with Cannondale-Garmin. Both teams have decided to skip the opening weekend. Instead, Boom will head to Tenerife for an Astana training camp.

For the winner of the Tour de France stage on the cobbles, everything is new in 2015. And he expects that the new air at Astana will be good for him. "In the last few months, I have only been riding in the heat: Australia, Dubai, Qatar," he said. "Now it is better to go to altitude and then ride Paris-Nice and the classics. For me, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has always come at an uncomfortable time."

Boom has adapted well to Astana after many years at Dutch teams. "Since the language was Dutch, I felt at ease. Now it's something else as I have talk with hands and feet. The Italians do that a lot. I have no problem telling what I want."

For Boom, the transition to Astana has been an eye-opener . "It feels good to have new people around me. It's a different vibe in my career. It is now back to business. "

Langeveld has always been good in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. In 2010, he was se. In 2011 he got the big reward with victory in the opening of the Belgian cycling season.

"If I was really at 100 percent, I knew that I was going to participate in the finale," he told NOS. "However, the race has a specific purpose. It requires a big effort and the weather is often vert bad. And it all hasn't really started yet. The big classics start in six weeks. The risk is too great and for foreign teams there is very little reward."

Langeveld focuses on Paris - Nice and then the other classics. "Paris-Nice is still two weeks away. There I will try to finalize my preparation," said the Dutch road champion.