Two days ago John Degenkolb took the biggest win of his career at the Gent-Wevelgem and his Giant-Shimano team have found no reason to change the winning formula. The team will line up the exact same riders at Sundays' Ronde van Vlaanderen while Warren Barguil will lead them in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco on the back of a 9th place in the Volta a Catalunya.
The team is unchanged from that which took victory in Gent-Wevelgem and after this win, John Degenkolb will be one to watch.
Flanders is one of the toughest one-day classics and requires concentration from start to finish as well as strong legs and head as the route takes in 17 energy-sapping bergs as well as six flat cobbled sections over the course of the 259km route.
Last year Degenkolb finished ninth and with the reinforcement of an on-form Dries Devenyns both he and the team will be looking to better this result.
Team Giant-Shimano coach, Marc Reef said:
"The way the team have ridden in both E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem gives us a lot of confidence for Sunday and the coming classics.
"However, the Tour of Flanders is a different race altogether, the highest level you get in the Flemish classics. We will focus on a result with John and to have Dries there to support him at the end.
"If we continue to work like we have been recently we will be there challenging at the end."
3 Days of De Panne
This three-day mid-week stage race heavily favours the those strong against the clock with its closing individual time trial often proving to be the deciding factor for the overall classification.
The three stages prior to this are generally suited to the fast men however the wind and other weather conditions, together with typical twisty, technical Belgian roads can all play their part.
Tobias Ludvigsson will head to the race with an eye on the overall with a focus on the time trial, while Marcel Kittel will have the support of lead-out man, Tom Veelers and others for the sprints.
"We have two main goals for this this race, a good overall position with Ludvigsson and then the sprints with Kittel," said coach Rudi Kemna
"It is a technical race and we will have to race from the front to stay in control and out of trouble. It will also be a good race for Sea Keong Loh to test himself in a classics-type race."
Volta Limburg Classic
Thomas Damuseau and Cheng Ji come to the race off the back of a big week of successful racing at the Volta Catalunya, while Jonas Ahlstrand and Sea Keong Loh come straight from VDK-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde.
Limburg is a 196km race based on an up and down circuit. Last year the race split into several groups, with Tobias Ludvigsson finishing 15th and first rider from the team.
"At Limburg we will go out with the goal to attack and see what that brings," said coach, Rudi Kemna. "We have an opportunistic team of talented young riders here and the race is perfect for going on the front foot."
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
Following a strong showing in Catalunya, Warren Barguil returns to the hills to once again test himself against some of the world's best climbers as he continues to prove that he can be regarded in the same category.
Road-captian, Johannes Fröhlinger who rode a consistent race supporting the team in Catalunya will again be guiding a young team here which also includes recent yellow jersey wearer at Critérium International, Tom Dumoulin.
"We will have a good idea of what sort of GC focus we will take after the opening stage which will already shake the overall up a lot," said coach Addy Engels.
"We have Tom D and Simon Geschke here too who are also building towards the Ardennes Classics, and they will look to target a stage to test their form.
"And then we have Daan Olivier in just his second race back after injury so for him we will just see how it goes and let him get his confidence and experience back. In general we will take it day-by-day and take each stage as it comes."
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe
The race is often decided on the individual time trial on stage three and with Tobias Ludvigsson, Chad Haga and Lawson Craddock here the team stands a good chance of performing well against the clock.
Ludvigsson finished third overall here last year and will be looking to improve on this after already having taken a time trial win and overall victory in France this season.
"Much like in Critérium International, we have a young team here looking to learn and also to support Tobias for the overall," said coach Christian Guiberteau.
"Having finished third here last year he knows what it takes to win it, but with a short time trial the gaps won't be large and differences may come from other stages too like the tough final stage."
Giant-Shimano for Ronde van Vlaanderen:
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Roy Curvers (NED)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Dries Devenyns (BEL)
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA)
Koen De Kort (NED)
Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Giant-Shimano for Driedaagse van de Panne:
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Sea Keong Loh (MAL)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)
Giant-Shimano for Volta Limburg Classic:
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Chad Haga (USA)
Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Sea Keong Loh (MAL)
Giant-Shimano for Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco:
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Daan Olivier (NED)
Tom Peterson (USA)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Giant-Shimano for Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Chad Haga (USA)
Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Sea Keong Loh (MAL)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Michel SUAREZ 38 years | today |
Katherine MAINE 27 years | today |
Andrew ROCHE 53 years | today |
Sophie ENEVER 25 years | today |
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