There is no end to the bad luck for Lotto Soudal. Less than 24 hours after losing their captain for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, André Greipel who was set to lead the team in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, has had to withdraw from the race.

Yesterday Lotto Soudal announced that Jürgen Roelandts had fallen ill and would be unable to line up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Now the team also has to find a replacement for André Greipel for Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne where the German was one of the big favourites.

Greipel is suffering from a throat infection and will not be able to ride this coming weekend. Instead, the team is likely to ride in support of Belgian champion Jens Debusschere in the race that often comes down to a sprint.

Kenny Dehaes has been brought in as replacement for Roelandts in Saturday's race but the team hasn't announced who will take the two vacant spots on Sunday's roster.

"Like Roelandts he started to take antibiotics," sports director Herman Frison told Het Nieuwsblad. "It is a pity to lose our two leaders but that's how it is. We have confidence in the eight boys who will be at the start. For me, it is still a question who's going to replace Jürgen Roelandts and André Greipel in Kuurne. After the Omloop, we will fill those two spots. Hopefully we won't have too many setbacks in these first classics."