Belkin will be without their two biggest classics stars, Lars Boom and Sep Vanmarcke in tomorrow's Dwars door Vlaanderen. Instead, the lieutenants will get a chance to shine in the Flemish classic, with Moreno Hofland covering the base in a sprint and Maarten Wynants looking to animate the race.

The Belkin Pro Cycling Team is ready for Belgium’s Dwars door Vlaanderen. This weekend the riders dotted the I’s by racing Handzame Classic or Milano-Sanremo, or training on the Flemish roads that complete the Belgian one-day race. With a balanced formation, the team of Sports Director Jan Boven will start ‘Dwars’ with multiple scenarios in mind. 

“Dwars door Vlaanderen can go two ways,” said Boven. “Often a big group makes it to the line, but with bad weather the race can be get very hard. When that happens maybe only a handful of riders will remain. For us, it doesn’t matter that much. With Moreno Hofland and Maarten Wynants we have a strong sprinter and a real classic rider. They will lead the team. The other riders know how to handle the course as well and they will give their all to support Moreno and Maarten. We have another fast sprinter with Barry Markus, too.” 

Hofland looks ahead to a return to one-day classic racing.

“After Paris-Nice, it’s good to do some training hours on Flemish roads again in order to get ready for Dwars door Vlaanderen. It’s smart to get used to the cobbles, and the twisting and turning again ahead of the race.” 

Hofland knows that other riders will watch him after his second place in Kuurne and his stage win in Paris-Nice. It will not affect the talented Dutchman, however.

“People will watch me but I will just approach the race the same way as I did Kuurne. I want to start the race open-minded. My shape is good and I hope to be there when the race explodes.” 
 

Jetse Bol, Jos van Emden, Rick Flens, Moreno Hofland, Nick van der Lijke, Barry Markus, Robert Wagner and Maarten Wynants.