Now that the team has finished with the warmth of Spain and the desert of Oman, it is time for IAM Cycling to travel to Belgium for the opening Classics of the year. First on their Flanderian dance card is the Het Nieuwsblad, followed by the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on the next day.

For the Swiss team’s sports manager, Rik Verbrugghe, the team is not going to put a lot of pressure on its riders. 

“What I want to see from everyone is a lot of great teamwork and team spirit,” Verbrugghe confirmed.  “We come to these races to take stock of ourselves.  The results will not be the priority.  Everyone knows this race can be very nervous because it is the opening Classic, so we will not panic.  The two groups we had working at the Tour of Oman and the Ruta del Sol will join up.  They each worked hard at their parallel races in order to prepare for the Classics, but now it is more important that they come and learn to ride together.  Hopefully, greater things will come as we get further into the spring classics.”
 
Heinrich Haussler will be among those riders going to the Het Nieuwsblad after having taken a mini break. 

“Heino had a break after the Tour of Qatar,” Verbrugghe continued.  “Aleksejs Saramotins is not well enough to race, so we called on Haussler since he was first on the reserve list.  He comes to lend a hand to the team for the race, and also he can take the opportunity to regain some of his feel for riding on the pavés.”
 

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:

Marcel Aregger (S)
Matthias Brändle (Aut)
Sylvain Chavanel (Fr)
Dries Devenyns (Bel)
Martin Elmiger (S)
Jérôme Pineau (Fr)
Vicente Reynes (Esp)
Heinrich Haussler (Aus)
 

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne:

Marcel Aregger (S)
Martin Elmiger (S)
Sondre Holst Enger (Nor)
Roger Kluge (All)
Simon Pellaud (S)
Matteo Pelucchi (It)
Vicente Reynes (Esp)
Jonas Van Genechten (Bel)