Klaas Lodewyck celebrated hise selection for Sunday's Milan-Sanremo by proving that he is ready for the longest classic on the calendar. In today's Handzame Classic, the BMC rider sprinted to 5h to take his second top 10 result in three days.
Klaas Lodewyk scored his second straight top 10 finish Friday, finishing fifth at the Handzame Classic before learning he will fly to Italy to take part in Milan-San Remo on Sunday.
Lodewyck was always in the lead peloton during the 198.2-kilometer race that split into several groups when the course turned inland off the coast. Teammates Silvan Dillier and Rick Zabel were in an 18-man breakaway and a later escape that featured three riders was brought back in the closing moments to set up the field sprint.
"Sebastian Lander, Silvan Dillier and Daniel Oss did a really great job to keep me out of the wind," Lodewyck said. "In the final, Zabel and Dillier did a good job of taking care of me and putting me in good position at the end."
Luka Mezgec (Team Giant-Shimano) took the win ahead of Theo Bos (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).
BMC Racing Team Sport Director Allan Peiper said Lodewyck would have had even more help, but Martin Kohler suffered a puncture as crosswinds sliced the peloton into pieces after 47 km.
"By the time we got him in a wheel, he was in the fifth group, which never came back," Peiper said. "But everyone did a good job of getting Klaas on Bos's wheel. I think it was a great team effort and great for the young riders to work together and build up for the races next week and the coming classics."
Lodewyck will replace Taylor Phinney on the roster for Milan-San Remo. Phinney fell ill after the team's training ride Friday.
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