With the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday, the Belgian road season is about to start. Today Lotto Soudal did a recon of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It was a ride of one hundred kilometres over cobblestone sections like Haaghoek and Paddestraat. The last eight climbs, among other Taaienberg and Eikenberg, were part of the course.

“The route doesn’t differ much from the past years, but a recon is useful," manager Marc Sergeant said. "The riders can take a look at the crucial phases and mark points for during the race. The wind will play an important role, the riders can get an idea of what influence that will have. If on Saturday the wind heads in the same direction as today it will be tailwind. A recon is also good for the youngsters in the team like Tiesj Benoot, Stig Broeckx and Sean De Bie.

“Everybody knows that we have changed our race programme. The riders will have covered less kilometres before the spring classics than in the past. The guys already said they feel more fresh. Of course this isn’t a guarantee yet for the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, but we hope it will have effect.

“The team has five victories so far, that’s one less than last year. Then it was only André Greipel who had won. This season André won one race, just like Kris Boeckmans and Tony Gallopin. Pim Ligthart could triumph two times already. We didn’t only win with the usual suspects and that feels great.

“The Omloop is one of the most beautiful races to win. The last victory of our team was in 2002, with Peter Van Petegem. In the Belgian opening weekend there can only be two winners. It’s important that we play a role this weekend. If we can battle in the final but don’t win, I can live with that. I repeat it every year, after this weekend the season isn’t over yet.”

Selection Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:

Tiesj Benoot, Stig Broeckx, Sean De Bie, Jens Debusschere, Gert Dockx, Pim Ligthart, Jürgen Roelandts and Marcel Sieberg.