While the strong climbers of the NetApp - Endura team conclude their world championship preparation at the Memorial Marco Pantani in Italy’s Cesenatico tomorrow, the last part of the season is starting for the classic race riders in Belgium and France. On Saturday the team is competing in the 196 kilometer Primus Classic Impanis - Van Petegem race in Belgium. On Sunday the 200 kilometer Grand Pix d’isbergues race in the far north of France is the focus of attention. Due to health problems Sport Director André Schulze cannot include Sam Bennett in the team for the two races.

“For health reasons we are somewhat weakened for the coming Belgian classics. Notably the loss of our captain Sam is a major blow to us. As such it will be hard to compete for victory - top 10 results will have to be our new goal. Particularly the result of the first two races cannot be predicted as anything can happen. We will try to ride these races offensively and be present in the key major groups. Scott is in good form and I hope he has recovered well from his fall at the Tour of Britain. He is a candidate for results from such groups“, was how Sport Director Andre Schulze saw the Belgian race weekend.

In its current form the GP Impanis – Van Petegem race is taking place for the first time since 2011 and is therefore one of the newest races in the UCI calendar. The race is starting in Brakel, the home town of the former Paris-Roubaix winner Peter Van Petgem, in honor of whom the race is being held. From there the route follows a long curve skirting around the Belgian capital and ends after 195.8 kilometers in Haacht. On their journey through the region of Flemish Brabant the riders have to contend with countless short climbs whereby the peloton was split into lots of small groups at last year’s race.

The Grand Prix Isbergues Pas de Calais race can look back on a significantly longer history. The race through the northern-most region of France is taking place this year for the 68th time and covers a total of 200.5 kilometers with six sprint and nine mountain trials. Despite the demanding nature of the route, the classic ended last year with a mass sprint finish.

Line-up:

Blaz Jarc, Ralf Matzka, Andreas Schillinger, Michael Schwarzmann, Daniel Schorn, Scott Thwaites