Filippo Pozzato already thinks about the Spring classics. The Italian of team Southeast-Venezuela begins his preparation for Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix with the Rotterdam Six-Day this season. He did the track race with Dutchman Jens Mouris (Drapac). After this event, he will fly to Argentina to start his road season at the Tour de San Luis.

“I wanted to do it over the last three years, but the team would not let me," Pozzato told VeloNews. "It helps me get that extra cadence and explosion that I need on the road. It’s a decision that’s aimed at racing the classics.

"I’m not coming here for the money, but to train and get the intensity I need. Sure, I told the Rotterdam organizer my price, what I wanted, but my mind was more on what I needed to achieve to be ready for the classics."

His 2016 schedule before Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix for which he hopes to get invited, includes the Trofeo Laigueglia, the Ruta del Sol, and the classics Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.