The crucial part of Filippo Pozzato's season is about to start when he returns to the cobbles in today's E3 Harelbeke. He spearheads a Lampre-Merida team that will also offer Sacha Modolo his debut in the Flemich classics.

In 2009 Filippo Pozzato won the E3 Harelbeke to put himself in a position as one of the red-hot favourites for the Tour of Flanders. This year he hopes to repeat that performance when he returns to the Belgian race for his first taste of Belgian cobbles in 2014.

Pozzato had a very bad first season with Lampre-Merida where he failed to hit peak condition for his beloved classics. This year he has done less racing and instead spent a long time at altitude to prepare for his biggest races.

He spearheads Lampre-Merida in today's race that will also be the first Belgian classic for Sacha Modolo. The sprinter who will have most of his lead-out train at his side, has his eyes on Sunday' Gent-Wevelgem which is often decided in a bunch sprint.

"E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem will be the first Belgian races for the team in 2014, so it will be important for us to have a good approach, also considering that they're World Tour events," sports director Orlando Maini said. "Tomorrow [today] we'll evaluate how Pozzato, Modolo, Cimolai and Richeze will have recovered from the hard efforts and the cold of Milano-Sanremo. The course is demanding, only top riders win here. For us, it will be important to have a proper team spirit.

"Gent-Wevelgem will give more chances to fast riders, so it could be interesting to check how Modolo handles this kind of racing. One also has to pay attention to Pozzato. His skills for Belgian classics are always incredible."

Starting at 14.25 CET you can follow E3 Harelbeke on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview here.