The Lotto-Belisol team have suffered one blow after another, loosing their key riders during the final week before the first of major cobbled events, the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Nonetheless, the Belgian team still believe in their chances to excel on the hilly parcours on Sunday with a squad led by Jurgen Roelandts and Tony Gallopin.

After Marcel Sieberg and Andre Greipel, Frederik Willems – intended to be a key support to Jurgen Roelandts in the Flemish monument, pulled out of the Driedaagse De Panne with a broken collarbone. In such circumstances, Lotto-Belisol will line up in Ronde van Vlaanderen with eight-riders roster, but they’re remaining calm and believing that the duo of Roelands and Gallopin are able to provide the team with satisfying results.

“The initial idea was that Frederik Willems would stay alongside Jurgen Roelandts all day to protect him,” Lotto-Belisol sports director Herman Frisian told Het Nieuwsblad.

“Unfortunately, we’ll have just eight riders available, but the reality is as it is. We have to keep breathing, otherwise we’ll die.”

It has been already announced that Kris Boeckmans will replace Greipel in Lotto-Belisol roster for Ronde van Vlaanderen, but the rest of the squad, apart from Roelandts and Gallopin, is yet to be announced.

“We don’t know the names of the riders yet.”

“Some guys are still in Catalunya at the moment. It’s hard to ask Jurgen Van Den Broeck and Jelle Vanendert to come back and ride the Tour of Flanders,” Frisian explained.

However, despite apparent difficulties, the manager of the Belgian team remained surprisingly enthusiastic.

“With Jurgen Roelandts and Tony Gallopin we can obtain results in the Tour of Flanders […] Within a month, the history of the Lotto-Belisol can be completely different!”