Tinkoff-Saxo, led by team captain Peter Sagan, lines up at Ronde van Vlaanderen ready for “Flanders’ Finest”. As a monument and the most prestigious race of the cobblestone season, together with Paris-Roubaix, Tinkoff-Saxo aims to deliver a team effort to reap the benefits of captain Sagan’s mounting race shape.

After a promising team effort at E3 Harelbeke and a gritty and grueling race at Gent-Wevelgem, Tinkoff-Saxo spearheaded by team captain Peter Sagan now confronts Ronde van Vlaanderen and the 264-kilometer parcours of multiple cobbles and bergs.

Sunday morning, at the start in Brugge’s famous main square Grote Markt, Tinkoff-Saxo will line up Peter Sagan, Matti Breschel, Michael Mørkøv, Maciej Bodnar, Matteo Tosatto, Pavel Brutt, Nikolay Trusov and finally Christopher Juul-Jensen, who returns from his hand injury sustained at Milano-Sanremo. Sports director Tristan Hoffman says that Tinkoff-Saxo trust in the race shape of team captain Peter Sagan.

“We really believe in Sagan. I know he has the shape, we’ve seen that, and it has increased steadily over the last weeks, however he has also lacked a bit of good fortune in some random situations during the last races. I’ve talked to the boys and they’re all ready to support him fully”, comments Tristan Hoffman before elaborating on the stature of the race to the Tinkoff-Saxo race.

“De Ronde is the king of the Classics and it’s always decided amongst the biggest favorites. Of course, surprises can happen, favorites can crash or suffer mechanicals, but normally it’s the kind of race, where the strongest goes toe-to-toe in the finale. However, a strong team is crucial in order to arrive at the last 50km fresh before the race explodes on the two times up the Oude-Kwaremont and Paterberg combination and the Koppenberg in between”.

Tristan Hoffman sheds light on the team duties in the effort to reach the finish line in Oudenaarde first.

“We are ready to work together and take responsibility like we did in E3 Harelbeke. And when it all comes down, if you sit at the front you’ll be less exposed to crashes than if your team is scattered all over the peloton on the narrow roads. Guys like Michael, Pavel and Nikolay will have to pay attention in the first half of the race and then I expect that Matti, Chris and Maciej will be around Peter, when we enter into deeper sections of the race”, explains Tristan Hoffman.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s strong Dane Chris Juul-Jensen is expected to play a central part in the team’s effort to set up Peter Sagan in the finale. However, he was set to race Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Harelbeke as well as Gent-Wevelgem, but a hand injury sustained in a hard crash at Milano-Sanremo has kept him out until now.

“Thursday, I rode nearly six hours at full speed. My hand is sore but after my training ride, I did a test ride on the cobbles in inner Copenhagen and it was OK. Of course it’s not ideal to ride Vlaanderen with an injured hand but I just have to accept the pain and I think the adrenaline rush you get from riding this race will also numb the pain. I think I’ll have my focus elsewhere, when we find ourselves on the cobbles”, tells Chris Juul-Jensen on his way to the team hotel.

“I was out for around two weeks, but shape-wise I don’t feel as if I have lost power. Maybe I’ve just freshened up a bit in fact. It would have been exciting, if I had been able to ride the other cobbled races, but my forced break also gave me a respite after Tirreno-Adriatico, where I felt strong and therefore also used a lot of energy. Now, I’m just excited about joining the team and helping Sagan on Sunday. Ronde van Vlaanderen always feels like riding through a big party and the atmosphere in Brugge at the start is crazy”, finishes Chris Juul-Jensen.