His eagerness and perseverance will certainly be rewarded one day, so why not at Gent-Wevelgem?  

Aleksejs Saramotins has lost track of the number of times he has taken part in important but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to win a race since the beginning of the season.  

At Paris-Nice, Saramotins, the road race champion of Latvia, was the last man standing in a long breakaway, scooped up by the peloton within a few kilometers of the line. 

 As recently as just this past Wednesday over the bumpy roads of Flanders, the IAM Cycling rider who now calls Nice on the French Riviera his home, was at the pointy end of the race for over 140 kilometers.  Once the eventual race winner, Niki Terpstra caught and passed him, Saramotins was unable to hold the blistering pace.  

This does not mean that Saramotins isn’t full of confidence for the third Fladerian race this week.  

“Since the beginning of the season, my sensations have been good.  The legs were turning well already at Paris-Nice and I am happy and willing to put myself at the service of IAM Cycling throughout all the classics to come.  It will be hard work ahead, but I love the carnival atmosphere when you have to be constantly rubbing elbows to keep position before the climbs.  We are a good team with some major assets.  We can have multiple game plans in case of either an escape or a bunch sprint.  These races really allow me to be on top form for the rest of the classics.  After that, I’ll have some time to recover and then start planning for the second half of the season.” 

Riders: : Marcel Aregger (Swi), Heinrich Haussler (Aus), Sébastien Hinault (Fre), Kevyn Ista (Bel), Dominic Klemme (Ger), Roger Kluge (Ger), Matteo Pelucchi (Ita),  Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat).