Sep Vanmarcke is one of the major absentees during the opening weekend. The Belgian leader of LottoNL-Jumbo puts his priorities later in the year. "I just pushed back my peak period," he says on the website of his team.

The fact is that Vanmarcke won’t do fewer race days. Instead of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the 27-year old Belgian will race for the first time at Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race. "Because I'm in a very good condition at the opening weekend beginning each year. From there, it is still far to the great a gap to the classics. This year I wanted a quieter build-up towards the big classics. I want to be good for Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race. That's the whole spring, except for opening weekend. It’s something different. "

For Vanmarcke it's a new build-up to his season. Often he was very strong in the opening weekend, but five weeks later he suffered during the really great classics. The last time the Belgian was in shape was in 2013. Then, a fall in Tirreno-Adriatico almost threw a spanner in the works, but he was still second in Paris-Roubaix. "The preparations are going well. In the winter training started much quieter. In late November, I had a wrist operation which slowed me down. This was taken into account, so it went well. The intensity of the training is too much shifted in comparison to previous years. We will determine after the spring if this was a good choice.”