ZICO WAEYTENS WILL UNFORTUNATELY NOT LINE UP FOR THE START OF PARIS-ROUBAIX THIS SUNDAY AFTER SUSTAINING AN INJURY DURING RONDE VAN VLAANDEREN. HE WILL BE REPLACED BY LARS VAN DER HAAR. 

Waeytens sustained an injury to his calf when he crashed at Ronde van Vlaanderen. He managed to finish the race as it is a very special day for him being his home race. As a consequence the plan of the team changed slightly during the race and Waeytens managed to attack in the finale. At the end of the race, he started to feel more pain in his calf.

Team doctor Anke Boelens explained the situation: “He tore a muscle in his calf during the crash at Ronde van Vlaanderen. He was still able to continue with a minor discomfort, but in the evening and the next morning he was in a lot of pain. We performed an ultrasound and it showed that he had blood in his muscle. We will monitor his condition in the next few days, but in principle, it will take a minimum of two weeks to recover.”

For Brabantse Pijl, Waeytens is still part of the team, but his condition will be monitored during the next few days and then a decision will be made about his participation.

After taking a superb victory in the Roubaix velodrome last year and second place in 2014, John Degenkolb will unfortunately not line up as he is still recovering from the training accident in Spain, but the team will be looking to finish with a strong result in France. 

Looking ahead to the race, coach Marc Reef said: "Paris-Roubaix is a race that suits us the most over the classics season. We have some specialists within the team with Bert and previous winners in the under-23 category such as Koen and Ramon, and we will be aiming for a top 10 result. The first key moment of the race is the Arenberg section and it will be a big fight for positions. From there on the race comes alive and it will be tough until the finish."

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Søren Kragh Andersen (DEN)
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Roy Curvers (NED)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Lars van der Haar (NED)