From Friday, LottoSoudal will be at the start of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. During a prologue and two stages the peloton will ride across the windy West-Flemish landscape. Several well-known climbs and cobbled sections from the spring Classics are on the course so this stage race has a rather Classics profile.

Sports director Frederik Willems said: “Firstly, it will be important to ride a good prologue. During the stages on Saturday and Sunday there are still some possibilities to do something, but during the prologue the main positions in the GC will already be determined. We’ll try to obtain a good result with Sean De Bie or Frederik Frison who can perform well in such type of short time trials. Afterwards we can set the strategy for the next two stages.”

Traditionally, the race starts with a prologue of seven kilometres along the shores of Middelkerke. The second day, the riders will ride a tough stage from Brugges to Harelbeke. This stage is also called the ‘Vlaamse Pijl’. During that stage the peloton will tackle four hills, among them the Oude Kwaremont, and one cobbled section, the Varentstraat. In the end there are three local laps of about ten kilometres. The race ends with a stage between Nieuwpoort and Ichtegem, the ‘Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen’. The riders will cover eight climbs, such as the Kemmelberg and Monteberg, and five cobbled sections. In Ichtegem, three local laps of about thirteen kilometres are scheduled.

Frederik Willems added: “We’ll try to obtain a stage victory in the following two stages with Tosh Van der Sande or Jelle Wallays. Tosh finished second in Harelbeke last year so it’s certainly possible, he feels good as well. We give Jelle some freedom, although we’ll have to see if he’s recovered from the opening weekend. After his crash in Algarve he had a torn muscle in his hip and he had some troubles this weekend, especially in Kuurne. Hopefully he can start without any problems in his own region.”

Selection Lotto Soudal: 

Sander Armée, Sean De Bie, Gert Dockx, Frederik Frison, Tosh Van der Sande, Louis Vervaeke and Jelle Wallays.