Lotto Belisol will have a team of youngsters riding on home soil this week when the Belgian season continues with the one-day race Le Samyn and the Driedaags van West-Vlaanderen. The team will target sprint wins with Kenny Dehaes who will have plenty of fast riders in supprt.
Lotto Belisol had a disappointing opening weekend on the Belgian home soil when Jurgen Roelandts and André Greipel failed to make an impression in the Omloop Het Nieuwsbland and the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The team will be looking to take revenge this week when they line up in tomorrow's one-day race Le Samyn and the Driedaags van West-Vlaanderen from Friday to Sunday.
Le Samyn takes place on a lumpy course in Wallonia where the riders will first cover a 110km stretch that contains 5 small climbs. The race end with5 laps of a circuit that has another two ascents but it typically ends with a sprint on the uphill finishing straight.
Lotto Belisol will line up several young, fast riders for the race and the man who is expected to come away with the goods, is Kenny Dehaes who was 4th in last year's race. Tosh van der Sande, Dennis Vanendert, Greg Henderson, and Jonas Vangenechten will provide plenty of firepower for the lead-out while neo-rpos Vegard Breen, Sean De Bie, and Boris Vallee round out the roster.
"We bring a youthful selection to Le Samyn," sports director Jean-Pierre Heynderickx said." We have also chosen to select Greg Henderson for the race. The goal for Greg is to take his place back in the peloton after the knee injury he suffered.
"The past few years Kenny Dehaes was always very close to the victory. But this year we will try to turn things around and win the race. A couple of fast riders should do the lead-out for Dehaes. Once again I am expecting strong teamwork from Cofidis. With Adrien Petit in their selection they have a big chance to win. Another one to watch is Nacer Bouhanni."
The Flemish stage race in the weekend consists of an opening prologue and two flat, windy stages that suit the sprinters. With no TT specialists in their ranks, Lotto Belisol will hope to limit their losses on the opening day before targeting stage wins with Dehaes in the subsequent sprints.
The final line-up of 8 riders still haven't been determed as 9 riders vie for the spots. Compared to the Le Samyn roster, Vanendert won't take place while neo-pro Stig Broeckx and Gert Dockx join the seven other riders to form the long list for the race.
"The prologue of the Three Days of West-Flanders will be crucial," Heynderickx said.I"f the team rides a decent prologue, we can climb up the GC in the following stages by picking up some bonifications. Our main goal for the race is to have a good GC and strive for a stage win. With Kristof Vandewalle and Stijn Devolder the Trek team has two shoo-ins for the overall."
Starting at 14.30 CET you can follow Le Samyn on CyclingQuotes.com/live.
Lotto Belisol for Le Samyn
Vegard Breen, Sean De Bie, Kenny Dehaes, Greg Henderson, Boris Vallée, Tosh Van der Sande, Jonas Van Genechten and Dennis Vanendert.
Lotto Belisol for Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Vegard Breen, Stig Broeckx, Sean De Bie, Kenny Dehaes, Gert Dockx, Greg Henderson, Boris Vallée, Tosh Van der Sande and Jonas Van Genechten (final selection will be made after Le Samyn)
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