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QuickStep-AlphaVinyl carried out their conventional pre-Tour of Flanders reconnaissance on Thursday morning. The Koppenberg and the Oude Kwaremont are the place they’ve all the time been, in fact, however a delicate reminder of the obstacles forward is all the time welcome earlier than the large day. Belgian biking’s Holy Week is pleasingly punctuated by such rituals.
The lie of the land seemed altogether totally different, nonetheless, by the point they returned to their lodge for lunch. Wout van Aert, who has towered over this Spring, is now a doubt for the Tour of Flanders as a result of sickness, together with his Jumbo-Visma squad suggesting he was “unlikely” to begin. Defending champion Kasper Asgreen acknowledged in QuickStep’s press convention on Thursday afternoon that the absence of the pre-race favorite would alter your complete geography of this race.
“Clearly, he is most likely the most important favorite and he is more than likely not going to begin now. He’s the chief of most likely additionally the strongest staff in the mean time and the truth that he’s gone for positive adjustments their ways,” Asgreen mentioned.
“They don’t seem to be going to have Wout, who they know might be the strongest rider in the mean time, and who they’ll depend on on the finish to make the distinction. So I feel we’ll see a really aggressive Jumbo-Visma as a result of I feel they nonetheless have loads of energy within the staff. I feel it’ll change the race if he would not find yourself on the beginning line.”
Supervisor Patrick Lefevere warned, nonetheless, that the absence of Van Aert, so dominant in victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Financial institution Traditional, was not essentially to the good thing about his staff, whose travails in latest weeks have been nicely documented. Van Aert’s kind meant that his Jumbo-Visma squad have been prone to carry the burden of constructing the race, whereas his everlasting rivalry with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) had the potential to open up alternatives for others.
“Possibly some opponents will say it is OK he isn’t there, however I do not assume so,” Lefevere mentioned. “Mathieu and Wout are all the time racing à bloc: they do not speculate, they do not play video games. And I feel we noticed in the previous few years, after they have been competing collectively, it was typically good for us.”
Asgreen lone chief
Twelve months in the past, the Tour of Flanders was billed as a rematch between Van Aert and Van der Poel after their prize battle of the earlier October, nevertheless it was as a substitute Asgreen who carried off the spoils, as he had executed at E3 Harelbeke every week beforehand.
On that event, the Dane was capable of profit from the presence of Julian Alaphilippe, whose rainbow jersey drew consideration like moths to a flame. Regardless of their subdued shows on the cobbles this yr, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl have finally resisted the temptation to draft Alaphilippe in to bolster their lineup on Sunday, leaving Asgreen because the staff’s lone chief, a marked distinction from their normal, multi-pronged plan of assault, relationship again to the Tom Boonen period.
“This yr I am going into the race perhaps a bit extra as the only chief. Final yr, with Julian coming right here because the world champion, the management was a bit extra shared,” Asgreen mentioned. “It means I’m going into the race a bit in another way, however ultimately, it is the legs that can determine who goes into the ultimate like final yr.
“It clearly makes it harder to make the distinction. It is not really easy to sneak away anymore, so ultimately, you’ll have to beat the very best mano a mano, as they are saying. However after I went into Flanders final yr, I used to be additionally among the many favourites due to the Classics interval I had already had.”
Asgreen has been, by far, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl’s most dependable Classics performer this yr. He recovered from COVID-19 to position third at Strade Bianche and he was outstanding on the E3 Saxo Financial institution Traditional, the place he took tenth after being closely outnumbered by Jumbo-Visma within the finale. Different mainstays of the staff, nonetheless, most notably Yves Lampaert and Zdenek Stybar, have been restricted by sickness in latest weeks.
Lefevere conceded that his staff couldn’t anticipate to race with the identical aggression as they did after they gained the race with Philippe Gilbert and Niki Terpstra in 2017 and 2018, although he refuted the concept that they’d search merely to comply with Van der Poel. He backed Asgreen and Florian Sénéchal to function within the finale on the Ronde.
“I feel we’ve by no means centered on the wheel of anyone else, nevertheless it’s clear that we’ve misplaced some energy with what has occurred within the final weeks,” Lefevere mentioned. “You must be clever sufficient to know when you possibly can take the race in your fingers or not. It is also true that we’re not used to racing defensively. We’re used to creating an aggressive race.”
Requested if Van der Poel was now the outright favorite for the race, in the meantime, Lefevere politely demurred. “Properly, if I am not unsuitable, he was second final yr and he gained two years in the past. Mr Asgreen was additionally second a couple of years in the past and he gained final yr, so I feel it is a good competitors,” mentioned Lefevere.
Type is short-term, however ambition, it appears, is everlasting. “I hope so,” he mentioned. “I noticed it prior to now. I bear in mind 2001, a very long time in the past: we did not get one consequence beforehand, however then we went 1-2-3 at Paris-Roubaix. So that you by no means know.”
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