John Degenkolb, who was injured in a horrific training crash in January with six of his teammates, will not be present at the classics this weekend in Belgium. The Giant-Alpecin rider has not yet a firm date on his comeback to the professional peloton.

"We cannot make any prediction on his return to racing", a Giant-Alpecin official explained to Velonews. "The team is progressing well, and bouncing back from a difficult period following the training accident. The riders are very eager to kick off the classics season. The objective is to support Zico [Waeytens] and Søren [Kragh Andersen], and to bring them as fresh as possible to the finale."

Swedish rider Fredrik Ludvigsson, who was also involved in the crash, has returned to competition.