Edvald Boasson Hagen will not rely on his fast finish in the Tour of Flanders and will instead help team leader Geraint Thomas by going into a breakaway in the middle to latter part of the race as he is not so confident in his sprint being faster than those of Tom Boonen, John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan.
“They’re stronger riders but we’ll have to see what the position is. If it’s possible to attack, that may be better, but we’ll have to see. It’s also flat in the end. It’s fast and it’s hard to get away,” Boasson Hagen told reporters in Kortrijk.
“I’ve not been sprinting really well in the big sprints, but then I think a sprint in this race is different to other races when you’re fresher. I don’t want a big group for the sprint, but I think I’m sprinting pretty well.”
Boasson Hagen attacked in the Omloop this year with Niki Terpstra and managed to get third place and winning his groups sprint against Terpstra and Sep Vanmarcke. He has hinted he may do the same again on Sunday.
“Not in an early break or the last one, but maybe a bit before,” he said.
“It’s hard with the tactics for these races. Of course, it’s going to be a hard race at the start with some attacks. After that, maybe it’s also easier to ride in front in a breakaway because you don’t have to fight for a position. It’s hard one, I don’t really know what’s going to happen.”
His Omloop podium was his best result on the Cobbles since his 2009 win in Gent-Wevelgem and everything looked good for his Classics campaign but things have stagnated in recent weeks.
“I was good at Het Nieuwsblad. For the rest, I didn’t have any good results, but I’ve been feeling ok and I’ve done good training during the winter,” Boasson Hagen said. “I’m still waiting for the big results. It’s only two to go now, so I cross the fingers for those.”
He will have help from 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins who Boasson Hagen admits is a bit of an unknown entity on the Cobbles.
“He’s also a strong rider, of course. It’s hard to say. I haven’t seen him on the cobbles in a long time. But if he’s in a good shape he could be good and maybe no one is expecting him that much. So it could be good for the team.”
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