Giant-Shimano go into three one-day races with an open mind. While Luka Mezgec, Ramon Sinkeldam, Jonas Ahlstrand and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg will be ready to sprint, the rest of the team will be joining the attacks.
Team Giant-Shimano heads to the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen this Friday with a line-up capable of challenging both sprint and breakaway possibilities.
The line-up has some fast finishers in Jonas Ahlstrand and Luka Mezgec, together with an experienced group of riders that can help to read the race that the team won in 2011 with Marcel Kittel.
Team Giant-Shimano coach Addy Engels said looking ahead to the race: "Races at this time of year can be quite unpredictable with a tired peloton and so any break could be the right one.
"We will need to be attentive as a team for these situations and we have good riders for this. In the case of a bunch sprint we are also well prepared with Jonas and Luka, and they have strong support if the race comes down to a group finish."
The team will start Primus Classic Impanis - Van Petegem with a similar outlook to the previous day's race, ready to adapt to different scenarios.
In Luka Mezgec, Ramon Sinkeldam and Tom Veelers the team has three fast finishers, and they are joined by a strong line-up of opportunists and also riders capable of getting them into a strong position for the finish.
Albert Timmer starts, and he showed strong form at the recent Tour of Britain where he went close to a stage win after a long breakaway. Daan Olivier also lines up here in Belgium after an impressive Canadian racing campaign with the Tour of Alberta followed by the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal.
"Again here we can try different strategies, and the team here is capable of doing this," said coach Addy Engels. "We are well prepared in the case of a bunch sprint but we will need to be represented in the strong breaks here.
"Two of the last three editions have been won from small breaks just ahead of the main bunch and so we will look to take our opportunities where we can."
Team Giant-Shimano heads to the 68th Grand Prix d'Isbergues in France with an offensive line-up for the race that it won in 2012.
Two riders come to the one-day race here from the Vuelta a España, including Lawson Craddock and Johannes Fröhlinger.
They are joined by Thomas Damuseau, Simon Geschke, Thierry Hupond and Reinardt Janse van Rensberg all of whom come to the race from the Québec - Montréal WorldTour races in Canada.
"I think that we can go into this race with an open plan for the team where everybody has their chance," said coach Marc Reef. "We will have to be sharp though to make sure that we don't miss an important move.
"If we see that the race is going to come down to a sprint then we will focus on setting Reinardt up for this and getting him into a good position."
Kampionschap van Vlaanderen
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Brian Bulgac (NED)
Roy Curvers (NED)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)
GP Impanis
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Brian Bulgac (NED)
Roy Curvers (NED)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)
GP d'Isbergues
Brian Bulgac (NED)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA)
Koen De Kort (NED)
11.11 - 17.11: Vuelta Ciclística al Ecuador |
Simon LAIB 29 years | today |
Lara DEFOUR 27 years | today |
Peter SUNDSTRÖM 36 years | today |
Mirko Nicola MARTINELLI 21 years | today |
Szymon TRACZ 26 years | today |
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