At the Belgian opening weekend in Vlaanderen we will have a chance to see the fantastic classic style of racing. Tristan Hoffman, sports director of the Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team, noted that this race will be a rehearsal for the whole 2017 classic season.

The race start is usually very fast in Belgium and the breakaways tend to happen in the first 40 kilometers. It is extremely important to stay focused since the Vaaderen race will surprise the riders with unforgiving climbs and patches of cobbles.

“Our lead rider will be Sonny Colbrelli, who is feeling great both mentally and physically so we believe he is the ideal choice for classic races like this one. For our riders Ivan Cortina, Antonio Nibali, Domen Novak, Ion Insausti and David Per it will be the first time to ride as professional riders in Belgium. Luka Pibernik and Borut Božič have been racing in Belgium before and we are looking forward to see them on the track again. We believe it will be a good lineup of our team. It is critical to know the course and we don’t have many riders that already rode on this track, so one of the goals for our riders will be to learn and gather experience,” said Tristan Hoffman, team director.