The cobbles, hills and narrow roads of the region come with the promise of an action-packed week.
Our team will be in action this week just across the border, in Dunkerque, which this year gets underway with a hilly one-day race, followed by a five-day stage race that will seriously test the riders. It goes without saying that there will be opportunities for the sprinters, but the many climbs sprinkled on the route will be decisive in the way the general classification will look on Sunday, when the 69th edition comes to a conclusion.
Once again, the famous Cassel stage, comprising twelve cobbled hills and coming on the penultimate day of the competition, promises fireworks and a tight between the contenders, as was the case so many times in the past.
Soudal Quick-Step, who has won a total of seven stages at the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque – the most recent of which came last year, when Warre Vangheluwe held off the peloton after an entire day in the break – will be at the start with Gil Gelders, Antoine Huby, Yves Lampaert, Casper Pedersen, neo-pro Andrea Raccagni, Jordi Warlop, and Devo Team’s Jonathan Vervenne, who was recently crowned U23 Belgian ITT Champion for the second time in his career.
“Our team for Dunkerque is a nice mix of young and experienced riders, all motivated and capable of being in the mix for a good result. There will be a couple of opportunities this week, which comes with plenty of challenges and hard stages, but we are determined to do our best. The plan is to take it one stage at a time and see how things go”, said sports director Tom Steels.
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