Four exciting days of racing for the U23 riders this week.
Our feeder team’s last stage race of the month is the West Bohemia Tour (21-24 August), where last year the young wolves enjoyed an unforgettable week, taking back-to-back stage victories with Lars Vanden Heede and Senne Hulsmans and placing Federico Savino on the overall podium.
The second edition of the Czech race gets underway with an uphill prologue in Stary Plzenec, where some gaps should open – especially as the last 800 meters average 7% – and continue with a hilly course around Rokycany, giving the attackers the perfect opportunity to shine. The next two days won’t be any different, with a combination of rolling terrain, short but hard hills, and fast descents promising to keep the GC fight thrilling until Plzen, where the race comes to a conclusion on Sunday.
Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team will return at the start of the West Bohemia Tour with the ambition of being again among the protagonists, represented by a six-man roster consisting of Jelle Harteel, Senne Hulsmans – who in the last seven weeks delivered three wins for the squad – Federico Savino, Gauthier Servranckx, Lars Vanden Heede, and Marc Zafra.
“We travel to the Czech Republic with a lot of confidence. For the overall standings, we’ll try again with Federico, who had a strong outing here last year, while for the stage wins, we’ll have multiple cards to play, which puts us in a good position. The team has the firepower to animate all the stages and we intend to do that in the next couple of days”, said sports director Kevin Hulsmans.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
