Remco Evenepoel is back in action at the six-day event.
The Tour of Britain is a race where our team has always had success, being in the form of a general classification triumph or a stage victory. In the previous participations, Soudal Quick-Step has racked up a total of 28 wins there, the most recent of which came last year, when Paul Magnier dominated the bunch sprints, making it a hat-trick of victories.
Double Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel will lead the Wolfpack at the Tour of Britain, which gets underway on Tuesday, from Woodbridge. Evenepoel, who played an important role in the team’s success there last season, will be joined at the start of this 21st edition by British ITT Champion Ethan Hayter, Luke Lamperti, Casper Pedersen, Martin Svrcek, and Ilan Van Wilder.
The peloton will face more than 900 kilometers of racing across six stages, stretching from the East Suffolk coastline to the Welsh capital Cardiff. Just like last year, the fast men will have their fair share of opportunities, but it’s the climbers who’ll once again fight for the general classification on the penultimate day of the race, finishing on the gruelling Welsh ascent The Tumble, which averages 8% over 4.9 kilometers and comes after a stage with more than 2300 meters of climbing.
“We’ll see where Remco is at the moment, as he returns to racing, but for the general classification we also have Ilan, who could do something there. Ethan and Luke are two other riders who are motivated and who could be in the mix for some nice results. Our main focus for the week is to take a stage victory. Then, depending on how things go, we’ll see if we can also fight for the overall standings. It’s a very strong field at the start, but we are motivated to leave our mark on the race”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
