Yves Lampaert, Paul Magnier and Martin Svrcek are three of the riders who will be in action for The Wolfpack.
The only team to have won the Okolo Slovenska general classification five times this century, Soudal Quick-Step is ready to return at the start of the five-day race, which this year gets underway from Bardejov, a town situated in the hills of the Beskys Mountains and renowned for its stunning medieval center. It’s also the home of our long-time partners Janom, and we’re looking forward to spending the week celebrating that partnership while chasing new success on Slovak roads.
Of the five stages, three should come down to a bunch sprint, while one is tailored to the attackers, who’ll have the up-and-down roads to Banska Bystrica to try and get a victory. Unlike other recent editions, the overall winner will be decided on the slopes of Kohutka, a 15.4km climb averaging 3.4% which comes after three other classified ascents that are sure to whittle down the peloton.
Two former winners of the event, Josef Cerny and Yves Lampaert, will be on Soudal Quick-Step’s roster for the 69th edition of Okolo Slovenska, at the start of which they will be joined by Paul Magnier, neo-pro Andrea Raccagni – a rider who was impressed in a number of races this season – home favourite Martin Svrcek and Dries Van Gestel.
“We always love to compete in Slovakia, the country of our sponsor Janom. In the past, we had a lot of success there, with lots of GC and stage victories, and we would like to be again among the protagonists of this race, which has a really nice parcours. The team we are taking there is a strong one, capable of fighting for wins – especially in the bunch sprints, with Paul, who comes here after his impressive win in Forumies – and we hope to get at least a victory this week”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
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