The Wolfpack is the only team to have won the event three times.
Just a couple of days after concluding the Tour Down Under with two riders in the top ten overall and the white jersey in the bag, our squad will be in action at the Cadel Evans Road Race (1 February), the season’s first World Tour one-day race.
Starting and finishing in Geelong, the course is 186.1 kilometers in length and has as main attraction the Challambra Crescent climb, which peaks at 11% and will be tackled a total of four times. From the top, a fast descent and some technical turns follow – one last opportunity for those hoping to prevent things from coming down to a reduced bunch sprint.
Soudal Quick-Step will start the tenth edition of the race with the same riders that took part in the Tour Down Under: Alberto Dainese, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Casper Pedersen, Andrea Raccagni – winner of the youth classification at the season’s first World Tour event – Pepijn Reinderink, Fabio Van Den Bossche, and Filippo Zana.
Our riders have shown good condition last week, so we are going into Cadel Evans with a lot of confidence.
“It’s going to be a hard and fast race, which doesn’t come as a surprise, but we have riders capable of surviving the climbs and being there in the finale to fight for a nice result”, said sports director Geert Van Bondt. “At the same time, we hope that everyone in the Great Ocean Road region will be ok. It’s sad that the Surf Coast Classic was cancelled, but we fully understand the reasons behind this decision.”
Photo credit: ©Con Chronis / Getty Images
