On a day when wildcard slots were named for both Paris-Nice and the Amstel Gold Race, a third organiser has revealed the identities of those teams who will be issued invites to its race.
Gent-Wevelgem has disclosed the names of seven squads which will be given wildcard places, and four of those are the same as were announced today for Amstel Gold.
Confirmed as taking part are the Belgian trio of Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator, Willems-Accent and Landbouwkrediet-Euphony and the Dutch 1T4I squad. They will be joined by French duo Cofidis and Europcar, while the lineup will be completed by the Italian Farnese Vini – Selle Italia team.
The allocation is practically identical to that which was named earlier this week by the race directors of the Tour of Flanders. The two events are closely linked in terms of organisation. The sole difference in lineup is the addition of an extra team for Gent-Wevelgem, namely Cofidis.
Belgian rider Tom Boonen (pictured) won last year’s race. He is expected to return as part of the Omega Pharma Quick Step team. As a WorldTour event, all of the UCI’s 18 ProTeam squads will take part in the tough single-day event.