After a disappointing start to the Flemish season, the Quick Step team is sending a team that it hopes will do better at the start of the Walloon one. The team missed out big time in both the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and will hope to do better in tomorrow’s GP Samyn as it builds towards Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
The team is also giving a first road race start of the season to Iljo Keisse, the track specialist who has been granted the right to race by the Belgian courts despite being banned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) for a positive test back in 2008.
Although the UCI has spent a lot of time and energy trying to prevent Keisse from racing this season, it is unlikely to object to his racing here. While the governing body is not happy with the situation it has accepted the court’s decision. The decision was made by a Belgian court and so he has been allowed to ride in Belgium; only when he has tried to enter races outside the country has the UCI tried to stop him.
Leading the team will be Dutch champion Niki Terpstra, who got the team’s best result this weekend with sixth place in Het Nieuwsblad, along with young rider Guillaume van Keirsbulck, who was one of the main protagonists the next day in Kuurne.
Quick Step team to GP Samyn:
Andy Capelle, Addy Engels, Iljo Keisse, Fréderique Robert, Niki Terpstra, Jan Tratnik, Guillaume van Keirsbulck, Julien Vermote