Van Avarmaet to lead BMC in Tour of Flanders
After a good start to the season which included the overall win in Tirreno Adriatico, Greg Van Avarmaet will lead BMC Racing Team at the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders.
Sundays`race is the fourth World Tour classic of the season and also one of the biggest goals of the spring season for Van Avarmaet. BMC Racing Team Sports Director Fabio Baldato underlined the importance of the race:
“We have a strong Classics team so of course Ronde van Vlaanderen is an important race for us. I think we have shown since the beginning of the season in Qatar and Oman, and then in the early Classics, that we know how to race aggressively and that we can always be up the front, and that’s what we hope to do this Sunday,” Baldato explained.
It’s no secret that for Van Avermaet, Ronde van Vlaanderen is a special race:
“If I could choose to win any Classic this year it would be Ronde van Vlaanderen, especially given it is the 100th edition which makes it even more special for me as a Flandrien. I hope that I can rest and recover well this week from my recent illness and be back at 100% on the start line on Sunday. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got,” Van Avermaet said.
Maybe a surprise presence in BMC`s team is Taylor Phinney who will race his first monument in two years when he lines up on Sunday.
“I didn’t expect to race Ronde van Vlaanderen, but my performace at Gent-Wevelgem was a pleasant surprise, so I’m really humbled to line up at one of the biggest races of the year with such a stellar team,” Phinney admitted.
BMC line-up for Ronde van Vlaanderen (3 April): Marcus Burghardt (GER), Jempy Drucker (LUX), Stefan Küng (SUI), Daniel Oss (ITA), Taylor Phinney (USA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Michael Schär (SUI), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL).