Lotto Soudal will "go for the highest achievable result and try to surprise" in Flandres

With a team steered onto the cobbled classics with major focus, Lotto Soudal will enter the Tour des Flandres as outsiders, however with a lineup that's stacked in quality and young talent.

Team DS Nikolas Maes, who will be in the car behind the peloton on Sunday, has talked about the team's choice of lineup and ambitions for the second monument of the season: “With the selection we have on paper, we should be able to leave a mark on Sunday’s race. Maybe not immediately for the highest podium spot but our intention is obviously to play a role at the Ronde. Of course, the performance of Victor Campenaerts at Dwars door Vlaanderen gave us that extra boost. He will certainly try something again on Sunday. I also expect Tim Wellens to be up there, he needed Dwars door Vlaanderen to get back into race rhythm."

"We also expect something from our youngsters Florian Vermeersch and Brent Van Moer. And also Cedric Beullens has surprised us positively several times this spring season. With Sébastien Grignard and Roger Kluge – who replaces Frederik Frison after his collarbone fracture – we have two more riders who can contribute," he added.

Campenaerts has ridden only one-day races this season and has avoided the illnesses that have been devastating the peloton. With Top5 placing at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen, he's likely to be the most trustworthy card in Flandres with his traditionally aggressive style of racing. Florian Vermeersch, runner-up at Paris-Roubaix last year, and Tim Wellens will be outsiders for the Top10.

“Which result I’m happy with after the Ronde? We are talking about a cycling Monument of 270 kilometres so we need to be realistic. But as always, we go for the highest achievable result and try to surprise," Maes concluded.

Lotto Soudal for Tour des Flandres: Victor Campenaerts, Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, Brent van Moer, Cedric Beullens, Sébastien Grignard and Roger Kluge.