Paris-Nice will be the stage for the much-awaited battle between Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. Soudal - Quick-Step has confirmed the Belgian's presence in his first ever French stage-race as a pro, and the support crew that will be behind him throughout the week.
“Paris-Nice is an important race for the squad. We can expect a demanding first two days, which will be very technical, with a lot of road furniture, so the main thing there will be getting over these stages without any issues," team DS Klaas Lodewyck said in a press release. "Then we’ll have the team time trial, where the time of the first rider to cross the line will count, something on which we have worked on, and from there our focus will be on the three stages in the weekend, all hard and important for how the overall standings will look at the end of the race. Our aim is to finish as high as possible in the general classification, and we are ready to do our best for this."
After winning the Figueira Champions Classic and the Volta ao Algarve, Evenepoel is now ready for his first big goal of the season. He will have strong rivals in the mountains, and this will be a race decided uphill which will be an important test for the Belgian. He will not have Mikel Landa backing him up this time around, but can count on Ilan van Wilder who recently finished the UAE Tour in fourth position.
Mattia Cattaneo and Louis Vervaeke, the right-hand men of Evenepoel, will be present. A group of rouleurs is coming to race alongside Evenepoel this week, helping him in the less mountainous stages whilst also testing and priming their form ahead of the main classics block. This includes Yves Lampaert, Casper Pedersen and Gianni Moscon.
Soudal - Quick-Step for Paris-Nice:
Remco Evenepoel, Ilan van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke, Yves Lampaert, Mattia Cattaneo and Casper Pedersen.
Belgian Champion @EvenepoelRemco is ready to lead Soudal Quick-Step at @ParisNice - his first outing since turning pro in a French stage race. Read more about this and discover who will join him for the "Race to the Sun": soudal-quickstepteam.com/en/news/6425/s… Photo: @GettySport
