Sam Bennett and Oliver Naesen set to lead Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at Gent-Wevelgem

After two wins at the weekend, with Paul Lapeira winning both the Classic Loire Atlantique and the Grand Prix Cholet, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale will be hoping to continue their winning run at the cobbled Classics as we enter the Flemish ‘Holy Week’ ahead of the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

With a series of races including Classic Brugge-De Panne, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen before De Ronde at the end of next week, the riders will have a chance to prepare and race on many of the same roads that they will ride in the Flemish Monument.

Ahead of Gent-Wevelgem this week, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale have announced their lineup for the race, with Sam Bennett and Oliver Naesen set to lead the line for the team. They will be joined by Edvald Boasson Hagen, Dries De Bondt and Sander De Pestel, as well as the French duo of Pierre Gautherat and Jordan Labrosse.

Naesen had a strong start to his Classics campaign, finishing just off the podium in fourth place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Meanwhile, Bennett is still looking for his first victory of the season, having not won a race at WorldTour level since the 2022 Vuelta a España and his last one-day race win coming at Eschborn-Frankfurt in the same year. The Irishman came close with a second place finish on the final stage of the Tour de la Provence, as well as fourth place on stage 5 of Paris-Nice.