Tim Wellens leads UAE Team Emirates - XRG's attempt to take victory on Opening Weekend

The Opening Weekend is set to bring out the best from many teams and that is going to make UAE Team Emirates - XRG's mission to take a win quite difficult. However, despite the absence of Tadej Pogacar, the Emirati team can still aim for strong results at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne.

In the previous, Mathieu van der Poel will be headlining the race; although the amount of top sprinters and classics riders may make the race very difficult to break down. In this sense, UAE is going to be one of the teams looking to turn the scale into the attackers' side; with the presence of Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and former runner-up Nils Politt all as riders capable of executing and thriving in long-range attacks. The team tactic will revolve around that, whilst the in-form Julius Johansen, Rune Herregodts and Rui Oliveira will be key support men, all of them also able to be competitive in this type of terrain.

In Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne the team can attempt to protect Juan Sebastián Molano and potentially have him participate in the final sprint; but at the same time it is the race where UAE is most likely to succeed, with the classics specialists trio being present; and this being a race which often sees the success of early attackers.

Wellens has recently won the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior and has shown great form in several races; whilst Vermeersch almost took a stage win at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. The team already has 13 victories this season and will look to keep the momentum going into a key period of the season.