UAE Team Emirates announced a super-seven line up for three races in Belgium next week, reigning European Champion Alexander Kristoff leading the team as they look to secure their first race win of the 2018 UCI World Tour season.
The 30-year-old, who finished fourth in Milan-San Remo on Saturday, will be supported by an experienced team including Filippo Ganna and Ben Swift.
Joining them will be the promising young trio of Oliviero Troia, Simone Consonni and Sven Erik Bystrøm.
The racing starts on Friday with the E3 Harelbeke, a sort of mini Tour of Flanders, with 15 hills to tackle over a distance of 206km.
Following this, the team will travel a short period across Flanders to take part in the Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, where sprint king Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be bidding to win the famous 250km race for a record third time.
The gruelling five day block of racing will conclude with the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday – a 181km race with 12 climbs and three cobble sections.
“We are going in Belgium to do well so I expect some good things from Kristoff, and also from our second line Ben Swift, who was particularly strong in Milan-San Remo,” said Sports Director Mario Scirea.
“We will look for some strong efforts from Bystrøm and Consonni, young riders that have the right characteristics for these types of races.”
Line-up: Alexander Kristoff (Norway), Filippo Ganna (Italy), Ben Swift (Great Britain), Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway), Marco Marcato (Italy), Oliviero Troia (Italy), Simone Consonni (Italy).
