Although they’ve raced together with considerable success this year, as shown by their collaboration in the Santos Tour Down Under and the Tour of Oman, the Lotto Belisol team has opted to split Andre Greipel and his usual right-hand man, Greg Henderson, in the upcoming stage races.
Greipel will seek to add to his six stage wins this season in Tirreno-Adriatico, and will have the support of riders such as Vincente Reynes there. The team will also include Tour de France stage winner and King of the Mountains jersey wearer Jelle Vanendert, who will have more of a GC role, plus Jurgen Van de Walle, Jens Debusschere, Gert Dockx and Marcel Sieberg.
The Belgian squad sees the team time trial as a big test for them, enabling them to see how they stand with respect to other ProTeams.
Meanwhile Henderson will have his own chances in Paris-Nice, aiming to add to his two previous stage wins there. While he’ll most often work for Greipel this season, he’ll also have his own chances at times, and the French race is one example. Volta ao Algarve stage winner Gianni Meersman is also on the team, as are Lars Bak, Bart de Clercq, Adamn Hansen, Maarten Neyens, Olivier Kaisen and Bille Gaëtan.
Meanwhile the team has announced that Joost Van Leijen is set to miss several months of competition after a previous knee problem flared up once more.
“Joost was already having trouble at the training camps earlier this year,” it stated. “By adding more rest, a better position on his bike and extra treatment he was able to get rid of the pain. But during the Ruta del Sol the injury and pain came back.”
Medical investigation has determined what they term ‘friction syndrome’ in his knee, which may be a reference to the cartilage and tracking problem chondromalacia patella. On Wednesday he will go under the knife, and it is projected that it will take several months for him to recover.