Three-time Tour of Belgium stage winner continues his build up for the Tour de France
Lotto-Belisol travels to the Tour of Luxembourg, which starts tomorrow, May 30th, with a 2.6km prologue time trial, with a team built around André Greipel. The German “Gorilla” is looking to further hone his form ahead of July’s Tour de France and, after winning three of the five stages of the recent Tour of Belgium, the team is confident that he will be able to deliver further success.
“It’s our goal with Lotto Belisol to continue the way we entered with André Greipel in the Tour of Belgium,” said directeur sportif Mario Aerts, who has continued with the team - behind the wheel of the team car - after retiring from racing last season. “This tour follows perfectly. Winning three stages again will not be easy, but though the races are harder, it should be possible to win a stage.
“From the sprinting train, only Henderson will not be present,” he explained. “He will be replaced with Vicente Reyes, making his comeback after having a virus and who is ready for some competition. But also for André this tour is important, because of the high intensity.
“We don’t really have anyone who can aim high at the general ranking, though Jürgen Roelandts showed he skills in the hard, last stage of the Tour of Belgium,” Aerts added.
Roelandts was Lotto-Belisol’s best finisher overall at the team’s home Tour, back in 31st place. Since it was the 26-year-old’s first big race since fracturing a vertebrae at the Tour Down Under in January however, and most of the team was working to deliver Greipel to the line, the race was declared a success.
Lotto-Belisol team for the Tour of Luxembourg
Jens Debusschere, André Greipel, Vicente Reynes, Frederique Robert, Jürgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg, Mehdi Sohrabi and Jonas Van Genechten