Organizers of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne have announced the teams that will be taking part in this year's event. The semi-classic is traditionally run the day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and closes the opening weekend of the Belgian racing calendar. This year will be the 63rd edition of the the race, and this time around it will feature 13 ProTour teams.
The race will see an energized Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) work to earn supremacy at home over their rival Quick Step team who won the event last year. Compatriot Gert Steegmans (RadioShack) will also come prepared as he tries to make up for a lost 2009 due to a dispute with his former Katusha team. Italian Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) and Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) will also be looking to ride strong.
The BMC Racing team of George Hincapie and Alessandro Ballan along with Cervélo TestTeam, who feature Heinrich Haussler and Thor Hushovd, highlight the Professional Continental teams that will contest the race. The Dutch Vacansoleil team have also made it known that they plan to leave their mark on this year's Spring Classics, and they will be present with a motivated Johnny Hoogerland to lead the team.
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is a key race used as part of their build up for riders planning to peak for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne along with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Prijs are typically indicators for a good result in the cobbled Classics.
"We can now all talk about a very interesting list of participants," said organizer Marc Vandevyvere to SportWereld.
Vandevyvere explained the changes to the finish of the race adding, "Since there is road construction scheduled near Bavikhove we re-routed our local circuits near Kuurne. There are now two circuits each of 13.5 kilometers which pass through Kortrijk. We now have a completely new finale, but the arrival remains towards Brugsesteenweg. The start will stay that same at the track in Kuurne."
Last year Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step) took the victory in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne ahead of HTC-Columbia's Bernhard Eisel and Cervélo TestTeam's Jeremy Hunt. Boonen went on to win Paris-Roubaix.
ProTour teams participating:
Quick Step, Omega Pharma-Lotto, HTC-Columbia, Milram, Rabobank, Team Saxo Bank, Française des Jeux, RadioShack, Ag2r, Katusha, Team Sky, Liquigas, Garmin-Transitions
Professional Continental teams participating:
Cervélo TestTeam, Vacansoleil, Cofidis, Skil-Shimano, Landbouwkrediet, Acqua Sapone, BBox Bouygues Telecom, Saun-Sojasun, BMC Racing, Topsport Vlaanderen
Continental teams participating:
An Post-Sean Kelly, Veranda's Willems