Rabobank’s Nick Nuyens has recovered sufficiently from the injuries he sustained in Gent-Wevelgem, and will lead the Dutch team in this Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. Nuyens has had an unlucky classics season so far, suffering multiple punctures in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad when he looked like getting a result. He hit the deck three times in last Sunday’s race, sustaining bruises to his arms legs and chest. A start in the Ronde looked a long way off but luckily the Belgian has recovered quicker than expected.
The Rabobank team trained on part of the Ronde van Vlaanderen course this morning and Nuyens went along; everything reportedly went to plan. He will be joint leader with Sebastian Langeveld, regarded on paper as Rabobank’s biggest threats in the race. The team’s wildcard will be former cyclocross World champion Lars Boom, winner of the Paris-Nice prologue last month and a strong fifth in Saturday’s E3 Prijs Vlaanderen.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen is one of Nuyens’ biggest targets of the season. Last year he finished 15th in the group behind winner Stijn Devolder, but in 2008 he made the podium with second place, outsprinting Juan Antonio Flecha; again behind Devolder. The year before that he was 7th, on the first occasion that he was truly able to ride for himself.
Rabobank for the Ronde van Vlaanderen:
Nick Nuyens, Sebastian Langeveld, Lars Boom, Maarten Tjallingii, Joost Posthuma, Tom Leezer, Rick Flens en Tom Stamsnijder.