The in-form Alessandro Ballan and American favourite George Hincapie will be two of what is a very solid BMC Racing Team at the Tour of Flanders this Sunday.
Ballan has had a couple of quieter seasons since winning the world championships at the end of 2008, but has shown impressive condition of late and there is strong reason to believe that he is back on track. He fired off several strong attacks in the KBC Driedaagse De Panne, using the race as a warm-up event for this weekend, then withdrew on Thursday morning in order to avoid taking an risks in bad weather conditions.
Ballan’s confidence is on a rise due to his results this season. His placings include eleventh overall in the Santos Tour Down Under in January, seventh in the Trofeo Laigueglia, second on stage one of the Giro di Sardegna and the Montepaschi Strade Bianche plus a strong fourth in Milan-Sanremo. He recently spoke of the pressure the rainbow jersey put on him, and how he feels that he is now ready to win again. His progression in form points towards what should be a big Classics campaign.
Ballan will be one of several riders who will be aiming to dethrone defending champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank-SunGard) on Sunday. The Swiss rider is in superb condition, but even if he is as strong on Sunday as he was when winning last Saturday’s E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, the strength in numbers of his rivals mean that he has a big fight on his hands.
The 2007 race winner Ballan believes that the BMC Racing Team can contend for a big result. “We have more than one rider able to do well, so we have to use this strategy,” he said. “The key points will be the Kuaremont and from there on every point could be critical, up to the Muur.”
He has finished in the top ten four times, as have George Hincapie (five times), Karsten Kroon (two) and Greg Van Avermaet (one). They will be joined by the German strongman Marcus Burghardt, Manuel Quinziato, Michael Schär and Danilo Wyss.
Directeur Sportif John Lelangue will be acting as directeur sportif on Sunday and is looking forward to taking his riders into battle. “They're in really good condition and since the beginning of the year, they have been riding well as a team,” he said.