After finishing in the top five of the seven first races of the Exterioo Cycling Cup, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux will participate to the eighth and ninth races this weekend, with Dwars door het Hageland (1.Pro) on Saturday and the Elfstedenronde (1.1) on Sunday.
On Saturday, the parcours of 177 kilometer is the same as last year, when five riders of the Belgian World Team finished in the top twenty. More than 40 kilometer of gravel roads have to be covered around the Citadel of Diest, where the finish awaits after the fourth passage.
The winner of the Brussels Cycling Classic from last Sunday, Taco van der Hoorn, returns to the race after last year’s strong collective performance and a second place in 2017, accompanied by Quinten Hermans (3rd in 2016), Loïc Vliegen (4th in 2019), Tom Devriendt, Corné van Kessel and Kévin Van Melsen.
« The Citadel of Diest is less than one hour on the bike from my residence in Olen, so Dwars door het Hageland follows some of my training roads. After three participations, among whom two top fifteen finishes, I know the race quite well. Last season we performed very well collectively with five riders in the top twenty. Despite the many kilometers on unpaved roads, with the Demerdijk and the Prinsenbos as most important ones, the decision was often made on asphalt the last couple of years. Everyone is attentive on the gravel roads, so the selection is rather made at the back there. Our team has every interest in making the race hard, because in the Heistse Pijl last week a big group battled for the victory, causing chaos and crashes. I was one of the victims of the team, but except for my coccyx I feel recovered and ready to contribute to the team’s performance. »
