BK cycling (men)
Middelkerke is the stage for the Belgian cycling championship on Sunday. Defending champion Wout van Aert is not there due to a knee injury. Who uses the billiards flat stage in West Flanders to take over his Belgian tricolor? Follow all the news about the BK here.
- 10:15 pm I am confident that we can make clear agreements about Tim Merlier and me if it becomes a sprint. Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Fenix.
I am confident that we can make clear agreements about Tim Merlier and me if it becomes a sprint
Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Fenix
- 9 p.m. 51. Philipsen: “Don’t hope too hard, because then you will be disappointed afterwards”.
Philipsen: “Don’t hope too hard, because then disappointment is great afterwards”
- 9 p.m. 16. We don’t have a sprinter. Fabio Jakobsen is not Belgian until further notice. So we have to do it differently. Wilfried Peeters, team leader Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl.
We don’t have a sprinter. Fabio Jakobsen is not Belgian until further notice. So we have to do it differently
Wilfried Peeters, team leader Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl
- 9 p.m. 14. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl creeps into underdog position. At Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl, Mauri Vansevenant and Louis Vervaeke are missing on Sunday. That means that Patrick Lefevere’s team has to make do with ten men during the BC in Middelkerke. With Yves Lampaert, it does bring the 2018 champion to the start. Remco Evenepoel, Dries Devenyns, Tim Declercq, Stijn Steels, Bert Van Lerberghe, Iljo Keisse, Pieter Serry, Stan Van Tricht and Ilan Van Wilder “We don’t have a sprinter. Fabio Jakobsen is not Belgian until further notice. So we have to approach it differently,” says sports director Wilfried Peeters. “The fact that Wout van Aert is not there will not change the tactics of Jumbo-Visma. Otherwise they would start with four. Alpecin-Fenix will want to check everything, just like Lotto Soudal. We will deliver on Sunday. not the top favourite, but the race must always be ridden.” Evenepoel and Lampaert completed an impressive time trial on Thursday. “Sunday it will be a stage in line, not a time trial. I am very happy to assume the underdog position. Of course people expect a lot from our team, but the initiative will have to come from the other teams.” †
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl kruipt in underdogpositie
At Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl, Mauri Vansevenant and Louis Vervaeke are missing on Sunday. That means that Patrick Lefevere’s team has to make do with ten men during the BC in Middelkerke. With Yves Lampaert, it does bring the 2018 champion to the start. Also present are Remco Evenepoel, Dries Devenyns, Tim Declercq, Stijn Steels, Bert Van Lerberghe, Iljo Keisse, Pieter Serry, Stan Van Tricht and Ilan Van Wilder.
“We do not have a sprinter. Fabio Jakobsen is not Belgian until further notice. So we have to approach it differently,” says sports director Wilfried Peeters. “The fact that Wout van Aert is not there will not change the tactics of Jumbo-Visma. Otherwise they would start with four. Alpecin-Fenix will want to check everything, just like Lotto Soudal. We will deliver on Sunday. not the top favourite, but the race must always be ridden.”
Evenepoel and Lampaert completed an impressive time trial on Thursday. “Sunday it will be a stage in line, not a time trial. I am very happy to assume the underdog position. Of course people expect a lot from our team, but the initiative will have to come from the other teams.”
- 8 p.m. 52. Lotto Soudal “wants to draw winning number in BK lottery”. Lotto Soudal cannot count on the services of Thomas De Gendt and Victor Verschaeve on Sunday. The other Belgians are present. With Philippe Gilbert, the team has the champion of 2011 and 2016 in its ranks. Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and sprinter Arnaud De Lie are also present. “Thomas De Gendt still has too much trouble with the ankle. He did ride last Thursday’s Belgian time trial in his own Gavere, but mainly to please his fans. Viktor Verschaeve has not yet recovered sufficiently,” said sports director Nikolas. maes. “If it comes to a bunch sprint in Middelkerke, Arnaud De Lie will be our man. But I expect a hard and tough race. I think many teams will benefit from that.” “The Belgian championship is always unpredictable. It is also an atypical field of participants. Not every team starts with seven riders. On Sunday you have blocks of 20 riders, 15 riders, 10 riders… There are many things to take into account from start to finish. And to mention our sponsor: the BC is and remains a lottery. Hopefully we will draw the winning number.” †
Lotto Soudal “wants to draw winning number in BK lottery”
Lotto Soudal cannot count on the services of Thomas De Gendt and Victor Verschaeve on Sunday. The other Belgians are present. With Philippe Gilbert, the team has the champion of 2011 and 2016 in its ranks. Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and sprinter Arnaud De Lie are also present.
“Thomas De Gendt still has too much trouble with the ankle. He did ride last Thursday’s Belgian time trial in his own Gavere, but mainly to please his fans. Viktor Verschaeve has not yet recovered sufficiently,” said sports director Nikolas. maes.
“If it comes to a bunch sprint in Middelkerke, Arnaud De Lie will be our man. But I expect a hard and tough race. I think many teams will benefit from that.”
“The Belgian championship is always unpredictable. It is also an atypical field of participants. Not every team starts with seven riders. On Sunday you have blocks of 20 riders, 15 riders, 10 riders… There are many things to take into account from start to finish. And to mention our sponsor: the BC is and remains a lottery. Hopefully we will draw the winning number.”
- 20 hours 50. Weemaes has already proven in recent months that he is fast at the finish line. Hans De Clerq, sports director Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise.
Weemaes has already proven in recent months that he is fast at the finish line
Hans De Clerq, sports director Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
- 8:45 PM. Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise is counting on Sasha Weemaes for the sprint. Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise cannot count on Arne Marit, Aaron Verwilst, Tuur Dens and Gilles De Wilde in the Belgian Championship on Sunday, but still starts with seventeen riders. “Tuur Dens sustained a collarbone fracture, Gilles De Wilde is in trouble with torn ligaments, Arne Marit has knee problems and Aaron Verwilst has a variant of toxoplasmosis,” explains sports director Hans De Clerq. “We are not the largest team. That honor goes to Alpecin-Fenix. Together with the Development Team they will have 21 riders. I don’t think the riders from those two teams will race against each other, right?” “Surviving the Moers will be crucial. I’m constantly following the fan app. With what they’re predicting now, it won’t break there, because the wind isn’t strong enough.” “The fact is that the strip to the Moeren will cause nervousness in the peloton. If it breaks there, it is still a long way to Middelkerke. There is a super narrow strip on the sea dike. It will also make it nervous. “Actually, I expect a bunch sprint and then I immediately think of Tim Merlier as the candidate winner. We then outplay Sasha Weemaes, especially now that Arne Marit is not there.” “Weemaes has already proven in recent months that he is fast at the finish line. But we don’t just have Sasha. We also have riders who can make war on the road. I am thinking of Julian Mertens, Jenno Berckmoes, Sander De Pestel, Kenneth Van Rooy and Jens Reynders, so we can handle different scenarios.” †
Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise is counting on Sasha Weemaes for sprint
Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise cannot count on Arne Marit, Aaron Verwilst, Tuur Dens and Gilles De Wilde in the Belgian Championship on Sunday, but still starts with seventeen riders.
“Tuur Dens sustained a collarbone fracture, Gilles De Wilde is in trouble with torn ligaments, Arne Marit has knee problems and Aaron Verwilst has a variant of toxoplasmosis,” explains sports director Hans De Clerq. “We are not the largest team. That honor goes to Alpecin-Fenix. Together with the Development Team they will have 21 riders. I don’t think the riders from those two teams will race against each other, right?”
“Surviving the Moers will be crucial. I’m constantly following the fan app. With what they’re predicting now, it won’t break there, because the wind isn’t strong enough.”
“The fact is that the strip to the Moeren will cause nervousness in the peloton. If it breaks there, it is still a long way to Middelkerke. There is a super narrow strip on the sea dike. It will also make it nervous. “Actually, I expect a bunch sprint and then I immediately think of Tim Merlier as the candidate winner. We then outplay Sasha Weemaes, especially now that Arne Marit is not there.”
“Weemaes has already proven in recent months that he is fast at the finish line. But we don’t just have Sasha. We also have riders who can make war on the road. I am thinking of Julian Mertens, Jenno Berckmoes, Sander De Pestel, Kenneth Van Rooy and Jens Reynders, so we can handle different scenarios.”
- 8 p.m. 41. We can play along on all fronts on Sunday. sports director Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, Hilaire Van Der Schueren.
We can play along on all fronts on Sunday
Sports Director Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, Hilaire Van Der Schueren
- 8 pm 40. Intermarché-Wanty Gobert “can play along on all fronts”. Intermarché-Wanty Gobert will be at full strength at the start of the BC in Middelkerke on Sunday. Jan Bakelants, Dimitri Claeys, Aimé De Gendt, Tom Devriendt, Kobe Goossens, Quinten Hermans, Laurens Huys, Baptiste Planckaert, Gerben Thijssen; Kévin Van Melsen and Loic Vliegen form a team of eleven riders. “There are several good scenarios for us on Sunday,” says sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren. “My riders can try it in a breakaway, but it can also come to a bunch sprint in which we can knock off Gerben Thijssen. Everything is possible and everything is allowed for us. We can play on all fronts.” “It will be a fight against, among others, Alpecin-Fenix. They have the most riders at the start and have two good sprinters on board with Merlier and Philipsen. Lotto Soudal and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl are the other Belgian WorldTeams. They also have a few candidate winners. We have to take everything into account and anticipate when necessary.” †
Intermarché-Wanty Gobert “can play along on all fronts”
Intermarché-Wanty Gobert will be at full strength at the start of the BC in Middelkerke on Sunday. Jan Bakelants, Dimitri Claeys, Aimé De Gendt, Tom Devriendt, Kobe Goossens, Quinten Hermans, Laurens Huys, Baptiste Planckaert, Gerben Thijssen; Kévin Van Melsen and Loic Vliegen form a team of eleven riders.
“There are several good scenarios for us on Sunday,” says sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren. “My riders can try it in a breakaway, but it can also come to a bunch sprint in which we can knock off Gerben Thijssen. Everything is possible and everything is allowed for us. We can play on all fronts.”
“It will be a fight against, among others, Alpecin-Fenix. They have the most riders at the start and have two good sprinters on board with Merlier and Philipsen. Lotto Soudal and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl are the other Belgian WorldTeams. They also have a few candidate winners. We have to take everything into account and anticipate when necessary.”
