Ineos Grenadiers have announced their team for this week’s Dwars door Vlaanderen with a number of riders in contention for the win.
The British team will field a seven-man squad in the 184km race that takes place on Wednesday with cobbles and 13 climbs on the menu, including the Nokereberg and Taaienberg.
Three Britons Ethan Hayter, Tom Pidcock, and Owain Doull will be joined by Dutchman Dylan van Baarle, Italian Leonardo Basso, Polish rider Michal Golas and Australian Cameron Wurf.
>>> Five things to look out for at Dwars door Vlaanderen 2021
Hayter had a very impressive Coppi e Bartali last week, winning one stage and placing either fourth or fifth in each of the five others to win the youth classification and finish fourth overall.
The Londoner has a fast sprint and can handle repeated climbs well, while his compatriot Pidcock has performed better than expected since making his WorldTour debut, finishing third at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and fifth at Strade Bianche.
Van Baarle is in good form, too, finishing seventh at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and eighth at Ghent-Wevelgem. At the latter race, Doull placed 17th, his best result in this year’s Classics thus far.
Dwars door Vlaanderen used to take place earlier in the spring but it was moved to its current slot in 2018, acting as a warm-up to the Tour of Flanders, which takes place on Sunday.
With uncertainty surrounding Paris-Roubaix and whether or not it will be going ahead, the line-up for the WorldTour race is incredibly strong.
The Ineos team will come up against 2019 champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Deceuninck-Quick Step’s array of talent, and Trek-Segafredo’s powerful duo of Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven.
Julian Alaphilippe is leading the line for Deceuninck-Quick-Step, but the Belgian squad will also feature Zdeněk Štybar and the winner of last weeks E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Kasper Asgreen.
Ineos Grenadiers squad for Dwars door Vlaanderen 2021
Leonardo Basso
Owain Doull
Michał Golas
Ethan Hayter
Tom Pidcock
Dylan van Baarle
Cameron Wurf
