Quick-Step Floors are set to carry on where they left off in the spring Classics, as the Tour de France returns to the cobbled roads of northern France with the eagerly anticipated stage finish in Roubaix.
Sports director Brian Holm believes the team is set to feature heavily in the stage.
"It is a little bit like the classics we have six or seven good riders who can get a good result, it's like having a six-shooter you shoot them off and see what is going to happen," Holm said.
"I think one of them should end in the front and we cross our fingers, we should have won today also but we didn’t and that’s how it goes in cycling, but I think we are going to make our impression on the race tomorrow like today."
Holm was speaking in the immediate aftermath of stage eight, where Fernando Gaviria initially claimed third place on the stage before being relegated with Andre Greipel for head-butting each other fitting for position during the sprint finale.
"Yeah he was boxed in, it looks like he had really good legs and was trying to get out but it was too late and Groenewegen was gone. But I think he had the leg speed to follow today but he missed it." Holm added.
Whereas Gaviria has shone in the race so far with two stage victories, Quick-Step also have GC hopes in the form of Bob Jungels, with Holm expecting the Luxembourg national champion to mix it with the best of the pavè.
"He is a force on the cobbles. We’ll wait and see but he’s got good bike skills and I think him and Jakob Fuglsang are the two best GC riders on the cobblestones.
"I don’t have a clue [what will happen] but they’ll be a big crash with everything exploding and I can assure you it's not going to be boring."
