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Hincapie, Burghardt ready for Flanders
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Columbia-Highroad brings a multi-pronged attack for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, with George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt lining up as the team’s two top options.
The veteran American, third at Flanders in 2006, and Burghardt, winner of the 2007 Ghent-Wevelgem, will be supported by a strong Columbia team laden with motivated riders.
“George is in the form of his life,” sport director Allan Peiper said in a team communiqué. “He did a great Milan-San Remo, where he did a load of work for Cav (winner and teammate Mark Cavendish) in the final section of the race, and he is having a really good spring overall.
“He didn’t do the Three Days of De Panne (warm-up race for Flanders) for the first time in about 15 years because we wanted him really fresh for this weekend. He’s just done one big training ride, then has eased back so he’s in good shape for Sunday.”
Peiper says Burghardt and Hincapie will be the “point of our spear for Flanders. At the same time, Bernie [Bernhard Eisel] is in great shape, too and has so much experience of this race. Together with Edvald [Boasson-Hagen], who had a great E3 Harelbeke, and Marcel Sieberg, they’re like dark horses for the race.”
Peiper argues that Flanders could be a very different race this year, not so much because of the unusually warm weather, but because of the changes in the route.
“This year there’s a couple of cobbled sections and climbs before they hit the (first big challenge of the) Old Kwaremont. That’ll make it a very different race,” he said. “At the moment, too, there’s no clear favorite at all, just a lot of very different contenders. I think it’s going to be one of the most open races of recent years.”
Cavendish, fresh off winning two stages at the Three Days of De Panne, is skipping Flanders but will start Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday with the goal of winning.
“I’m not really ready for it, although I really want to do it. Flanders is an event you dream about racing when you’re young, so in a few years time, I’ll be there for sure,” Cavendish said. “Winning here means I’m feeling really confident for that race. I’ve got a score to settle with Ghent-Wevelgem after 2008 when it didn’t work out. … Yesterday [Wednesday] we rode over the Kemmelberg [a key climb of Ghent-Wevelgem] during the stage and I tested myself to see how well I could do. It went well. I closed down a gap on the climb, so I know my condition’s good.”
Columbia-Highroad for Tour of Flanders
Edvald Boasson-HagenMarcus Burghardt
Bernhard Eisel
Bert Grabsch
George Hincapie
Mark Renshaw
Vicente Reynes
Marcel Sieberg
