25-Feb-2010: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad opens the classics season for both the men and women of Cervélo TestTeam this Saturday February 27 in Belgium. It’s the opening event on the Belgian cycling calendar and is usually held on the last Saturday in February or the first in March. It is characterized by cold weather and short cobbled climbs and comes as quite a contrast to the southern European training camps, not to mention the desert conditions of Qatar and Oman. The Omloop, with the start and finish in Ghent, uses many of the climbs in the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen).

Men’s Team
Thor Hushovd (NOR) won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2009 and the men’s team is ready to defend the title this weekend. In fact the team had two other riders in last year’s top ten. Andreas Klier (GER) placed seventh and Henrich Haussler (GER), eighth, so the team is focused on a strong result.

The following day, Sunday, February 28th there are two more races for the men’s team. Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is an annual one-day road race in Belgium, traditionally ridden the day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This will be the 65th edition of the race, which since 2005 has been a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. There are a few changes to the team that raced the day before (Dominique Rollin (CAN) and Brett Lancaster (AUS) replace Daniel Lloyd (GBR) and Martin Reimer (GER)) but the 4-H core of Haussler, Hushovd, Roger Hammond (GBR) and Jeremy Hunt (GBR) along with Andreas Klier and Gabriel Rasch (NOR) remains intact.

“The season is finally here. For us, this team is really built for these kind of classic races,” said Jean-Paul van Poppel, Sports Director. “We know we can perform well, we did it last year and were one of the favourite teams. Now they know us and they know we have the right riders, the right people around us so not much has changed there. This year we have some younger riders who will get good experience and make us stronger. We have a fantastic team, just let it begin.”

Racing in Spain
Also on Sunday there’s the Classic of Almería, a single-day road race held annually in March in Almería, Spain. The race will both start and finish in Almería. Our team for this is a blend of seasoned riders like Iñigo Cuesta (ESP), Philip Deignan (IRL) and Xavier Tondo (ESP) and some of the newer riders including Davide Appollonio (ITA), João Correia (POR) and Stefan Denifl (AUT).

Starting Wednesday March 3, the team will participate in the five stage, 30th edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia in Spain. Two stages that reflect both the Alhama area and will have a strong impact on the race’s outcome, are the mountain finish atop Las Torres de Alhama Cotillas; and the next day’s time trial with start and finish in Alhama, on a 22 kilometre completely flat course.

Women’s Team
The women of Cervélo TestTeam fresh from their second straight victory in Qatar take to the cobbles of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (the women’s edition has been going since 2006) following the men’s race this Saturday riding a course that’s about 79 kilometre shorter than the men’s.

“We certainly have a chance to win this with Kirsten Wild (NED) after her victory in Qatar, but it will not be easy,” said Egon van Kessel, Sports Director. “The other teams will be ready for us and will do anything to avoid a sprint with her. We have all our tactics in place for Saturday and we also have the advantage of the very experienced Mirjam Melchers (NED) now riding for us. And that’s all we want to say, we will rely on our own strength and stay focused.”