ProTeam Tour de Suisse kicks off today: “An important week to fine-tune everything.”
Stage one sets off from Küssnacht and immediately gets things underway with nearly 2,000 metres of climbing over 130 kilometers. Lotto Cycling Team lines up with a mix of classics riders and climbers. “Guys who don’t often race together, but who are happy to be here as a team,” explains sports director Tony Gallopin.
Alongside the Baloise Belgium Tour, which starts next week, the Tour de Suisse is the final stop before the Tour de France, the ideal moment to fine-tune everything. “It’s an important week, no doubt about it. After this race, we’ll be just two weeks out from the Tour. Fitness needs to be there, the mind needs to be fresh. This week is all about sharpening the routine within the team- the automaticity, the trust in each other. That’s the main goal for this week.”
Lotto’s biggest chances this week are expected to come in stages two and six. “The first of those will likely end in a reduced group sprint. The finish slightly rises- perfect for punchers- so we’ll be putting Arnaud (De Lie) forward there. Stage six should end in a proper sprint. But since that’s at the end of the week, it won’t be easy to control. I also see opportunities in early breakaways, we’ve brought strong guys for that too. We’ll see. The general classification isn’t our goal this week, we’re targeting stage wins.”
The Tour de Suisse starts today at Küssnacht and wraps up next Sunday with a mountain time trial to the Stockhütte. Lotto Cycling Team lines up with Arnaud De Lie, Jonas Gregaard, Jasper De Buyst, Eduardo Sepulveda, Brent Van Moer, Arjen Livyns, and Sebastien Grignard.
Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer
