Tomorrow the season of spring classics starts with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The agency Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which also organizes races such as the Tour de France and Paris-Nice, today awarded the starting places for their classics.
In addition to the WorldTour teams entitled to start, the ProConti outfits NetApp-Endura and IAM also received well-known invitations. For example, on April 13, both will be able to tackle the 112th edition of Paris-Roubaix. The 100th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 27th is now in the logbook of the Raublinger team, which, however, has to do without La Flèche Wallonne on April 23rd. IAM, on the other hand, is also allowed to take part in these two races. From a German point of view, the wildcard award for the last two races to the South African racing team MTN-Qhubeka, which has two of the currently strongest German professionals in its ranks in Gerald Ciolek and Linus Gerdemann, is also gratifying.
Ralph Denk, manager of Team NetApp-Endura, is delighted with the wildcard award and is also looking ahead to Flanders: “Our Classics program this season is first-class. Now the team is eagerly awaiting the decision regarding the Tour of Flanders. I am optimistic that we can even include all five Monuments in our riders' program this year. The team is correspondingly motivated in its preparations.”
Paris-Roubaix
Ag2R-La Mondiale, Astana, Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, FDJ.fr, Garmin-Sharp, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Belisol, Movistar, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, Orica-GreenEdge, Europcar, Giant–Shimano, Katusha, Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek, Bretagne–Séché Environnement, Cofidis, IAM, NetApp-Endura, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, UnitedHealthcare, Wanty-Groupe Gobert
La flèche wallonne
Ag2R-La Mondiale, Astana, Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, FDJ.fr, Garmin-Sharp, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Belisol, Movistar, Omega Pharma-Quick-Step, Orica-GreenEdge, Europcar, Giant-Shimano, Katusha, Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek, Cofidis, Colombia, IAM, MTN-Qhubeka, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, UnitedHealthcare, Wanty-Groupe Gobert
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Ag2R-La Mondiale, Astana, Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, FDJ.fr, Garmin-Sharp, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Belisol, Movistar, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, Orica-GreenEdge, Europcar, Giant–Shimano, Katusha, Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek, Cofidis, Colombia, I AM, MTN-Qhubeka, NetApp–Endura, Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise, Wanty–Groupe Gobert (Bel)