The Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde starts today and the riders will face four stages over the three days with opportunities for sprinters, time-triallists and cobbled specialists. Hoping to add to his tally of five wins this season is German sprinter Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors).
Kittel will focus on the second and third stages, finishing in Koksijde and De Panne, which are expected to come down to a bunch sprint, and the 28-year-old, who returns to racing following a two-week break he took after Paris-Nice, will be backed by a well-honed lead-out train at the Belgian race.
Today’s opening stage includes some of the iconic climbs from the Ronde Van Vlaanderen on the opening stage including the Leberg, Berendries, Ten Bosse and Muur van Geraardsbergen.
The stage should have a big impact on the general classification. A total of 11 classified climbs, short but with average gradients ranging from 4% to 14%, will take the sting out of the riders’ legs and will see the overall victory contenders come to the fore in an attempt to apply pressure on their rivals and create some serious damage in the peloton.
The race finishes with a 14.2-kilometre individual time trial, a test of brute strength, with only a few technical sectors, suiting the powerful specialists of the discipline, who will get the chance to erase the deficit of the opening day and come back into contention for a strong result in the general classification.
Jack Bauer, Tim Declercq, Davide Martinelli, Maximiliano Richeze and Fabio Sabatini are the riders who will support Kittel’s claim to a stage victory, while Dries Devenyns and Belgian Champion Philippe Gilbert – runner-up at Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke after two very convincing displays – will give the team solid options in the GC department.
Quick Step Floors team
Jack Bauer (NZL)
Tim Declercq (BEL)
Dries Devenyns (BEL)
Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Davide Martinelli (ITA)
Maximiliano Richeze (ARG)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Stages
28.03.17 Stage 1 De Panne – Zottegem 205.5 km
29.03.17 Stage 2 Zottegem – Koksijde 192.9 km
30.03.17 Stage 3 De Panne – De Panne 118.5 km
30.03.17 Stage 3 De Panne – De Panne 14.2 km (ITT)
