Northern Classics champions George
Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt will lead the Columbia-Highroad team in the
Tour of Flanders next Sunday. Veteran Hincapie finished third in Flanders
in 2006 as well as taking a string of top ten places in Belgium’s biggest
one-day race.

“George is in the form of his life," says Allan Peiper, the
Columbia-Highroad sports director at Flanders. "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. 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.”

Columbia-Highroad for Tour of Flanders: Edvald Boasson-Hagen (Nor); Marcus
Burghardt (Ger); Bernhard Eisel (Aut); Bert Grabsch (Ger); George
Hincapie (USA); Mark Renshaw (Spa); Vicente Reynes (Spa); Marcel Sieberg
(Ger).



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