Soudal Quick-Step brings 'man of the moment' Merlier to Kuurne, 'Wildcard' Magnier to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

"We have a solid team for both races, and we're really looking forward to kicking off the cobbled classics," says sports director Tom Steels in a press release. The first cobbled race of the year will see Soudal Quick-Step field a relatively inexperienced squad. Alongside regulars like Yves Lampaert and Casper Pedersen, former Dutch champion Pascal Eenkhoorn, Gil Gelders, Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Van Gestel, and Paul Magnier will take the start.

Cattaneo and Magnier have already shown their strengths on other terrain, but both will enter Omloop as dark horses on the unfamiliar cobbles. "It will be exciting to see Mattia and Paul on the cobbles for the first time. They have the talent, but we don't want to put too much pressure on them. Yves and Casper bring a lot of experience, while the others will play key support roles, so we have a lot of confidence in a good result." The last time Quick-Step won the season's first WorldTour classic was in 2021, when Davide Ballerini took victory.

A day later, Lampaert and Van Gestel will also participate in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. There they will support leader Merlier. "On Sunday we will go fully for Tim as our leader," Steels said. "He has shown to be in great shape, and if the race comes to a bunch sprint like many times in the past, we will have a strong team to help him there." Of course, the European champion will be supported by his regular lead-out Bert Van Lerberghe, as well as Warre Vangheluwe, Martin Svrcek and Pepijn Reinderink.