Riders will have to face the Old Kwaremont on Sunday's Tour of Flanders.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Liquigas ride Flanders (Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Peter Sagan on the Koppenberg(Image credit: Sirotti)
Simon Spilak (Lampre-ISD)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Hondo sets the pace(Image credit: Sirotti)
A rider crashes in front of the Lampre-ISD team.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Lampre struggle up the climb(Image credit: Sirotti)
A Lampre rider has to weave through on the climb(Image credit: Sirotti)
Liquigas-Cannondale riders recon critical Tour of Flanders climbs.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Does not compute: A rider checks his computer on the Koppenberg.(Image credit: Sirotti)
The Mur de Grammont (Image credit: Sirotti)
Tourists take on the Old Kwaremont. The pros will follow on Sunday.(Image credit: Sirotti)
The course is ready and on Sunday the peloton will tackle one of the most famous races in cycling(Image credit: Sirotti)
Everyone loves cycling in these parts.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Everyone loves cycling in these parts.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Tourists struggle up the Koppenberg.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniel Oss (Liquigas)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Peter Sagan (Liquigas)(Image credit: Sirotti)
The Liquigas-Cannondale team car on the climbs.(Image credit: Sirotti)
The top of the Grammont(Image credit: Sirotti)
The Tour of Flanders is but two days away but that hasn’t stopped Italian squads Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale from riding reconnaissance over the most important parts of the route.
While Quick Step, Leopard Trek and Garmin-Cervelo all organised media press conferences, Italy’s two biggest teams took to the parcours for some last-minute preparation and training.
Liquigas-Cannondale will line-up with one of the strongest teams in the race and with Peter Sagan the team will have a legitimate shot for the podium. The 21-year-old Slovak is riding his first Classics campaign but showed in Gent-Wevelgem that he is here for more than experience, forming the most dangerous move of the race and almost holding off the peloton with his escape companions.
Lampre-ISD, on the other hand, will have one eye on the Ardennes later this month where they’ll be led by Damiano Cunego and Michele Scarponi in La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
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