A day to forget for Naesen, Van Avermaet at E3 Saxo Bank Classic

HARELBEKE BELGIUM MARCH 25 Oliver Naesen of Belgium and AG2R Citren Team reacts after cross the finishing line during the 65th E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2022 a 2039km one day race from Harelbeke to Harelbeke E3SaxobankClassic WorldTour on March 25 2022 in Harelbeke Belgium Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images
Oliver Naesen (AG2R Citroën) comes over the line in 21st place at E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2022 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad delivered an Opening Weekend performance that boded well for a strong Classics showing from AG2R Citroën in 2022, with both Greg Van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen in the top 4, though it certainly wasn’t a performance that carried through to the E3 Saxo Bank Classic on Friday.

The team not only fell out of the top 10 at the race for the first time since 2016 but were also completely absent from the top 20 after missing the main moves. 

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.