CSC looking for a positive Het Volk

Team CSC will kick off its spring season on the weekend with the Omloop Het Volk and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The team will field the same lineup for both races, and even though the riders have just arrived from the California training camp, sports director Kim Andersen hopes for a little more luck than in last year's races.

"Well, it probably can't get much worse than in 2005, where Tristan broke his leg in Het Volk and Piil crashed out of Kuurne," said Andersen, who sees Allan Johansen as Team CSC's best shot at a good result in Het Volk. "Allan is extremely motivated and doesn't seem to be bothered by jet-lag as much as the other guys. He was 12th here last year, and I believe he will be up front tomorrow as well."

On Friday the riders were trying out the new carbon frames, in order to make the final adjustment to the cobblestone bikes. "It's obviously hard to say where we are right now in terms of shape. But we don't expect great results this weekend, mainly because the riders just came back from USA. So for us these two races are about preparing for the big classics later in the spring, and should we make one or two good performances down here, we'll consider it an extra bonus," finished Andersen.