Wanty-Groupe Gobert united for a two-week pre-season training camp in Benidorm, Spain in January. The UCI Professional Continental outfit will begin their season at the GP Marseillaise and Etoile de Besseges in February in France.
Sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren was pleased with his 21 riders during the warm-weather camp that included three blocks of long training rides.
“The guys worked really hard here,” Van Der Schueren said. “We laid a solid foundation for the season to come. We also established the race schedules of all 21 riders until the Belgian road race championships at the end of June."
The team welcomed their newest additions Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Marcato, along with young riders Lander Seynaeve, Simone Antonini, Tom Devriendt, Boris Dron and Yannick Eijssen.
"New riders Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Marcato fitted well in the team from the beginning. They take real quality to the team. A rider like Marcato will be very important for our sprinter Roy Jans," Van Der Schueren said.
Following the team’s season openers in France, they will race at the Tropicale Amissa Bongo, Volta ao Algarve and Ruta del Sol, and then Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
“I hope that we can achieve around 20 victories this year, including some nice UCI 1.1-races," Van Der Schueren said. "In WorldTour-races like Tour of Flanders, E3-Prijs Harelbeke and Paris-Roubaix we want to ride for the podium places.
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"Last year we finished second in the Europe Tour. Our goal for this season is to be among the top three again."
To view the Wanty-Groupe Gobert training camp gallery please click here.