In the post-mortem of Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Belgian squad QuickStep-AlphaVinyl have had more to digest than many of their rivals, with Florian Sénéchal's ninth place finish the best result for the powerhouse team.
Team boss Patrick Lefevere called the first day of Opening Weekend "one to forget very quickly", claiming that he "saw the rain coming" at 50 kilometres from the finish. The feeling of disappointment at Omloop is not a new one for him or his team — despite recent successes they have triumphed in only four of their 20 years as a team.
Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne provides a chance to take something from the cobbled Classics openers, however, even if Lefevere says it's not a race of "revenge". In-form sprinter Fabio Jakobsen joins the squad — an additional weapon for a race that has finished with a bunch sprint in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2021.
The ill Bert Van Lerberghe gives way, with QuickStep now boasting five leadership options for Sunday with Sénéchal, Zdenek Stybar, Yves Lampaert, and Kasper Asgreen also lining up. Speaking ahead of the weekend, the 25-year-old Dutchman said that he was a plan for the team, even if he's not necessarily Plan A.
"I am a plan," he said. "I don't know which letter, but we've got more letters in the team. The year when Kasper went [2020 — the second solo success in a row for QuickStep], I knew behind to just stay calm and be ready if I need to sprint. This year will be the same.
"You never know who's in shape in the team because we're usually always up there. I guess if one of those guys is gone or in front they can win, and I'll be behind in the bunch. On the other end, I've got a strong team supporting me so I can benefit from that if it ends up in a sprint."
So far in 2022, Jakobsen has won as much as anyone — four stages across the Vuelta a Valenciana and Volta ao Algarve as well as both points titles — but those results have come in preparation races ahead of the bigger spring challenges to come.
With two Scheldeprijs victories on his palmarès, he has shown he can win later in the spring, even if the chances for sprinters are relatively few during Classics season. By Jakobsen's assessment, he has four major one-day chances this spring.
"As Patrick has said, the races we did were all preparation for the races that are coming now," Jakobsen said. "I think that, as a sprinter, there are not many chances in the spring, but the first big one is Kuurne. Then it's probably sprints in Paris-Nice, De Panne and Scheldeprijs.
"Then, if you're in really good shape, you can try to get over the Kemmelberg at Gent-Wevelgem. So that's probably four one-day races if you forget about Milan-San Remo, but that's not in my plan this year.
"So, what Patrick said is true. But it's better if you've got a couple of victories already so you know what winning is like, what racing is like, and what suffering is like. So yes, we'll be ready for the 'starter' [to the main course] as he would say."
Should Sunday's 195-kilometre race come down to a sprint finish, Jakobsen will be facing off against the likes of Caleb Ewan, Sonny Colbrelli, Peter Sagan, Tim Merlier, Alexander Kristoff, Bryan Coquard, and Matteo Trentin.
He has already had the beating of the latter four among those names in Valencia and Algarve, and on current form it would be hard to bet against him doing so once again this time around. But in addition to the possibility of a sprint finish in Kuurne, Jakobsen is also looking forward to Paris-Nice, where he's set to face fellow young sprint talent Jasper Philipsen, as well as Dylan Groenewegen, his compatriot who caused his career-threatening crash at the Tour de Pologne two seasons ago.
"Of course, you always want to perform in those races, and I like to beat [Groenewegen], but it's not very special, you know? It doesn't give me any extra motivation," Jakobsen said. "I just want to race.
"Actually, I look much more forward to sprinting against Philipsen. I think we are the younger 'new generation' who are chipping away at the pedestal of the older more experienced guys, so I guess I look forward to the battle with him, but just as much as with Groenewegen or any other sprinter.
"Philipsen won two races, so he's the guy to beat — and also Cavendish, but he's in the same team so I won't be sprinting against him," he joked. "As a sprinter, of course you watch all the races because in the end I'm also a fan of cycling. So that's why I'm mentioning his name.
"It's always easy to see the winners and then measure yourself against them as an athlete. I saw a summary of sprinters going to Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice. He's going to be there, so I look forward to it."
