26-year-old 'honoured' to be among favourites in debut cobbled classics campaign
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Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) takes a solo victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne(Image credit: Getty Images)
Bob Jungels and Philippe Gilbert at the Deceuninck-QuickStep press conference ahead of Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Getty Images)
Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First), Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) and Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in the late move at E3 Binck Bank Classic(Image credit: Getty Images)
Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) forms part of the breakaway at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne(Image credit: Getty Images)
Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) tops the podium at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne(Image credit: Getty Images)
Kasper Asgreen, Bob Jungels and Philippe Gilbert at the Deceuninck-QuickStep press conference ahead of Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Getty Images)
Some riders spend years trying to make it to the top of the Deceuninck-QuickStep hierarchy but Bob Jungels has stormed straight to the front of the line.
The Luxembourg champion is a winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège but this spring he has been deployed in the cobbled classics of northern Belgium for the first time in his career. After just five races, he’s being talked about as the leading light for Patrick Lefevere’s team at the Tour of Flanders. None other than Tom Boonen, QuickStep legend and three-time winner of De Ronde, has named the 26-year-old as his favourite for Sunday.
"I’m very honoured of course to be named among the favourites, but, in the end, it will be the race that shows who crosses line first and then the whole week of speculation is over.”
The Luxembourg national champion was 16th at Omloop Het Niuewsblad, where his teammate Zdenek Stybar won, and he claimed victory the following day at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with a long solo attack. At E3 BinckBank last Friday he placed fifth but his long-range solo attack effectively handed victory on a plate to Stybar. Jungels didn’t ride Gent-Wevelgem but made the decisive selection at Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday and finished third.
The team leadership question
After victory at Omloop and E3, many see Stybar – who, unlike Jungels, has waited quietly in the wings at Deceuninck-QuickStep before seizing his chances this spring – as an equal, if not bigger, favourite. Then there’s the small matter of 2017 Tour of Flanders winner Philippe Gilbert and Belgian champion Yves Lampaert.
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Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
